RedRallyeZ

iTrader: (20)

i have taken on the project of making my own gloss black berger panel and so far its terrible looking. I had a shop fill in the letters for me and they primered over it. the shop does great work and they are the guys that did my hood, so i know its not with them.

I wetsanded the primer with 400, then layed down a basecoat of gloss black duplicolor enamel. i used SMALL coats, and lots of them. i put down about 5, and it never really looked right. it seemed to have the texture of sandpaper, i gave it 24 hours to cure then sanded down to 1500 grit. a couple days ago i shot it with clear in hopes that that would help. 6 coats, and 2000 grit later. it looks terrible.

I thought humidity, but i painted in my spare bathroom with a dehumidifier on, i used as light of coats as i thought possible. i have always heard that duplicolor is the best rattle can stuff to use, so i used that. im stumped and REALLY frustrated. i know that rattle can isnt the best option, but the ones ive seen done here look 100x better than mine. here are the pictures of what i have. the best way i can describe it is that the paint looks porous. almost has a mettalic flake, and not really balck either. i honestly have no idea what im doing, im going to sand down with 400 and start over tommorow.

SS02

Ouch, I hope someone answers quick. Hope you get it worked out bud

bowtiebuilder

iTrader: (18)

Looks like you didnt sand the primer totally smooth. And I can definitely see the streaks of clear where you hammered down a little much. The rattle can black can be done. Rattle clears are not the way to go! If your using gloss black paint, dont clear it, and see how it looks. Wet sand it back down. Starting with 220 work the panel back to the primer, and start over. I have never seen a good turn out with rattle can clear. Especially on black, its just hard to get equal coverage.

RedRallyeZ

iTrader: (20)

alright, ill try that. ive heard that before, but after the basecoat, the paint just looked terrible, so i cleared it. before the clearcoat, it looked like flat black primer. im dumbfounded.

and one more thing, should i use duplicolor enamal or laquer? ive never seen a comparison of those two on here.

67goatman455

iTrader: (14)

i would say your problem lies with how you applied it. VERY LIGHT COATS probably is not a good thing. Apply it wet enough that it looks glossy when you spray it.

McNord

iTrader: (1)

The longer paint stays wet the smoother & more glossy it will be. When you spray light coats the paint is almost dry before it even gets to the surface. I know you will hear otherwise, but light coats have never worked out for me. I put on one good coat, not too wet, but more than a dusting, let dry untill its sticky (only a few minutes) and then put on a fairly heave coat and try to get the whole panel to look "wet" that gives it all a chance to level out before its dry.

scj

iTrader: (89)

^^ word!

if you're looking to get a glossy finish and a nice protected one also I'd pick up a can of duplicolor "acrylic enamel" flat black and pick up a can of duplicolor "truck and SUV" clear coat. this combo will really do it's best for you. now don't worry that the black is a flat finish because the clear is what's going to give it it's glossy finish. (just like pro paint shops do) the flat is easier to work with, and won't run near as easy as a gloss base will being that clear is much thinner of a paint.

Once you've got it prepped you should make sure there is no sanding dust on the panel, then hit it with a moderately heavy coat of the flat black to where the surface looks like it's wet as if water was all over it. Then follow with a slightly heavier coat, and again with another even heavier coat, but always make sure it's not too heavy or it will run with the bend of the panel, just to where it pretty much looks like glass when it's wet. Let that dry for 12-24 hours, whenever that is finished drying enough hit it with wet 800-1000 grit to get down any orange peel like feel/look to the paint. once you have a smooth surface from sanding, remove all dust from sanding and follow the same coating techniques as previously with the flat black (hit it with a moderately heavy coat of the clear to where the surface looks like it's wet as if water was all over it. Then follow with a slightly heavier coat, and again with another even heavier coat) once that is complete you should have a fairly glossy finish, but there still might be some spots that need some attention from the over spray and stuff, but don't worry.. let that dry for 6-24hrs(as long as it's not tacky at all) then hit it with 1500 wet sand to get the surface all smooth, then follow with 2000 wet sand to get it even smoother, once that is complete it shouldn't be too glossy, but it will be smooth even finish. At this point break out your rubbing compound and go to work, rub the **** out of the surface and get all the sanding marks out of the clear... remove and wax, and at this point it should look show car quality! but for no were near the price!

good luck, but this will work if you follow these instructions.

hart7631

iTrader: (1)

put it on a coats a little heaver a little slower with a tighter overlap u want it to go on pretty wet but now so heavy its gonna run

jarretthise

iTrader: (9)

Another thing when you color sand your clear do NOT use 600 EVER! The most grit is 1000 you will want to use.

VTJosh

iTrader: (3)

I think you just didn't do enough wetsanding. You should have done 400, 600 and then 1000 on the primer so it's perfectly smooth. (Helps the basecoat lay down smooth) Then do your multiple light coats of color and when it's all dried and good to go, wetsand your basecoat lightly starting with 1000, and then 2000. This is assuming your using a standard solid color and not metallics, etc. Then do a few light coats of clear and one medium coat of clear. Let that dry up a few days and than wetsand starting with a 1000 and moving up to 2000/2500. Don't apply pressure just let the paper do the work.(Wrap the paper around one of those foam sanding blocks so your applying even pressure)
Then I'd following up with rubbing compound, polishing compound and a fine swirl/scratch remover. I'd typically let it go for a few days/weeks before I polish and wax it. Here's a example of a mirror I did using Duplicolor rattlecans. This is LPM and like any paint job, all the work is in the prep work.


I forgot to mention that you want to make sure the part is nice and clean between steps. This was done outside of my apartment on a set of sawhorse's. All I did was wait for a day that wasn't windy, temperature was over 60 and humidity was below 60. Not too common of a occurance up here in VT.

DriftR

iTrader: (4)

Good prep work is definitely important in getting your best finish result.
Your first coat is called a "tack" coat and is a light coat, not trying to cover. Consecutive coats are medium heavy and your final coat of clear is a nice wet coat without any runs. I think your coats were too light as mentioned. Practice on something varying your distance, speed and overlap as well. Rattle can paint should need about a week min. to cure before wetsanding to get it flat (no orange peel) and then buff with compound, swirl remover and wax!
Good Luck

Lotus289

iTrader: (1)

After reading your first post there's some mistakes that will cause a bad paint job. 1) don't paint in a bathroom. You need ventilation and a lot of air circulation for paint to properly cure / set up. 2) You never wetsand anything but the clear. You need the primer / color to have some texture so the next coat to go on has something to bite too. 3) You waited entirely too long before clear. The paint still needs to be tacky when you apply the clear. This rule applies to any coat in the painting process. Again, it needs something to stick to. 4) NEVER sand the color; with anything. All that will do is leave high and low spots in the color and look like streaks when you clear it.

This process will get perfect results every time. (Also make sure your well ventilated. A homes interior room won't cut it. It needs to be done outside.) When shooting anything (primer, color, clear) wait 5 minutes in between coats, and no more than 30 minutes before going to the next process (color, clear). If you wait too long (like 24 hours or longer) what's on the panel will fully cure and the paint / clear won't bite. It'll lift up like a sticker.

- Cut that back down to the urethane with some 240 grit.
- Prime it; 3 coats. 1 light coat, then two medium to heavy coats. Don't run it.
- Lightly sand w/ 360 grit. Just enough to give it some texture. You DON'T want it smooth at this point
- Paint it; 3-5 coats. 1 light coat, then medium to heavy coats until you get 100% coverage. DON'T sand it.
- Clear it; 3-5 coats. 1 light coat, then medium to heavy coats. If you plan to wetsand and polish, do 5 coats. If you plan to leave it as is, 3 will be enough and you're done.

- Let it set for at least 24 hours. The clear has to fully cure before handling / sanding (unless you have the ability to bake it).
- Wetsand with 1500. Use a sanding block if you can. I will help keep finger impressions out and give you a better result.
- Wetsand with 2000 until it's uniformly 'dull'. It should have a matte finish with no shiny spots left.
- Polish it out with some medium cut rubbing compound. Either apply by hand w/ a rag or a polish wheel if you have one. Make 2 passes over the entire part w/ this.
- Polish it out with fine cut rubbing compound. Same way as before. Make 2 passes over the entire part again.
- Then wipe it down with dry microfiber cloth to get all the excess rubbing compound residue off and it'll look like a mirror.

-Profit.

camarox302

iTrader: (2)

For those wetsanding their basecoat up to 1500 - 2000 do you find that the clear will adhear? I tried that once when I did my tail panel and buffing just took the 5-6 coats of clear right off. The next time I sanded down the high spots on the basecoat with 1000 and had a much better result..