Its winter here in michigan and without a garage any longer I cant use my compressor/paint equipment. So I decided to do a good spraybomb job.
At Napa there is a primer they sell. It has "TEC" in the name, cant think of the full name right now. So far its the best spray primer ive used. I believe its the spray can version of a 2 part primer you can buy for your paint gun. As for color I decided to go with a "Iron" duplicolor high temp paint. Thought itd come out more gunmetal gray but its actually green/grey. For clear I used the high temp clear from duplicolor as well, but I would look into the new clear spray cans they have with the hardener add in.

I sanded my fairings with 250 grit to smooth. used putty/filler for gouges/fixed cracked areas. After sanded I used a cleaner/paint prep from napa I had left over from a paint job. Sprayed primer and if anything needed more sanding smoothing I did that and redid the sanding/cleaning.

I let the primer dry completely, then sanded with 600 and again used the paint prep to remove any grease/drit/etc.

following that I sprayed my desired color about 3-4 coats. I would spray a light coat not completely covering the piece and wait about 5 minutes and spray another coat (medium wetness) and wait 10 min, spray another heavier coat and wait 10min-15min, and spray another coat medium coat.

The point of waiting is to let the previous coat "tack up". If you spray too soon the paint will run and youll have to wait for it to dry before sanding. If you were to just wait for each coat to dry or if you end up having to wait for a coat of paint to dry then you have to wet sand 600 grit and clean before spraying any more coats.

So once you apply your last color coat wait a little longer about 20-30 depending on how wet the paint is and then spray your clear. I applied about 4-5 coats although I should have done more and probably will go back and sand and respray clear before buffing and polishing.

here are some pics of the process.

 

Nice write-up. Good looking work you've done there.

 

i like your choices of wall art.

 

I'd be sleeping in that no-existing garage if I tried that in the house.
Of course, it's different when it's nail-polish smell, though! lol

Ern

 

I'll just say do not sand between clear coats. It will leave scratches that you'll be able to see strait through your next coat, 5 coats should be plenty anyway.

 

nice job on the spray painting! it just goes to show that taking your time as well as a lot of know-how can make things like our bike plastics look amazing. im gonna steal your clear coat ideas for my bike when i do the final preps for painting

 

volcom- what can I say I have good taste.

thanks everyone for the compliments. I think I did about 8 hours of sanding prep. of course spread out over a few days. Probably did more sanding then that actually, but I has some issues with the filler I was using and getting things smoothed out. Painting itself only took a 1/4 of the entire time spent on these things.

Just remember to be patient or youll always notice that spot in the paint and itll bug ya til you finish it!

 

Hi, nice job..............you mention "putty/filler"...what did you use? Thanks

 

umm I cant remember what I used...I get it from napa, and i believe its napa brand. Ill have to check but its a body filler. Ive used the same stuff for a tanks and plastics and never had any problems. It holds up well. I know a lot of people say to use a putty or something else other than bondo on plastics for the small scratch/gouges but I guess I like using the filler.

 

Has anyone used Krylon Fusion paint for plastic's? I'm at the paint stage and wondering how it is. Also, I've already primed, will that be a problem if I use this paint?