3b

BASIC PAINTING

This is a short explanation of painting that may help you give it a go at home.

List of equipment:
- Air compressor (I used a small 2.5hp 40litre one)
- Air hose
- Low pressure spray gun ($50 at Bunnings)
- Paint, both colour and clear (from an auto paint store, i used acrylic so i had to use acrylic clear.)
- Thinners (not the cheapest you can find either, i used the Premium thinners from supercheap, plus you will need 3 times as much thinners as paint)
- Sand paper (400, 1200 grades)
- Electric sander
- Hand sanding block (foam)
- Masking tape and paper (newspaper)

You should use undercaot if painting bare metal, but i was painting over old paint so a sand back is all thats needed.

Step 1. sanding

This a bumper after a quick sanding with
400 then 1200 grade paper. Use water when sanding, lots of water. Sand back till it feels smooth, no bumps, chips etc. Wash and wait till dry.

Step 2. masking

Mask around the area to be painted. Make sure that you do not leave any gaps as overspray is hard to remove and very ugly. If it is possible removing the object to be painted makes for zero overspray.

See picture

Step 3. painting

First you need to mix the paint with approx 30% paint, 70% thinners. Once in the spray gun can, mix well to prevent un even application and spray pattern.
I then set my compressor at 40-50psi. With the gun hooked up, give a test spray into the air and watch the spray pattern.
It is hard to explain but the spray should be long and thin, but not split down the middle. If it is direct like a garden hose on sprinkle, turn the knob that adjusts the front side jets untill it spreads the spray into a longer pattern. If it is split in the middle ie. it looks like the centre of the spray is thinner than the edges then back it off untill it looks even. The perfect spray takes practice to get right, just experiment until it feels right.

Apply the paint in even strokes, making sure to get every angle and crack. DO NOT apply too much. the first 4-5 coats should still be transparent ie you can see the underlying colours of the bumper etc.
It takes around 30minutes to dry enough for the next coat. After around 7 coats it should appear to be one solid colour but feel free to keep applying coats as more colour will just make it look more defined.

I applyed 10-12 coats on this bumper.
(this is colour only in this pic, no clear yet)
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Leave the colour to dry for at least 4 hours then mix the clear and apply in the same method.
getting the gun to spray the clear can be tricky as it tends to string if not just right. You will know when it is right as it should have a spray pattern the same as the colour.
apply at least 5 coats in clear and do not buff or wash for at least 2 days. this will be enough time for the paint to cure.

Re-assemble and take off the masking about 4 hours after final coat.
Stand back and see how it turned out

Here is the finished product
took us one weekend and we were not rushing at all.

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