BC/CC tips

[Project86]

well, a lot has happened in the past year, and im finally getting down to laying some color!

once I have time, I will take some pictures and post them up

but so far I have the inside of the cab sprayed with single stage Fiji Pear Blue!!
but I messed up and forgot to seam seal, so I will lightly resand everything and repray it all

but I would like some tips on spray techniques and coverage/coats!!

the paint code is B529P-4 Very beautiful blue, with pearl

I plan on tinting the sealer with some of the color so that it will cover better

I was thinking 4 coats of paint each with a little heavier application.
and about 4 coats of quality clear

using NASON products

so what would be better
heavier coats, or multiple light coats of base application??

[Foot Stomper]

Don't buy NASON if still have the chance. It's their second tier line and coverage is never as good as any top brand product.
If you've already purchased it, you'll need to apply several light coats until you have coverage. No telling how many coats will be required. Heavy coats will not help... only make it worse.
4 coats of clear is also not a good idea. A high solids clear should only need 2 coats. I don't believe NASON has a high solids clear.
A European style clear that's 2:1 will surely be high solids... not any 4:1 clear is.

[72HuggerK20]

READ THE TECH SHEETS

FOLLOW WHAT THE SHEETS SAY

Use the recommended shade of sealer. Don't tint it by dumping basecoat into it. Do not mix products that aren't meant to be mixed.

Follow the directions when it comes to flash times. Get the proper reducer and catalyst for your temperature/humidity.

More film build means it is more prone to chipping and cracking. Applying too much clear can lead to solvent pop and die back. If the sheet for the clear says two full wet coats, give it two full wet coats.

For base, medium coats with ~50% overlap until full coverage is achieved, or whatever the sheet says if it says something different.

Manufacturers take lots of time to make sure that the information and procedures on their sheets will give you the best results. If you don't follow their procedures, it's not their fault if it doesn't give the intended results.

The only variables should be your techniques and equipment. Not the material itself.

[Foot Stomper]

Originally Posted by 72HuggerK20

READ THE TECH SHEETS

FOLLOW WHAT THE SHEETS SAY

Use the recommended shade of sealer. Don't tint it by dumping basecoat into it. Do not mix products that aren't meant to be mixed.

Follow the directions when it comes to flash times. Get the proper reducer and catalyst for your temperature/humidity.

More film build means it is more prone to chipping and cracking. Applying too much clear can lead to solvent pop and die back. If the sheet for the clear says two full wet coats, give it two full wet coats.

For base, medium coats with ~50% overlap until full coverage is achieved, or whatever the sheet says if it says something different.

Manufacturers take lots of time to make sure that the information and procedures on their sheets will give you the best results. If you don't follow their procedures, it's not their fault if it doesn't give the intended results.

The only variables should be your techniques and equipment. Not the material itself.

100% great advice!

[Project86]

Well I was unsure of nason to begin with. Only reason I went withyhem for single stage on the interior is because of the affordability of it.

So with that being said. What is another good quality brand I can get local??

Interior was shot with their single stage and I had no issues except a couple runs from my own heavy finger.
I will be remanding and re spraying it after inseam seal everything this time around (whoops!)

What's a good quality clear?

I know about a month ago I had an issue with my primer being too thick even though I mixed the activator and primer correctly. I still had to reduce it to spray through my 1.8 tip.

[Foot Stomper]

Just remember "there's no such thing as good cheap paint". Get their top line paint system. Whoever it is you're buying from. I'm purposely avoiding brand recommendations... just pointing out that second tier paints are piss thin and don't cover so you don't save any money because you end up using far more than you would if you used "real" paint.
Any 2:1 clear will give you a great result. Depth of image will be what you're looking for!
Hope this helps. I'm sure others will mention their favourite brand(s) but after being in the industry for many years, I can assure you that buying the best paint you can buy is worth more than what the price tag is.

[Project86]

i appreciate your advice for sure! thankfully all I have right now is primer on the truck.

ive become obsessed with making sure its as flat as possible, as I know how imperfections will show especially with this color.
(I Had another car painted this color by a no name shop and you could see sand scratches, bad bodywork, all through the paint)

thankfully I have a dedicated base coat and a dedicated clear as well as a dedicated primer.

I had issues with my primer gun last time and like I mentioned above, It sprayed a real rough texture even after mixing proper amount of activator and I had to add reducer to level the texture out.
probably a big no go right there.

the truck isn't a show quality truck, hence I wouldn't be here asking for some tips and advice.
however I do want it to look the best I can get it without any major flaws.

[72HuggerK20]

Originally Posted by Project86

I had issues with my primer gun last time and like I mentioned above, It sprayed a real rough texture even after mixing proper amount of activator and I had to add reducer to level the texture out.
probably a big no go right there.

Was it the gun or was it the setup? Were you running enough pressure? Close enough to the panel? Enough material flow? Everything makes a huge difference. Even if it is primer and you're going to sand it anyway, you still want it to be applied well. With the proper setup, mixed to manufacturer's recommendations, and applied as per their instructions, there should not be a problem.

What do you mean by a dedicated basecoat, clearcoat, and primer? A dedicated gun for each material?

95% of the paint job's success (or failure) comes from the prep work. Make sure that is absolutely correct, sanded to the paint system's recommendations, etc. Be careful when taping things off. Stuff like that.

[Project86]

certainly wasn't the gun. I clean it thoroughly after each and every use and have never had a problem.

I think it was an activator problem or it might have been the temperature that day.

it was I believe a 4:1 primer/activator mix

used a big siphon fed style gun with everything cleaned properly

pressure was around 40-45psi trigger pulled

after realizing what was happening I tried messing with the material knob, even though I have alignment marks I put on there for reference.
still no change. just wanted to spatter the paint on there.

I removed the tank. poured back into a strainer and mix cup. added a touch of reducer. restrained and poured back into the cup and it sprayed flawlessly.

other than a small section of terrible texture that luckily got sanded down, I don't want to let it happen again

[72HuggerK20]

I guess I wouldn't know about conventional siphon feed. I've never used one for anything really nice, just implement paint. I paint almost every primer with the fluid adjustment wide open and just adjust my speed. You're right that it isn't a huge deal, because the only point in using urethane primer/surfacer is to sand it and fill imperfections.

That being said, we're kind of off topic of your original question. What more are you still concerned/confused about?

[Project86]

When spraying color what is a good technique for good coverage without applying too much paint. 3-4 light coats for good coverage and application. Or when first spraying the color, lay it on a little light?

As for the clear a older buddy of mine with some paint and body experience (about 20 years) he was spraying clear on a friends 65 c10 hood.
He laid a light coat, let it flash, then slowed down his arm speed and laid a thicker more wet coat.

[72HuggerK20]

You're right with the color technique. You don't want to spray it super wet. You just want each coat to "seal" for lack of a better term. Base dries down flat no matter how much texture it appears to have when spraying it.

As far as clear, I assume that you're spraying in a garage, not a booth. The 3/4 coat technique followed by a full wet coat is very common to reduce the chance of getting runs. In your case (this is the only time I'd recommend going off label too) I think you should follow the 3/4 coat with two full wet coats. The reason being, it's a classic truck that you're doing an overall paint job on, so you want a glassy smooth finish rather than one with a factory style orange peel. The other reason is that you're not in a booth, so there will be dirt nibs no matter how hard you try to prevent it. If you can't already see where I'm going, I'm telling you that it's in your best interest to cut and buff.

Now, the reason for the extra coat of clear is to give you a little extra room to completely cut all of the orange peel out. Assuming that you don't sand and buff clear every day, you're going to want that extra room so you don't burn through as easily. If you do apply 3 coats, however, you must pay attention to your flash times so that you don't get solvent pop. Touch a piece of tape after your second coat, and when you pull your finger off and it's stringy, you're good to shoot the last coat.

[Project86]

Originally Posted by 72HuggerK20

You're right with the color technique. You don't want to spray it super wet. You just want each coat to "seal" for lack of a better term. Base dries down flat no matter how much texture it appears to have when spraying it.

As far as clear, I assume that you're spraying in a garage, not a booth. The 3/4 coat technique followed by a full wet coat is very common to reduce the chance of getting runs. In your case (this is the only time I'd recommend going off label too) I think you should follow the 3/4 coat with two full wet coats. The reason being, it's a classic truck that you're doing an overall paint job on, so you want a glassy smooth finish rather than one with a factory style orange peel. The other reason is that you're not in a booth, so there will be dirt nibs no matter how hard you try to prevent it. If you can't already see where I'm going, I'm telling you that it's in your best interest to cut and buff.

Now, the reason for the extra coat of clear is to give you a little extra room to completely cut all of the orange peel out. Assuming that you don't sand and buff clear every day, you're going to want that extra room so you don't burn through as easily. If you do apply 3 coats, however, you must pay attention to your flash times so that you don't get solvent pop. Touch a piece of tape after your second coat, and when you pull your finger off and it's stringy, you're good to shoot the last coat.

That definitely sounds a lot better to me.
The older guy I mentioned got a small CC run on y friends hood and he also knows how to cut and buff and does a real good job of it.

You're right about the garage. Although I might actually have access to a buddies paint booth after hours at a shop he runs.

[Project86]

Here's the color on the inside of the cab in low light/cellphone flash

This is on the very back flat panel on the inside of the cab. Shot in single stage

[72HuggerK20]

I shot my interior with single stage, too. I'll never do that again. BC/CC on the entire thing for me from now on.