Hey guys I'm rattle can spraying my plastics. So far two coats primer and one coat paint. Lookin good, I sanded lightly between coats but can still see minor sanding through the paint. Should I keep sanding between coats or just leave it. Also wondering about putting the clear on, I've read that not sanding between clear is better. I'm just using krylon for plastic.
Thanks.

 

That is a little light of an application, as already defined by the still visible scratches. Primer is very easy to work with and can be applied in medium layers in 15 minute intervals (when primer is tacky). Sanding serves two purposes, 1 it helps remove any blemishes and 2 it allows whatever is being coated over it to stick better by giving the surface a rigid texture (valleys, peaks) to set and fill. If you still see sanding marks it is more than likely you did not apply enough paint/primer during your coats and you did not use a high enough grit sand paper. Ideally you want to get the surface as smooth as possible with sanding. We can achieve this by raising the grit of the paper we are using. For very severe blemishes one can take a 150 grit paper. Anything more coarse and you are probably giving yoruself more headaches by gouging out to much plastic. Start at 150 and take yourself up to 1500, 2000 or greater. OF course it really depends on how you want them to look, and what is acceptable to you. Sure you an leave it to where you are at but then you are going to have those blemishes. IF you dont care then stick to it. Otherwise, you need a little more elbow grease.

3-4 primer coats gives you the nice undercoat for the base coat to sit on. You should not be seeing scratch marks through the primer, let alone any base coat. Scuff the paint and try again. This time as stated above, raise the level of grit so finish is smooth. This time give it a little thicker of a coat. Primer is very fast drying. Once you are done, then you can go ahead and take a nice 1000 grit or similar and lightly scuff the final primer coat. Then you can start to apply your base coat.

The base coat can basically be applied the same way. You do not want to do too heavy of a coat because you will just cause it to run, causing your more steps to remove it.

You should apply some sort of clear coat. Clear will protect the paint and also give it a nice finish depending on what you are looking for, (gloss, flat). It is not completely mandatory to scuff the final layers of any step but the more prep you do the better the job will look. I do it because it I just like how it looks afterwards. 4+ layers of clear through a rattle can is ideal. Really the more the better. It is just going to give you that much more protection. Give yourself 2-3 light to medium coats then let it sit for a day. After that you can start to focus on a little more heavy application because what can happen if you do not wait is that clear can littlery make the paint underneath run.

Sure it is not a spray gun but there are remarkable results you can get with rattle cans, it just takes a lot more effort but they are obtainable.

Just be sure to constantly be moving your hand in an even back and forth motion lightly covering the previous spray pattern. A constant on and off pulse (finger held down on nozzle for no longer than a second or two while constantly moving will ensure you do not apply to much paint in one given area.

Dont forget your buff and polish after all is said and done to remove the bumpy look (orange peel). This will give you a nice mirror finish and be very "clear" and defined looking, instead of a foggy look.

If you need any other information just ask.

Good luck.

 

yeah just leave it, the paint will be to soft to sand between coats and it might take a couple of days for it to dry properly, depending on temperature. Lay your clear straight over the base coat without sanding or you'll see through the clear to the scratches.