Painting a VW camper in stages advice please

[Elkie885]

Hi, I'm about ready to paint the bus and I want to do it two tone with a white top and Yellow bottom half, divided at the swage line like the bus in the picture, however even in 2 halves this still seems like a lot to spray in one go so what I was thinking was to spray the inside first, then the roof to the gutter line then the rear and one side and then the front on the other side, and then the bottom in a similar fashion. I was planning on one stage per evening. What are the pitfalls to avoid if doing it like this or would it be better to do the roof then the top all the way round followed by the bottom all the way round.
My bus is the second pic

 

[Chickenjohn]

That rear quarter panel has a lot of layers of paint on it. That might cause some problems with lifting and wrinkling. If it was my van I would strip the rear 1/4 down to bare metal, then etch prime it before doing any filler/ primer coats.

 

[Elkie885]

That's mostly different colour filler, Blue is old top coat and the beige is the old primer, the bluey/green is filler and the yellow is a fine filler and the grey is primer, the white is light reflection as my phone doesn't take good pictures

 

[edzt]

What size gun and what cfm. compressor have you got?
What kind of paint?

I think you're over-estimating how long it's going to take you per coat
Your way will end up with a lot of dry edges you'll have to flat before the next stage.

How are you going to access the roof to spray and can you remove it quickly to continue down to the waist swage

like the van

 

[Chickenjohn]

That's mostly different colour filler, Blue is old top coat and the beige is the old primer, the bluey/green is filler and the yellow is a fine filler and the grey is primer, the white is light reflection as my phone doesn't take good pictures

There is still a lot of edges of different materials, which can be a recipie for disaster! I hope you get away with it, but if you don't, then go back to the bare metal.

 

[Elkie885]

I Have a devilbis finish line gun and a 150L 13cfm compressor and I will be using cellulose. To access the roof I will be using a small step ladder

 

[mike os]

Better to do each colour as a single coat. Dry edges & joins are a pita to make look right& much more work

Depending on the paint you may need to apply all coats while still wet

I would do the top half & spray into the lower section then mask at the waist

You may need to fit doors to get the line exactly right

 

[edzt]

Can't see a problem, you'll have no problem doing each colour in one hit.

Think about you roof access though, scaffolding planks down each side?
You'll have to move quickly with celly to avoid dry edges or be prepared for a lot of flatting and polishing

I too would worry about that rear quarter repair 'mapping' - Sealer or Barcoat?

 

[Chickenjohn]

-snip-
I too would worry about that rear quarter repair 'mapping' - Sealer or Barcoat?

Yes, we have seen a few amateur sprayers on here coming undone by taking what they throught was a short cut! But ends up them having to do the job twice and then some. I say do it right the first time-

Take it to bare metal!

 

[Elkie885]

Yes, we have seen a few amateur sprayers on here coming undone by taking what they throught was a short cut! But ends up them having to do the job twice and then some. I say do it right the first time-

Take it to bare metal!

About 6 months ago I sprayed some primer over one of the doors and then top coated no reaction yet to the paint below and its the same as on the rest of the van

 

[Chickenjohn]

Well, as I said, I hope you get away with it. It is just that in general when painting, if you have a panel with that many different layers and different surfaces then best practise is to strip to bare metal to avoid lifting and contour map problems. The choice is yours. Good luck!

 

[mike os]

having gone so far with the work & stripped back so much, why take the chance of it going wrong for another days prep? just my thoughts.... IME if it can go wrong it will & repainting a door is easy, repainting the body is a pita

 

[pedrobedro]

I would at least prime that rear panel, mask off the bottom and do the roof and top down to the waistline then mask the top and paint the bottom half. If you use good quality nitro thinners with not too fast a flash you should be alright and not get too much dry overspray working a panel at a time. Two step ladders and a plank would work better for the roof as you will be moving it around a lot.

 

[jaykay]

for the roof,you start at gutter.work to the middle. around to the other side fast and pick up from middle out to gutter this side.