Advice from the experts please

[Flapdisk]

I have sprayed a few cars years ago with the old system before the new gravity fed guns, I have bought myself an Iwata gravity fed gun and I have a nice two cylinder compressor and a reg at the gun. My 29 year old Carina is Cellulose and I got the paint ok and some epoxy primer.

Now to the question, I have been doing the car a panel at a time as I am in my garage/shed, and have been learning the best settings for the pressure and fan, having done one side of the car I have reached a standard where the finish has only the very slightest orange peel if you look really close and it shines nice, but when it comes to large surfaces like the bonnet I am crap. I sprayed it exactly the same as the doors and wings but it had a very rough finish after the first two coats, I let it dry and rubbed it flat again with wet and dry and sprayed again with a lower setting on the needle, not a lot of paint going on at all and it took three coats to get a reasonable finish giving it about 15 minutes between coats but it still is a bit rough and has a worse orange peel than all the other spray work.

Is there a special technique for spraying large panels?

 

[richie00boy]

You need more material going on, not less, if it's dusty and peely. It needs to flow out.

 

[Flapdisk]

Thanks Richie, but then doesn't that cause orange peel?

 

[500e]

The difference between flow & runs is small & that is where the finish is

 

[Flapdisk]

Ok, would it be best to spray the bonnet flat or with it open on the stay?

 

[norsa]

Don't take too much notice of "American spray my pimp". The first thing to be painted on a panel are the unseen, difficult to get to and esp edges areas and the last thing to paint is the surface, therefore you cant do a decent job whist the panels are attached in any wat to the car. I will always choose to paint a panel (or multipanels off the car and in a vertical plane.
Nick

 

[Flapdisk]

Don't take too much notice of "American spray my pimp". The first thing to be painted on a panel are the unseen, difficult to get to and esp edges areas and the last thing to paint is the surface, therefore you cant do a decent job whist the panels are attached in any wat to the car. I will always choose to paint a panel (or multipanels off the car and in a vertical plane.
Nick

Ok well let's pretend it's the roof then what would the technique be? do you spray once in one direction and next time at right angle to that so you don't get striping?

 

[richie00boy]

Do your edges first then go over the main area of the panel. You should overlap each pass by half, go right then go left then go right again.

 

[norsa]

What richie say and that goes back to my technique comment. The only time I would put a cross coat on is at the drop coat stage.

 

[Flapdisk]

Thanks guys, errr what's a drop coat?

 

[norsa]

Its a time sensitive coat that pro's use to give good depth to the met/mica. imagine a wet coat of metallic. All the metallic particles will basically fall flat into the wet paint. If however, just as the last colour coat is about to flash off, you drop a really light mist coat over it spraying from a distance and changing direction in a random but consistent fashion across the panel and adjacent panel, all the met particles will lay in different planes thus creating an even colour (from the standard colour coats) but a depth of refraction from the multi angled metallic. Make any sense.
P.S this is not for the armature sprayer. Get the timing or technique wrong and it can go to rat ****.
Nick

 

[Flapdisk]

yes that certainly does make sense, thanks Nick.

 

[norsa]

welcome. and thanks to the mod for correcting my choice of final terminology.

 

[Paul.]

welcome. and thanks to the mod for correcting my choice of final terminology.

You're welcome

 

[langy]

welcome. and thanks to the mod for correcting my choice of final terminology.

Missed the armature sprayer though

 

[norsa]

thanks Steve. Oxford English Dick and Harry:- "An ARMATURE sprayer is the guy what squirts copper coating on starter motor windings"................actually.