Metallic practice

[Daz1968]

I have done a bit of painting but only solid colours, would like to learn about metallic so I can do a few repairs to my own cars,
I have a mk3 golf front wing to practice with. Was planning on trying to paint it in metallic clear over base, then once can do that try a few blends within the panel. What is a good colour to use so that I can hopefully gain the skills needed. And if I paint whole panel do I need a different shade to practice blends or is it ok with same paint. I was hoping one of the stock colours like silver or bmw metallic black would be suitable.
Also anyone any advice to start me off as I read about full wet, medium wet and drop coats but need some advice on how to differentiate between them. My gun is a devilbiss sri pro and as I am planning mainly touch ups want to stick with it. The clear coat I am ok with as it's not really much different to applying direct gloss.

 

[steveo3002]

silver or a light blue would be what id choose

depending on how it covers 2x decent coats , not sopping wet just a decent coat (remember your not going for a shine yet) then when thats flashed over do a lighter drop coat from a distance to ensure its all even with no stripes

for a blend ..i guess if you could add a few drips of something else to make it a slightly off shade it might help , otherwise paint from the same tin would be too easy

 

[the snooper]

full wet coat, looks wet and can cause the metallic to create patterns if you go too heavy
hard to explain but a normal coat doesn't look much different when applied to when its dry but there are exceptions depending on base used
and a drop coat it the base misted on from further away to get the coverage looking even

 

[steveo3002]

too heavy and a silver will look like dark grey and have a hammerite ish effect , unless you apply it really badly it usualy evens out as it dries

 

[the snooper]

and not even enough will show lines when the clear is applied

 

[Daz1968]

Jawel do moondust silver for about £18 a litre as it's a stock colour, might as well practice with a difficult one, my actual car I need to paint is dark metallic so may be easy after trying silver. Thanks will give it a go

 

[steveo3002]

something else to watch out for compared to gloss - if you have a sanded edge on old paint or some primer theres a bigger chance of the basecoat attacking that edge and causing it to pickle up . it shouldnt happen on proper prepped and cured primers , but anything thats had a previous back street paint job you need to take caution on it

if it does happen let it dry and 1200 the crinkles out , then dust on the base coat until its covered

 

[Daz1968]

the main job I need to do after practice is the front wing of my car. It has previously had a quick repair with 1k clear and it is peeling in a few places where not prepared properly, was hoping to sand all high build prime and basecoat where needed then a full coat of 2k clear, just not got confidence to do it without some practice as only ever touched up wheel arch lips and mirror backs in metallic before so not really an area big enough to be difficult

 

[steveo3002]

sand it back at least to the original paint then prime it , base coat the full wing and if you want a perfect match blend into the door

 

[Daz1968]

Thanks, if I do blend into door is that panel just grey scotched all over and clearcoated, ie no primer on it. Think I need to practice a bit before I tackle it, have been quoted £500 to paint wing and blend into door and I have all materials apart from base coat in stock.

 

[richie00boy]

I would sand all traces of the old repair off, it's likely they used 1k primer which will just give you problems if you don't take it all off. Then epoxy or 2k prime the area to fill and level it as appropriate. If there is no damage there is no need to prime, basecoat can go over keyed old (sound) paint.

 

[steveo3002]

yeah just grey scotch pad the door until its a uniform dull all over

if the wing is still on the car mask off the rest off the car so the wing and door is exposed , clean it all ready for paint with panel wipe etc ,then paper the door over

get the first couple of coats on the wing so its covered , then whip off the paper and blow a bit of colour along the edge ,flick your wrist to blend it away into the door