Painting a front wing

[Turbo]

You seem to be rubbing through quite a lot.
It is either your sanding technique or not enough paint or both.

 

[Kram]

As I said, it went on rough as my mix/settings were not right so needed a lot of sanding.

Much happier with it now, couple of runs to sort but that will be easy, not near the edges.

 

[steveo3002]

i would never reach for a 3" pad for that , 5 or 6" with an interface pad

couple of light coats of aersol epoxy would have been enough and it sprays on smooth

 

[Kram]

i would never reach for a 3" pad for that , 5 or 6" with an interface pad

Thats interesting to know. Theres quite a concave curve that the 3" struggled to get into without excessively tilting it, and I was using an interface pad, so I think 3" was better suited.. but then I've not used a bigger one on panels but I was using it right up to the edges.

Wanted to avoid 1k aerosols, gave me problems in the past.. all aerosols that is.

Anyway theres no rush for this since I have a spare panel fitted now in dark grey.

An update, sanding the primer mostly went well, but still went too far on a few edges, tiny little rubs or not even rubbed through but very thin.

As I had the small plastic trim to do I mixed up another pot of wet epoxy, touched up the rub throughs and gave the trim 3 coats.

I then noticed I missed an edge around the headlamp but had already cleaned gun, so that got brush painted. I expect I will regret that when I go to sand it!

 

[Kram]

I was quite happy with it today, fully prepared, no rub throughs and ready for base coat. I was giving it a last clean when my chair leg snapped and I fell to the ground. The panel bounced backwards off the table, landing with some big scratches

Currently waiting for 1k plastic primer to dry as I'm out of patience. It did rub through with more sanding.

 

[Kram]

@Onoff you dont know how many hours I've spent on this!

Anyway the trim panel was ready, atleast, and nicely primered. I exoected that to give me more problems due to PP plastic, but all was good. One last clean with meths inside my freshly vacuumed, mopped, clean tent, and on with colour.

Spot the fisheye
Other than that it sprayed perfectly. The red is much deeper and darker in person, this camera doesnt pick up reds very well..

Wipe off, light sand and start again?

 

[mr haynes]

Spot the fisheye

Thought they were bolt holes.....

Soz couldn't help it, i appreciate the frustrations painting can bring

 

[angellonewolf]

@Onoff you dont know how many hours I've spent on this!

Anyway the trim panel was ready, atleast, and nicely primered. I exoected that to give me more problems due to PP plastic, but all was good. One last clean with meths inside my freshly vacuumed, mopped, clean tent, and on with colour.

View attachment 537259

Spot the fisheye
Other than that it sprayed perfectly. The red is much deeper and darker in person, this camera doesnt pick up reds very well..

Wipe off, light sand and start again?

good on you for keeping going id have thrown the dummy out the pram and launched it by now

 

[Onoff]

@Onoff you dont know how many hours I've spent on this!

I was laughing at the irony of you having put so much work in and for that to happen, not at your misfortune.

You'll get there and have learnt loads en route.

 

[Misterg]

One last clean with meths ...

[...]

... Spot the fisheye

You're probably better off using a wax and silicone remover panel wipe than meths. You can buy it by the litre if you don't want 5L hanging around.

e.g.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Novol-Degreaser-Anti-Silicone-Pre-Paint-Cleaner/dp/B088Q1VFFX

 

[qwakers]

if youre using meths that is 100% the reason for fisheye. use panel wipe. its not expensive.

 

[Kram]

Lesson learned..somone told me that meths and IPA alcohol, was near enough and worked ok. I've not previously had issue with silicone.

I was intending to buy the proper stuff however the paint shop only had 5L tins, and I already have more solvents around than I want, so at the time I got one of those from local tool station on way home.

If there any suitable alternatives that I can buy on a Sunday from local shops?

Then with P800 I dry sanded the defect back to primer and scuffed up the whole face. I gave it another wipe with meths and it all came off

Meths did not touch the 1k spray can primer I was using earlier, but seems to wet the basecoat.

I'd had enough, thinners out, wiped the trim back to epoxy. I'm not going to make any progresss today. Then wiped off all of the 1k primer from the panel back to metal.
I got the 0.8mm nozzle out and mixed up more epoxy primer and gave all the rub throughs, 3 thinned coats. I got all of them as I'd used permanent marker and big arrows to point at each!

I absoletely hate cleaning epoxy primer out of my guns. I'm also finding it seems to settle, where the paint left behind the nozzle and needle seal is very thick sludge - might explain the occasional problem I get with it not spraying well. I used a 190micron paint filter for filling gun..

Going to order a pair of smaller nozzles for the GF3 for primer duty

 

[Misterg]

I've not previously had issue with silicone.

It might not be silicone (but it could be) - meths can hold water that gets left behind when it evaporates. The dye in the purple stuff also gets left behind when the meths evaporates.

Halfords sell an aerosol silicone remover / paint prep spray, but I've no idea if it's any good.

Halfords Surface Cleaner 400 ml | Halfords IE

www.halfords.ie

 

[Turbo]

Lesson learned..somone told me that meths and IPA alcohol, was near enough and worked ok. I've not previously had issue with silicone.

I was intending to buy the proper stuff however the paint shop only had 5L tins, and I already have more solvents around than I want, so at the time I got one of those from local tool station on way home.

If there any suitable alternatives that I can buy on a Sunday from local shops?

Then with P800 I dry sanded the defect back to primer and scuffed up the whole face. I gave it another wipe with meths and it all came off

Meths did not touch the 1k spray can primer I was using earlier, but seems to wet the basecoat.

I'd had enough, thinners out, wiped the trim back to epoxy. I'm not going to make any progresss today. Then wiped off all of the 1k primer from the panel back to metal.
I got the 0.8mm nozzle out and mixed up more epoxy primer and gave all the rub throughs, 3 thinned coats. I got all of them as I'd used permanent marker and big arrows to point at each!

I absoletely hate cleaning epoxy primer out of my guns. I'm also finding it seems to settle, where the paint left behind the nozzle and needle seal is very thick sludge - might explain the occasional problem I get with it not spraying well. I used a 190micron paint filter for filling gun..

Going to order a pair of smaller nozzles for the GF3 for primer duty

I never have a problem with epoxy primer clogging my guns.
What brand is it?
Are you stirring the tin thoroughly before pouring it into the mixing cup?
If you are not doing so already mix your paint by weight. I use a set of cheap 2kg digital kitchen scales.
You can get your mix a lot more accurate than mixing by volume, especially on small quantities.

Have you stopped heating the paint up beforehand?

Heat will greatly speed up the setting time of the chemical reaction that sets the epoxy paint.

I mix my paint at room temperature, usually well under 20 degrees, apply it to a prewarmed panel and then continue to keep the panel warm to let the paint go off.

If I'm not going to overcoat it that day I'll switch off the heater after an hour and let it fully harden naturally.

I think the epoxy is setting in your gun. If mixed right you should have a gun time of a few hours. I think there is a problem with either your paint or your mixing.
Stop warming the paint up beforehand, that is just youtube bs. You will never see a professional paint shop warming paint. If the paint is too thick add more thinners. I usually add 10%, try it in the gun, if it doesn't spray put it back into the mixing cup and add 2% more. Keep doing this until it sprays nicely.
Write that ratio on the paint can for future use and what gun/tip you used.
For example for a 3-1 paint mix I would have 75g of primer, 25g of hardener and initially add 10g of thinners, try it out and if not spraying add 2g thinners.
Each tin of paint may be a slightly different thickness so your thinners % might have to be changed.

Are you using proper epoxy thinners? Don't use standard thinners to mix paint. It is a recycled product and contains water and other contaminants. Only good for washing brushes and spraying equipment.

When you are not painting don't store the gun full of paint in the heated spray booth. That will make it set quicker in the gun!

It may seem obvious but never put leftover paint mixed with hardener back into the paint tin. I have seen it done and even a tiny amount of hardener can turn that paint into jelly over a few weeks.

And ditch the methylated spirit. By using it instead of panel wipe you have already ruined one object. In a pinch you might get away with white spirit but panel wipe is the proper stuff. Wipe it on with a clean cloth and wipe it off with another clean cloth. If you don't wipe it off again you are just spreading any contaminants around the panel, not actually removing it.

 

[steveo3002]

im tight but always use panel wipe , whats the point possibly destroying a job over a few quid ?

 

[steveo3002]

i find the epoxy does take some cleaning , wont get away with a quick slosh out with gun wash

then again the quality of gun wash is rock bottom these days

 

[Kram]

im tight but always use panel wipe , whats the point possibly destroying a job over a few quid ?

Its not about the money, I dont want 5L of every possible solvent taking space. The paint shop did not have anything smaller.

@Turbo it was not heated but there is no issue with slightly warming the paint. Yes I weigh paint on 200g extra sensitive scales which is needed to get accurate hardener.
I am using 2k thinners. Not the best but it is not recycled gunwash.

While it may be setting in the gun, or settling out, its a pain. Hb 989. I've not got much left and its about 5 years old.

I use kitchen roll as cloths for panel wiping.

 

[harveyp6]

I knew a guy that used to respray refuse trucks and other commercial vehicles and he had a two ring electric hob that he kept two 5l tins of his paint sitting on, then he'd pour it in his gun and spray it while it was nice and warm, and a lovely job he made of them too.

 

[steveo3002]

I knew a guy that used to respray refuse trucks and other commercial vehicles and he had a two ring electric hob that he kept two 5l tins of his paint sitting on, then he'd pour it in his gun and spray it while it was nice and warm, and a lovely job he made of them too.

works with synthetic paints , not so much 2k

 

[JOEPRO]

Its not about the money, I dont want 5L of every possible solvent taking space. The paint shop did not have anything smaller.

@Turbo it was not heated but there is no issue with slightly warming the paint. Yes I weigh paint on 200g extra sensitive scales which is needed to get accurate hardener.
I am using 2k thinners. Not the best but it is not recycled gunwash.

While it may be setting in the gun, or settling out, its a pain. Hb 989. I've not got much left and its about 5 years old.

I use kitchen roll as cloths for panel wiping.

Ebay has 1L cans of panel wipe if you want to order one for next time if it won't arrive in time for this job. I ordered this one last week and it seems decent

Pardon our interruption...

One of the things about bodywork I learned was to get all supllies in early and plenty of them to not stop progress