painting

[riverajay23]

Ok, so I'm taking my time before I start painting. But hopefully I'll be painting next week. The questions for you guys is: Do I sand, wetsand the plastic to make it smooth, then primer, paint, clearcoat? Do I wetsand again at all, or after wetsanding the first time is good enough. Yes, I've read SweetLou's post, very good and helpful. Im just making sure Im doing it right. Thanks in advance.

[DreKat]

This is what I did:
1) scuffed up the old fairings with 220grit
2) wipped down the fairings with a damp cloth to remove the paint dust from the sanding process.
3) applied 3 light coats of primer waiting 20min between coats
4) gave a very quick scuff to the fairing one more time using 440grit paper to make sure the paint sticks to the primer.
5) using wire coat hangers hung the fairing from the celing of the garage and applied 4 light coats of paint waiting 1hrs between coats.
6) after checking the fairing to see if the paint felt dry I then laid all the fairings on the drive way on a very hot day to halp bake the paint.
7) Hung the fairing one more time and applied 3 coats of clear coat and again laid the fairings on the drive way.

I did not sand down the fairing to remove the orange peal mainly because I don't know what orange peal is

Hope this helps and the most important thing is take your time it is a slow process but once you see that changes start to happen thats when it gets fun!

[tmk7c9]

my process is similar, although I typically use finer sandpaper. 400 grit or so (dry) on the plastic to get a good scuff, then prime. 600 grit (wet) on the primer to make sure everything is smooth. The application of paint will vary depending on the type of paint you're using. Some types work better with many light coats, others require a few heavier coats. Typically, i start with a light coat and then put on a heavier "wet" coat, and that's usually all that's needed unless I miss a spot.

Next, i put on clearcoat, 1 light coat, followed by 2 or 3 heavier wet coats.

Read the directions on your paint cans for exactly what to do. Some paint it's ok to sand between paint/clear if you have imperfections. Others you CAN'T sand before clear, because it will ruin the finish in the color. It all depends. Many paints have a time window you need to hit (i.e., you MUST clear coat within 1 hour of paint), otherwise it doesn't adhere correctly, and you need to sand/paint again. again, read the directions and follow them as closely as possible.

If you have your gun and technique set up right, there is no reason to sand/buff the orange peel, as it should be smooth anyways. (orange peel refers to a rough, bumpy finish, that sort of has the texture of an orange).

[Tigerd]

Started painting my sons R6. Experimented using a couple of different suggestions on using rattle can paint.

What worked best for me:
1) Sand paint off plastic using 220
2) Sand to 440 before primer
3) Used "Filler Primer" for first coat
4) Wet sand with 440
5) Used regular sandable primer for second coat
6) Lightly Wet sand with 440 (put dish liquid in water and wet down piece before sanding)
7) First coat of paint (very light to make sure there are no runs)
8) Wait 20 minutes (per instructions on can) and applied second light coat for full coverage (no sanding in between coats of final color paint)
9) Wait 20 minutes - Applied final coat of paint
10) No Sanding - Let piece dry for 48 hours after final coat
11) Applied light coat of clear - Used Spraymax 2k - had to order it online, couldn't find it local - other spray can clears just didn't work well
12) Applied second light coat of clear - No Sanding in between
13) Applied heavier third coat of clear - No Sanding in between
14) Let dry for 48 hours
15) Buff with a polish - did not use rubbing compound

Any time I tried wet sanding the final coat of paint before the clear, it jsut didn't look right even using a 1500 grit wet sand. Going straight from paint to clear worked much better for me. I had tried two different spray clear (dupli-color and Rustoleum) but just couldn't get enough of a thick coat on despite several coats. Ended up sanding back down to plastic, started over and used Spraymax with much better results.

[kevin2502000]

my process is similar, although I typically use finer sandpaper. 400 grit or so (dry) on the plastic to get a good scuff, then prime. 600 grit (wet) on the primer to make sure everything is smooth. The application of paint will vary depending on the type of paint you're using. Some types work better with many light coats, others require a few heavier coats. Typically, i start with a light coat and then put on a heavier "wet" coat, and that's usually all that's needed unless I miss a spot.

Next, i put on clearcoat, 1 light coat, followed by 2 or 3 heavier wet coats.

Read the directions on your paint cans for exactly what to do. Some paint it's ok to sand between paint/clear if you have imperfections. Others you CAN'T sand before clear, because it will ruin the finish in the color. It all depends. Many paints have a time window you need to hit (i.e., you MUST clear coat within 1 hour of paint), otherwise it doesn't adhere correctly, and you need to sand/paint again. again, read the directions and follow them as closely as possible.

If you have your gun and technique set up right, there is no reason to sand/buff the orange peel, as it should be smooth anyways. (orange peel refers to a rough, bumpy finish, that sort of has the texture of an orange).

Exactly how I did mine but I had to wetsand and buff because I did get some orange peel. You can see your face in the paint though

[Tigerd]

Exactly how I did mine but I had to wetsand and buff because I did get some orange peel. You can see your face in the paint though

What grit did you use when wet sanding the clear? If you use a medium rubbing compound would you get the same effect as the wet sand? I have a lighter piece I just finished yesterday with some orange peel. Debating whether to use rubbing compound and then polish or go wet sand then polish....

[riverajay23]

Thanks guys, funny thing is that I went at it this past weekend anyways. It looks pretty good, other than orange peel (of course) and some runs(darn it). So... im using a nib file to get most of the run out, then wet sanding with 1500 grit, then polishing/buffing. We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck.

hey DREkat, I painted my bike the same as yours. It looks pretty sweet

[kevin2502000]

What grit did you use when wet sanding the clear? If you use a medium rubbing compound would you get the same effect as the wet sand? I have a lighter piece I just finished yesterday with some orange peel. Debating whether to use rubbing compound and then polish or go wet sand then polish....

I used 1000 grit but was very easy on it. I think 1500 would work as well just take longer. Then I used Wizards one step and that itself turned out good enough but I then polished it and foamed it.

[Tigerd]

I used 1000 grit but was very easy on it. I think 1500 would work as well just take longer. Then I used Wizards one step and that itself turned out good enough but I then polished it and foamed it.

Thanks. I'll be giving that a shot this weekend and let you know how it turns out.

[tmk7c9]

generally 1000 grit is the MOST agressive you would want to use when sanding clear. Use it only for severe orange peel. Typically 1500 or 2000 is safer. Make sure to stay away from the edges, it's super easy to burn though on the edges, the clear is usually thinnest there.

You can use sandpaper, rubbing compound, whatever you want really....just don't get crazy and burn through the clear. Nothing is nicer than screwing up a new paint job!

[Tigerd]

generally 1000 grit is the MOST agressive you would want to use when sanding clear. Use it only for severe orange peel. Typically 1500 or 2000 is safer. Make sure to stay away from the edges, it's super easy to burn though on the edges, the clear is usually thinnest there.

You can use sandpaper, rubbing compound, whatever you want really....just don't get crazy and burn through the clear. Nothing is nicer than screwing up a new paint job!

That was a problem I had on the first piece. I wet sanded with 1500 but the clear did not have enough coats or thick enough. Didn't get the shine I anticipated and burned through on one edge. I stripped it back down to the bare plastic and started over. Don't want to do that again!!

[kevin2502000]

generally 1000 grit is the MOST agressive you would want to use when sanding clear. Use it only for severe orange peel. Typically 1500 or 2000 is safer. Make sure to stay away from the edges, it's super easy to burn though on the edges, the clear is usually thinnest there.

You can use sandpaper, rubbing compound, whatever you want really....just don't get crazy and burn through the clear. Nothing is nicer than screwing up a new paint job!

Yes definitely stay away from the edges. I should also have mentioned I put on 3 GOOD coats of clear. When I used the wetsand with 1000, I would clean it and dry it frequently until it was flat and dull. Thats where you stop. Mojoe has a good write up on here about wet sanding.