Can i just confirm i'm rattlecan painting correctly!

[bigfatnick]

Hi all. I'm just in the process of repairing the rust on my car before i go travelling for a year (i feared there'd be nothing left of the car by the time i got back).

Anyways, i've just done the rear arch and although its the best rattlecan paintjob i've ever done i feel i can do much better. so, where am i going wrong?

Step 1, fill, rub it down as much as possible.
Step 2, Prime the hell out of it, then rub it smooth with wet 2000grit paper.
Step 3, paint.
Now, this is where i'm not sure where i'm going wrong. Becuase i got quite bad orange peel last time! So do i...

A, Rub the paint down with wet highgrit paper till its dead smooth then laquer. Then rub down the laquer and buff back up? (will the laquer stick to the paint? will the paint look scratched under the laquer?)
B, Laquer straight over the paint as it dries, then rub down the laquer and buff it back up?
C, Other option?

Thanks in advance

[Stu R]

2000 grit is waaaay too fine for rubbing back primer.

wet 800 or 1000 will be fine.

orange peel is easy to get with rattle cans, but try keeping the can straight instead of angled, and don't put too much on. better to have lots of very fine layers, than a couple of very thick ones.

[bigfatnick]

thanks, so can you confirm which technique to do once the paints dried and before i laquer it? Thanks mate

[Stu R]

it varies to be honest.

Firstly, it's important to let the paint dry properly before you go anywhere near it with lacquer. Generally I leave things to cure overnight once I've done the final coat, or at least a few hours with a heat lamp.

The quality of the paint and whether it needs rubbing back depends mostly on how good your prep work is. Somewhat of a cliché but 90% of getting a good result painting is in the prep work.

So once you've got the primer rubbed back, let the paint dry, and judge whether it needs any finishing sanding. if it does make sure it's dry and cured, then give it a wet sand with some 1200 or 1500 grit. once that's done give it a good wipe down and panel wipe, and when it's bone dry you're good to lacquer it. Treat the lacquer as paint, don't put too thick a layer on and try and keep the angle the same, and be careful not to overdo it at the edges of the panels.

That's what I do anyway, but there's millions of techniques and everyone has their own method it seems.

[bigfatnick]

thanks mate. You've basically kinda confirmed that i'm not gonna wreck anything by rubbing down the paint before laquering. Thats just kinda what i really wanted to know.

I've always heard about the whole 90% of the result is in the prep, and last time i painted (barring last week) i was 5 years younger, and nowhere near as patient. It really shows in the work i did last week how much difference good prep makes! It was much better than anything i've done before, but theres always room for improvement, and if i could just get it a little less orange peely, i'd be happy!

Thanks

Edited by bigfatnick on Wednesday 8th July 08:24

[Anatol]

bigfatnick said:

thanks mate. You've basically kinda confirmed that i'm not gonna wreck anything by rubbing down the paint before laquering.

You might if the paint is metallic or pearl. Flatting these paints removes the flakes from the top layer of paint and can drastically affect the tone, leaving them dark and muddy as a result. As a general rule, the final blend of metallics or pearls should never be rubbed down before clearcoating.

Tol

[rsstman]

no rust treatment?

[bigfatnick]

Anatol said:

bigfatnick said:

thanks mate. You've basically kinda confirmed that i'm not gonna wreck anything by rubbing down the paint before laquering.

You might if the paint is metallic or pearl. Flatting these paints removes the flakes from the top layer of paint and can drastically affect the tone, leaving them dark and muddy as a result. As a general rule, the final blend of metallics or pearls should never be rubbed down before clearcoating.

Tol

cool, thanks mate, thats very good to know, almost made a mistake there!

rsstman said:

no rust treatment?

yes, sorry, forgot to mention, removed every last morsal of rust i could, then blathered it in rust killer, tidied that up and now i'm currently waiting for bits of filler to dry! so i can make it smooth then get on with the primering!