painting fibreglass straight from the mould
Discussion
Hi Guys,
had a bit of a search and not found the answers.
basically i have a sprint/hillclimber that ive made some new fibreglass panels for. they have a thin gelcoat surface, flatted and ready to prime and paint. now heres the thing, i want to DIY spray it myself for a few reasons.
i used to do a lot of airbrushing so have a vague notion of the principles.
it will almost certainly habve the odd *ahem* scenery graze *cough* during the season so may need a panel replacing or repairing at short notice, cant rely (or afford) a quick trip to the paint shop each time.
ive painted the car before a couple of times in a soild colour, but on top of flatted paint, not fresh f/glass
this time i was thinking of using cellulose, less safety implications than 1k or 2k modern paints.
i want to paint it silver (just to be awkward lol)
what primer? what paint? do i need a final clear lacquer etc etc
OK guys, thats your mission should you wish to accept it, hit me with advice, comments and reasons why i shouldnt bother :-)
cheers
Craig
had a bit of a search and not found the answers.
basically i have a sprint/hillclimber that ive made some new fibreglass panels for. they have a thin gelcoat surface, flatted and ready to prime and paint. now heres the thing, i want to DIY spray it myself for a few reasons.
i used to do a lot of airbrushing so have a vague notion of the principles.
it will almost certainly habve the odd *ahem* scenery graze *cough* during the season so may need a panel replacing or repairing at short notice, cant rely (or afford) a quick trip to the paint shop each time.
ive painted the car before a couple of times in a soild colour, but on top of flatted paint, not fresh f/glass
this time i was thinking of using cellulose, less safety implications than 1k or 2k modern paints.
i want to paint it silver (just to be awkward lol)
what primer? what paint? do i need a final clear lacquer etc etc
OK guys, thats your mission should you wish to accept it, hit me with advice, comments and reasons why i shouldnt bother :-)
cheers
Craig
Well I make composite parts but dont paint them!!! lool...
First make sure the component is free of any release agents. This can be done as simply as by washing with warm water in the case of a PVA release. This tends to be a blue film that simply disolves.
There are other release agents but the act of prepairing the gel coat by flatting down with 800 or 1000 wet and dry will remove any. After flatting down use pannel wipe to remove any grease/particles.
The most important thing I'd suggest is to use a quality "etch" primer. As your local automotive paint supplier for the best to use and also what paint system.
A further point would be to possibly look at "plasticising" the paint, this is done on flexible pannels like bumpers that are going to get knocked about. If its a race car then your bound to get a few knocks and scrapes...
good luck.
First make sure the component is free of any release agents. This can be done as simply as by washing with warm water in the case of a PVA release. This tends to be a blue film that simply disolves.
There are other release agents but the act of prepairing the gel coat by flatting down with 800 or 1000 wet and dry will remove any. After flatting down use pannel wipe to remove any grease/particles.
The most important thing I'd suggest is to use a quality "etch" primer. As your local automotive paint supplier for the best to use and also what paint system.
A further point would be to possibly look at "plasticising" the paint, this is done on flexible pannels like bumpers that are going to get knocked about. If its a race car then your bound to get a few knocks and scrapes...
good luck.
just a bit of an update.
took advice from a paint supplier and bought '1k' (1 pack PPG Delcoat iirc) paint and thinner along with a suitable primer.
saturday removed all panels from the vehicle and painted horizontally on a stand.
primed and flatted back then applied 2 coats of silver. paint finish pretty good (for me and considering its for a racer, not expecting too much), but a couple of areas that werent as good as the others (slightly hammerite finish which i guess is too much paint or too close with the gun).
sunday bolted all panels back on, and added a 3rd coat in order to get the silver finish to all flow in the same direction (when panels bolted back on the car the 'grain' of the silver was different, think lines in a bowling green lawn).
made a complete arse of the 3rd coat, with a primarily even but dull finish.
pretty sure it was inexperience on my part with settings on the gun (a better one than the cheap simple one ive prev used) or pressure. couldnt get a smooth 'wet' application, seemed not to atomise properly.
any advice on
a) is it possible to use a rubbing compound and polishing mop to get a reasonable improvement? if so do i flat back with say 1500 grade wet n dry first or just the rubbing compound?
b) if not and i have to flat back and respray top coat, what pressures to spray at?
any advice much appreciated
cheers
CNH
took advice from a paint supplier and bought '1k' (1 pack PPG Delcoat iirc) paint and thinner along with a suitable primer.
saturday removed all panels from the vehicle and painted horizontally on a stand.
primed and flatted back then applied 2 coats of silver. paint finish pretty good (for me and considering its for a racer, not expecting too much), but a couple of areas that werent as good as the others (slightly hammerite finish which i guess is too much paint or too close with the gun).
sunday bolted all panels back on, and added a 3rd coat in order to get the silver finish to all flow in the same direction (when panels bolted back on the car the 'grain' of the silver was different, think lines in a bowling green lawn).
made a complete arse of the 3rd coat, with a primarily even but dull finish.
pretty sure it was inexperience on my part with settings on the gun (a better one than the cheap simple one ive prev used) or pressure. couldnt get a smooth 'wet' application, seemed not to atomise properly.
any advice on
a) is it possible to use a rubbing compound and polishing mop to get a reasonable improvement? if so do i flat back with say 1500 grade wet n dry first or just the rubbing compound?
b) if not and i have to flat back and respray top coat, what pressures to spray at?
any advice much appreciated
cheers
CNH
1k silvers are a nightmare , sounds like you have got a few streaks in the paint , which is common with silver .
I'd of dusted a couple of coats of paint in all directions over the job after you had covered the primer , this eliminate streaks .
I'd of then used a 1k lacquer which you can flat back and polish up with G3 , and some 1500 .
I'd of dusted a couple of coats of paint in all directions over the job after you had covered the primer , this eliminate streaks .
I'd of then used a 1k lacquer which you can flat back and polish up with G3 , and some 1500 .
cheers for the info :-). no streaks, just a dull matt finish in places. gonna let harden and the polish up with the mop.
i went against all advice going for silver anyway, shouldve known better lol. nothing like making things a challenge though ;-)
can any 1k silver be overcoated with a lacquer?
i went against all advice going for silver anyway, shouldve known better lol. nothing like making things a challenge though ;-)
can any 1k silver be overcoated with a lacquer?
Edited by CNHSS1 on Tuesday 3rd June 09:33
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