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Clay,

Dusting like you're experiencing means your air pressure's too high. The gun says 25, but reduce the pressure to 20 or even 15 and test-spray a sheet of newspaper or a cardboard box. You'll probably be taken aback by the droplet size with lower pressure, but it all evens out on the surface.

Rob

Will give it a try thanks Rob. Maybe on these while it's still warm.

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Learning Curve, Clay - make sure you take notes and keep them somewhere safe....
The things I record are paint mix, type of thinners, air temp, humidity, pressure and gun settings..... if something goes belly up - one or more of those is wrong... and I go back through the pages of notes and find a similar job ... the wrong-un soon reveals why it went sour....

People who are spray painting all the time simply know what has to be done after pulling the trigger... sometimes, they can adjust the way they spray... but for us ham-fisted types who might go years between jobs... nothing compares to a good set of notes.... other than experience... and above all - confidence.... if you can step right up to a job knowing it's going to go down 100% perfect... you'll always get a better result..

Molly-coddling spray painting usually brings down everyone.. you just have to "hit it" and go from there... knowing what to change - notes...... and, you also have to accept - that not every job is going to go perfect.... keep your pen handy!

frats,
Rosco

25C 33%rh. 1:1 mix. 22psi. Wound the needle in to 1.5 turns out. World of difference.

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That is why this thread is so long rosco. Everything I do gets recorded here, well everything pertinent, mostly.............

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Bit too wet. One more coat.

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You're cooking, Clay... yes, 1:1 is one heck of a reduction from what you tried yesterday.
Humidity is good... and so too is temp.... enough "wet" in the air to slow the drying process down a bit.
This is why I uses a "slow" thinners on dry days... they evaporate slowly... and the paint stays wet until it fuses into what is already on the panel.
If you ever get this "grit" when you spray again... stop!.. nothing you can do to fix it.....
Worst is, if you do get it wet again and then block it back or compound it to polish the finish - you'll break back into the "grit" and you'll end up with what some people call "orange peel"... it has to all come off - you'll never get the finish you want with that underneath...
Not so bad in primer.. but you have to block it all off and get solid paint.... or it will come back to haunt you.... maybe not until the top coats - but, when the thinners in them fuse with the primer underneath - this "peel" will show through in the top coats..... you'll think straight away that the trouble is some reaction in the top coats... it's not - it's the trouble areas in the primer down deep which are coming to the surface as everything fuses in together..... same deal, when you don't allow enough time for flash-off between coats or passes... the thinners will stay in there for a long time... the thicker or number of coats causes more issues... acrylic is a great system - very forgivable.. but, it has limits - like everything else...

Great finish.

Me? - I firmly believe it's the increase in thinners which made such a change... and, as I suspected - there may have been a bit of "over-compensation" here... you simply didn't want another "dry film" build.. and have gone almost to the opposite end of the line... with it being wet, and "just" holding on from running....

This is all extremely good experience... you'll know more about what you see when you come to colour. Be warned though, colour will go on thinner - don't try to get full coverage in just one pass... build them up like you would a primer.... and allow plenty of time for the thinners to flash off - especially if there are plastic fillers in the acrylic primer beneath.. they will show through like dog's appendages and stay wet for much longer...

A hot thinner will penetrate all layers deeper and make them wet again... but, on a cold day - we might need to use a hot thinner.... it will flash off quicker than a normal GP.. and never use a slow thinner on a cold or humid day - recipe for runs.

Going well now - bet you sleep better tonight..

If you have some primer left over.. and want to "play" ... mix a small bit up at 2 parts paint to 1 part thinners... that is about as thick as i ever spray primer... thicker paint, needle wound out a bit more - getting the third setting of pressure to match is the trick... this is just "playing" don't use it on a panel.... if you learn to control the paint with it that thick - you'll learn that it's all three settings which have to meet at the right points to get a "wet" pass.... try your needle out at 3 1/2 and crank down on the pressure a bit to compensate... you'll know if you've gone too far down on pressure if you get a "crown" in the middle of a pass... there isn't enough air pressure to push the paint out the full fan width..
If you can master laying paint down so thick - it will teach you to look for the solution to a problem when you see it .....

It's a balance of all three... the viscosity of the paint is the base line which determines what the three of them have to be... hope that makes sense - glad I'm not reading it.... (sic)

frats,
Rosco

Thanks, a lot to take in as always r.

Washed off all the dust. Most of it is okay but the middle of the roof is the worst.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

lucky you have an FB to practise on before the main show EK

Yep


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

Roof came up good, no sand throughs.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

One step forwards, two steps back.... puppy walking...
Looks great Clay - second time around. Don't forget to keep it keyed up well.... a little bit of "rough" assures you that if you get stone chips etc.. all of it will hold together... polish that primer up too well, and you'll find everything on top will chip off if you take a few "road trophies" out in your travels.. these seem to show up worst when you take a highly prepared vehicle to a nats.... wash off all the trip road grime - and discover that you have "chips"....
Carry a small bottle of touch up paint - and some prepsol (wax and grease remover)... you can give the chips a wipe with wax and grease, then use a toothpick to "dot" a bit of fresh paint into the chips... draws the eyes of onlookers away from the damage.. and also protects the underlying damage are from rust etc....

I almost detest "trailer queens"... our buses are meant to be driven.. when they show up coming out of an enclosed trailer - they immediately loose an obligatory 100 points from me.. not that I now enter my old bus to be judged.... or fill out a judging form... but I do keep "score" in my head of what i believe to be the winners in each category... I don't believe I've ever allowed a "trailer queen" to get a look in...

And as for those which are roped off and sit up on mirrors.. looks pretty - but you might as well go to a dealership and look at a new vehicle.... if you want to see how they came off the production line... horses for courses... some love 'em.. they are not what I go to see at a nats.. or any other car show, for that matter....

Stick with it - we'll see colour soon... remember - those top coats are going to go on thin... you might waste a bit of paint on a practice panel... and I'd suggest pushing it both ways....... too wet and see "when" it's going to run... and also too "fast" a spray run... and see when it "dusts" up...
Distance from the gun is critical.. and don't forget to overlap by 1/3rd.... the "fan" of the gun does not lay paint down "flat".. it is usually built up higher in the middle... so, the 1/3rd overlap allows all of the passes to level out a bit better....

And..... (yes, there's more) - when you are about to spray - I like to lay a couple of extra coats down on "crowns" like the top of the fins at the rear and also the ridges along the top of the guards....
This is a bit of "insurance" for later on... when, after 20 years of claying, polishing and rubbing with cloths and chamoise - there is a bit of extra paint on places where you will rub through earlier than the flatter parts of panels....

The roof is the hard bit - I haven't done a van or wagon.. the sedan was bad enough... keeping the "wet edge" is difficult..
I was told to start at the edge and work towards the middle... quickly run around to the other side and "pick up" the wet edge from the centre - then continue to work "outwards" on the other side until reaching the gutter... if you start at the centre, it will more than likely be dry by the time you go to the other side.... and you'll see a "join" in the centre....

Little things, but they all help get "that" finish we all strive to achieve....

Good going.. looks a treat... don't get the nerves - pump yourself up with a bit of confidence and go onto the front foot... but, remember the test panel and knock the living daylights out of pushing the paint to find out what it "can't" do... not until then, will you be confident in what it "can" do....

frats,
Rosco

I was trying the technique you mention on the roof. Fat lot of good it did me. Cooler weather and showers the next week. Hopefully ready for top coat by tomorrow night. Might have to do some gardening while I wait for the weather, damn blast.i want to do the engine bay so I can shovel the donk back in and fit screen. Ordered a rubber from old auto rubber co. Got t o contact trimmer about head lining and get material to him.

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A little disturbed to learn that the "edge to centre and run like hell" didn't work for you, Clay - can you tell me a bit more?

Of course, we might not be blaming the suggested technique here, it may have been almost entirely to the thick paint and resultant dry "sand" film .....

I'd still suggest the exact same method..... I'm almost certain it will work perfectly if your paint mix and weather etc are "set"....
I don't believe "any" technique would have resulted in a better finish by the application of a paint mix which simply wasn't set for the conditions...

frats,
Rosco

Can't resist a fiddle.

Wasn't the running technique that failed.

It is still 22C and 45% RH but won't be in the morning.

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