Newbie Painting Q's. Never thought of these until started painting!

[HolyRoller]

So, painting a full set of plastic fairings on my 84 gs750ef.

Did a LOT of prep work over the winter, so that is not an issue. However, when I finally got the shop warm enough, I put some clear plastic sheets, set up a decent fan (sucking air out of the "booth") and bought paint. The plan is to paint a base coat of black, with some red and silver sections on top of the black. Couple of questions now that I have actually attempted to paint the black base coat....

1. I have a couple of runs in a couple of places. The paint gun was new and I thought I had it setup properly, but evidently not. I also think I may have been a little heavy on the third coat. Additionally, while I was painting, somehow, a few drops of black paint seemed to come out of the top of my gravity reservoir and landed on two of the pieces already sprayed. That was not cool. So, few small runs, few drops of black paint. Otherwise, really looks good. I haven't sprayed clear yet.

2. With the above in mind... can I wet sand the base coat (runs and drops), re-spray those areas, and use some mineral oil or other degreaser and move on to clear? Since by now, the base I have sprayed will be pretty dry... is this a major problem? Will I have to scuff the base at this point before spraying clear?

3. As I am going to be masking the black base and spraying a fair amount of red and a small amount of silver... should I mask straight over the black? Should I scuff the black before masking and painting the other colours? After the red and silver are completed... do I scuff the whole thing before spraying clear?

I am quite inexperienced but determined to learn this and do it myself... even if I make mistakes. I would really appreciate any advice. The mistakes I made spraying the base coat (runs) are likely significant enough that a thick coating of clear and sanding will not cover it up. I need to fix the base coat.... and need some advice.

Thanks in advance for any info.

I will look through the threads to see what I can find, but am too exhausted to spend too much time searching.. I hope someone here has some sage advice.

 

[HolyRoller]

Finish will resemble the picture below.

 

[HolyRoller]

Bump.

 

[High On Octane]

You sound a little over you head, but I'll try to help. So first and foremost, DO NOT USE MINERAL SPIRITS ANYWHERE NEAR ANYTHING YOU ARE PAINTING!!!!!

OK, yes, you can wet sand base coat to remove runs. Use 1000 grit paper to do so. Wipe down with W&GR (wax and grease remover) and dry, then apply a dust coat of paint to the sanded area, followed by re-coating entire panel until finish is uniform and even. The reason you got paint drops on your paint work is because you either have a crappy paint gun with a crappy lid that doesn't seal, or you are getting too carried away and moving your paint gun too violently and causing the paint in the cup to slosh around too much. You say you think you had your gun set up right, you probably don't. I can't teach you to set up a gun with words, but essentially, it should be at 20-25psi and a full fan, but not too wide that the fan is heavier in the middle than the top and bottom, or vice versa. You can tape on top of base coat and spray your 2 tone. Just use caution and make sure your hands are clean, or better yet, wear latex gloves. Most base coats need to be top (clear) coated within 24-48 hours. If you exceed this window, you're playing craps. If you scuff or sand your base coat, the scratches will show thru in the clear, especially on high metallics or pearls. If you just clear over the base, there about a 30% chance the clear will flake off in a few years, depending on the brand and quality of the paint line.

 

[HolyRoller]

H-O-C.

Thank you for the reply. I realize I am a little over my head, but I really want to learn to paint well. I certainly have a new appreciation for what bodyshops do.

Thanks for the tips. I WAS sloshing the paint around too much in the beginning, which led to the drips... the gun quality is unknown to me as it is my dad's. I just use it.

I really appreciate the tips. I am almost at the 48 hour window so will have to get moving on it. Overall it looks quite good and the runs were primarily because I was painting in my "booth" with too little light and the base coat was black which made painting some angles very difficult to see. I get that now and will pick some very bright shop lights on stands next time I paint.

I am a big fan of learning by doing... and the bike is not an expensive one. If I have to do some over again, I will be okay with that.

I only used the mineral spirits to clean the original plastic pieces.. so glad you tipped me off on that as I was preparing to use it as a degreaser throughout.

I will try to get some pictures when I get back out to the shop.

 

[High On Octane]

If the item is sanded then you can respray it when ever you want. When doing graphics and multi-colors it can be goofy. You need to make sure that you wait long enough for the paint to dry so your tape doesn't track, but you don't want to wait too long and miss your windows. So when I'm taping graphics, I generally will spray my sealer and first color of base in the evening and let it dry over night. Then tape and mask first thing in the morning and shoot the next color, let it dry 2-4 hours and repeat. Drying times all depend on air flow, temp, and humidity. After masking but before spraying, wipe it down with W&GR, have the paper towel completely damp, but wrung out so it evaporates almost immediately as your wiping. This is get get rid of any finger prints and skin oils off of the paint. Blue "Shop" towel (the blue paper towels at auto parts stores and such) work excellent for cleaning up paint guns and body work in general. Make sure to tack cloth to get any dirt or fuzz off. Also, always thoroughly clean the gun after each use and between primer, base and clear.

 

[SASO Racing]

Like said above, don't use paint thinner/ minreal spirits. Use lacquer thinner.

To reduce paint imperfections and lifting I always do about 2 "dust coats" this builds a foundation for the wet coats. It really helps when there is an in perfection like bare metal exposed from sanding through primer. the dust coats even things out.

Dust coats are about .25 - .5 of a wet coat. If you look close they are little dots of paint that dry quickly. I have seen someone paint the first coat so wet and quickly doing a second on a whole car that the gold paint on this Nissan sentra Completely wrinkled up and they had to scrape it all off. Messy.


Also, do not paint over the same area twice without waiting. You will overlap an inch or two but no more. That's how you get runs is by not being patient. This is especially important on the clear coat.


In regards to your base runs. Just hit the high spots and don't worry too much because the clear will hide most of it if it's not in plain sight.

 

[HolyRoller]

Thanks for all the replies. Its a steep learning curve. It is also something I really want to learn to do. Always a handy skill to have.

Again, when I get a chance I will post some pictures of the project.

 

[Tune-A-Fish]

"not a painter" but paint.... sometimes.

Just an FYI: "runs" your not trying to get a glossy base color, i used to try to get the base to go on like a glossy rat can and it always caused runs because I was over applying the base coat. Spray nice even mil layers until you have a nice even cover of color and let the clear do the magic.