Am I screwed?
 

Ok don’t burn me too much. I wanted to attempt my first paint job and pops was more than happy to let me use his car as a tester.. I painted the front valance first and it came out good. I got to the car and well it kind of looks like I put some cool unwanted effects in there. Like shadows. It’s hard to tell in the dark but when you put light to it you see them. So I went over it with another coat and same thing. I kept the gun at about 8-10 inches away and I walked the whole side of the car. I had a good spray pattern and everything seemed ok. I’m only saying this because it’s what I’ve seen on YouTube lol. Long story short can I sand it down and repaint or do I have to do a do over? Any help is appreciated. Also it’s on here because I’m painting my c10 next 😂 plus the c10 is in the background. Attachment 1965711

Attachment 1965712

Re: Am I screwed?
 

What was under the paint you sprayed before you started?

Re: Am I screwed?
 

I used pcl poly primer. It’s a high build. It’s what the 3 paint shops around me carry. As far as prep I just kind of followed their direction. Sanded the original paint with 80 until I got to the primer. Poly primer, block sand with 180, primer again then block sand with 400(wet). I washed the car let it air dry, blew it all off. Used prep all to while it all down then tack ragged it. Like I said I tried to follow their advice as much as i could. I’m sure they got tired of me calling and coming by. Hope that answers your question

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Also paint used was basf RM. single stage metallic ivory. (Something like that) it’s the factory color.

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Did you use a sealer?

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Um 😐... no. I asked about it because I read about it and they told I didn’t have to. I literally asked them from start to finish for advice. Would there be any circumstance I wouldn’t need it? Maybe they asked and whatever I answered made them recommend not using a sealer. 🤷🏽*♂️

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Ok...I was wondering if if was visible filler or odd color primer in that spot...especially after 2 coating it and it's still visible
I know metallics are tricky...
My paint supplier said sealer not necessary...but the gurus on here said it was..
I'm beginner painting as well and asked many ??????

Re: Am I screwed?
 

I am going to be painting my truck, so i was linked to Facebook page for professionals to see how they do it. Almost every painter puts a sealer to "prevent" any imperfections from forming.

I also re-watched such shows as Overhaulin' to see if they did it. And they do....

Re: Am I screwed?
 

I can see the difficulty in the metallic, a couple spots look like runs but it’s not. Just the metallic flake is too much I guess. I’m ok with that I’m just concerned with the streaks. I feel like it could be not enough paint on that area or maybe the paint didn’t have good coverage. I tried to be a robot when painting lol. It could definitely be operator error. Is it possible to sand it all down and put a couple more coats on?

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Yes, I think you can. You need 8 inches wider than the area you have to blend the area

Re: Am I screwed?
 

I also think that the color prime that you choose make a bit of difference. I have learned to try to keep every thing as uniform as i can. Light grey is my primer of choice, unless i paint black car, then i like to use black primer.. ALso, 8-10 inches seems just a bit far away, I want to say that i am at 6-8. I have only sprayed metalics with bas tho, so i am unsure about SS

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Is this in just one place

Re: Am I screwed?
 

I also used a light grey primer over the whole car. The 8-10 was what the shop told me. Fan open wide and 8-10, they said to avoid pile up. ??? But like I said I’m no pro so the 8-10 could actually be 7-11 haha

Re: Am I screwed?
 

It’s in a few places just hard to get on a picture. In the sunlight you can see it more. Doing more research on metallics now, I think it’s operator error. I didn’t know single stage metallic was a bad idea for a beginner. Lol

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Sounds like you’re not consistent with your pattern. Single stage metallic probably Was not the best choice to start with. Hopefully you will be able to reshoot the panels that are bad

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Single stage metallic isn't very forgiving. You have to get each coat wet enough to flow out to minimize orange peel, yet dry enough so the metallic particles don't sag. And you have to do this over every square inch of the car. If you're doing an all-over then you have to do it quickly enough to get back around to where you started so there's not a dry edge. Then you have to do that for each coat.

I'd suggest stopping where you're at, blocking it down with 220 then 600, and shooting it again with base clear. If you plan on wetsanding and buffing it then you'll have better results with clear, otherwise you'll be cutting into the metallic particles when you wetsand and buff.

Re: Am I screwed?
 

I tried to stay as consistent as a beginner could. I would walk the whole length when I could. It was a factory color so I didn’t think much to research the difficulty level. Like I know pearls and candys are up there, live and learn. 😂

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Yup sounds a lot more difficult than anticipated lol. I’ll give that a try thanks.

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Do you remember if there was anything different under there? Like filler?


By the way, looks good overall

Re: Am I screwed?
 

In that area there wasn’t. But I am area that did have filler but also a few that didn’t have filler. So I’m might be leaning towards operator error. Lol.
Thanks.

Re: Am I screwed?
 

You pick the most difficult paint to apply, but still not a bad job. I can tell you after 40 years of painting cars, sometimes things just bite you in the ass for no reason you cant explain. The Basecoat Clearcoat system is much more forgiving and easier to blend.Your learning, and it's a skill you'll use the rest of your life So be patient.

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Wise words 👍. Thanks

In doing all my research (I did a lot) I never thought to research color/metallic. I knew of all the difficulties in candy and pearls but that’s it. Lesson learned, the c10 will get a base clear with no metallic whatsoever haha

Re: Am I screwed?
 

If you go non metallic do single stage

Re: Am I screwed?
 

My first paint job was my C10. I picked metallic charcoal base coat/clear coat. It was not the best color for my first job. The dark color showed every flaw in my body work. The metallic paint showed every flaw in my technique.

For my second car I picked arctic white. it was a lot more forgiving for my skill level.

And I'm pretty sure I found my 3rd car to paint.....repainting my C10 because I see all the flaws in my paint job.

Re: Am I screwed?
 

Dark colors are the most difficult to paint because it will show every flaw in the bodywork. Use 2 different color primers when you sand it it will show you the high and low spots. When custom cars were built a while back they would paint them black, all the flaws would be magnified they would come back straighten it up then paint it to final color. The use of 2 different color primers is called perfect panel.When you're done knocking the flaws out re-prime it so the color is uniform. If you paint over 2 different color primers the topcoat could be different shades It's probably on YouTube