Right, having had the pi$$ well and truly taken by a spray shop in quoting for fog light covers , i went it alone. Prepared with 1500 wet and dry, 3 layers of plastic primer, again wet and dry sanded. 3 layers of paint and wet and dry sanded but the wisdom on the Halfords website now says to finally wet and dry and then lacquer on top to bring out the metallic finish (red mica).

The trouble is the finish from the wet and dry is really streaky and inconsistent. Do i need to be more uniform or does the lacquer hide the streaks?

Thanks in advance

 

you'd have to post a pic to show how bad the streaks are to make a judgement call on that mate,or you could have sent them to me and i would have done them on a run in the booth along with another job

 

Wet & dry with plenty of water then use compound to buff it up.

 

Now he tells me! They are not too bad, it is just the graining left by sandpapering by hand.

Before lacquering?

 

its a long process to paint something propper these days mate so try and understand that they have materials,rent,ellectric,gas,water,wages to account for,dont get me wrong some bigger shops are a joke price wise but there are some desent bodyshops around that do good work at a reasonable price.

 

Hi guys,
Just for info because this is an old thread now, whenever you paint its all about preparation, preparation, preparation. I apply a good filler primer paint and make sure that when I have finished with the rhinowet paper I have a mirror finish with no imperfections.
If done correctly you will be able to refinish with no more than 2 coats of colour, I aim for 95% coverage with the first, i.e the primer is still just and only just visible to ensure I have a precise depth of paint.
The top-coat finishes the job and as soon as the paint takes on a dull sheen I follow up with 2 coats of laquer. Im self-taught and have achieved very high standard results with no requirement for flatting back the colour coats.
I've never achieved good results out of a can bought from Halfords, you really do need a decent gun and compressor (guns can be bought for around £35 and compressors can be hired from the likes of HSS) and get some advice on mixing your paint from a trade refinishing supplier. The quality of the thinner matters more than using viscosity pots to aquire the correct mix as does a trial run on a board or something flat to get your hand movement and coverage correct.
Don't rush the job but don't expect to get it right first or even second time either!