sorry for all the post as a newb. when i got my bike it had a half ace rattle can paint job. i need to know what i need and how to paint my plastics to make them look good. i have a spray gun so its not really going to be a rattler job. what paints do you guys prefer and clear coats.what do i have to do as far as the sanding in between the coats. so really i need some one to lay it out for me if its not to much trouble. i have looked and looked just cant find what i need (probably looked over it) so please help me out

 

I would be interested in this as well as I am planning on painting my plastics this summer. From what I have gathered, 90% of how nice the final product looks is based on the prep.. I was planning on using some marine filling compound to fill in any dings, then sanding it all once lightly with a 220 grit and then move onto a 500 grit to smooth it all out some. Make sure to clean your plastic really well with hot water and dish detergent so that you can remove all the oils and dirt film that may have collected rather then just sanding it Into the plastic. Also I believe you are just looking to remove the outer clear coat and scuff up the colored paint underneath, I don't think you need to sand down to raw plastic. I have a couple of my fairings sanded down using the 550 and plan on priming before long.

 

ok so first off is removing any rattle can paint.. for it is not a catalyzed paint and is a horrible base to start with... .. now then all you have to do is scuff whatever is under the rattlecan paint, be it plastic,primer,basecoat,or clearcoat.. with a 320-400 grit sand paper, then apply a good 2k primer (this will be a 2part mixture, primer-hardner, some even have a reducer)( most paint will have mixing ratio on it, like 4-1, this means 4parts primer to 1 part hardner) i recomend sticking with the big names, and also what ever system you pick you should stay the same through, primer,basecoat, and clear coat... i'd say basf, dupont, ppg. biger names like that.. personally i've always used basf and dupont. after the primer is dry 8 hours or so, then you can sand it with 800 for solid color and 1200 if your spraying a metalic basecoat.. you'll want to clean the parts with a degreaser before spraying the basecoat.. after 3-4 coats of base you can spray the clear right over it with out sanding the basecoat.. 2 coats of clear (5-10 min between each coats).. let that dry 24 hours or so.. wetsand with 2000 (lightly just to remove any dirt nibs or orange peel) and buff out,, and will be slick as glass.. i've paint cars for a living and a few bikes here/there.