helpme

always bugger up little paint jobs... how do you get a nice nice finish???

tried cleaning and scrubbing (should i sand down)
then primed it, then spray it with a few coats and then lacquer.

? know the conditions make a difference.

helpme

got the paint mixed at halfords??
mistake?

catflap

did the sme thing yself, wanted to sprey the fog light overs,

took time, cost me almost 20 quid (primer paint and lacker) cleand the surfice, primed, thn pint then lack. finishe was smooth as a baby`s bum and good. fitted to car and it looked bad. i could not get the finish the car had, very shiny, my job looked dull, i used t-cut and polish but is just would not shine up.

i got a body shop to do them in the end, perfect match (but the paint has started to stone ship) seems they use few layers.

helpme

thanks. might charge the paint for it to stick better a?

Disco

Depends what you are spraying. To get a nice shiny finish, you need an even but thick coat. I filled and resprayed my front spoiler over Easter, and the paint match is perfect.



Make sure you sand down the paintwork with very fine wet&dry and soapy water before applying lacquer.

Ray_li

go to Halfords and pick up a free step by step guide on bodywork

David_Wallis

Clean it with warm soapy water using a brillopad style thing... leave to dry

Spray with a couple of coats of plastic primer..
Spray over this with a white primer... (depends on the colour you are painting.. dont try to put too much paint on as aerosols tend to run easily.. paint accross keeping the can parallel to the panel on your next stroke over lap what you just did by about 50% leaving a wet line on the overlap then keep doing this till you have even coverage...

Make sure you have no runs.. if you do then rub them out using 600wet and dry and a block... make sure the paint has dried first... dont try to dry it with heat.. (just dont rush) dont even take any paint to it until you are happy... as the paint will just show the imperfections.. once you have a couple of coats of paint with an even pattern let the paint dry for a couple of hours and then give it 2 / 3 coats of lacquer (spelling?) give this a couple of days to dry and then rub gently with 1200 or 1500 wet and dry, then use compound and polish to get it to shine (it should allready assuming you left a wet line when painting it.. If it drys straight away then it will be dull.... just eperiment with distance and speed of your stroke..)

ps.. I cannot paint with an aerosol to save my life.. but I do and can use a normal spray gun with a 1.8mm nozzle... (just painted a vauxhall calibra in met. grey after putting a quater panel on..) and this aint my job so no critisim... as this is the way I do it.. not nececarrly the right way... and f%$^ me my spelling is getting worse..)

David

JoeyDeacon

Spraying is a balancing act between putting on enough paint so it is shiny but not putting on so much paint that it runs.

I think your problem was caused by you being scared of it running so you didn't put the paint on thick enough.

Sprayed a friends mini boot a few years ago with a can and I have to say I was very pleased with the results. That was until I turned my back on him for a minute and came back to find him having a go himself....

Why do people who have no idea what they are doing just hold the button down and generally wave the can about??

DJB

Very difficult. I've been trying to spray paint for years and still mess up some of the time. Here's what I've learnt through trial and error.

The main thing, I think, is preparation of the surface that you need to spray. If possible do not use filler - this just makes it more difficult. Its better to sand down to bear metal or plastic and remove all imperfections by sanding. Use a power tool to begin with but then move onto wet and dry paper. Progressively use finer and finer paper, finishing with 1200 grade and using water liberally. The surface should be as smooth as glass before spraying. If you can feel any imperfections before spraying you'll see them after. This takes time - there are no short cuts.

Unless its a very still day do not spray outside. The best place to spray is in a heated garage. Cellulose paint needs to be sprayed when the ambient temperature is greater than 17 degrees C. I don't agree about not heating the surface as above. Get a hairdryer and heat the surface you are about to spray (warm to touch only). This way the paint dries quickly and runs less. Make sure the surface is dry - the paint has an annoying habit of releasing water thats stuck in a gutter, etc. Mask off the area - allow a reasonable surrounding margin otherwise you'll end up with a very thick paint line when you remove the tape. Spray on primer carefully - its the worst for running. Allow to dry fully. Remove masking tape. Lightly sand primer overspray and masking tape lines (with 1200 wet and dry) until completely smooth. Now spray colour layer spraying lightly towards junction with old paint (better still respray whole panel), drying with hairdryer after each coat. Use at least 3 full coats. Leave for 10 minutes or so and then spray lacquer. Use 2 coats.

You will not need to use rubbing compound or any of that crap - if you get a runner or a rough surface, sand it down and start again.

To get a really professional finish, you'll need a compressor and a 2 pack paint but you can get a reasonable good result using the above technique and a good aerosol.

D.