Josh wrote:Will Thomas wrote:
You can't duplicate a factory finish with a can. Shiny does not work with a can. You need to use a paint that cures with a catylist and not with air drying. Spray bomb will just not cure properly. Thats why we do flat and primer.
Do not mean to jack your WL but this statement above is completely false. If you can't get a glossy finish with a can then you are doing it wrong. I have blended entire quarter panels with no issues. Its all in the prep and technique.
Your car looks great BTW, very nicely done.
You are not jacking my thread
Your statement is 100% accurate.
Ok, let me rephrase what I was trying to say. I do not believe that you can get professional results, professional shine, or durability out of cheap Wal-Mart spray paint, the supplies used and a $40 budget. It does not cure with the strength of a typical automotive finish. In a short time, it will become porous, lose shine and stain (don’t touch it with a greasy hand).
Now, there are methods of improving the quality of a spray can paint job. Assuming you have prepped the surface properly (which should be done regardless of the quality of the paint), you can use a high quality sealer that will prevent the paint from soaking into areas where primer was sprayed over Bondo, or where the paint is really dry and powdery .
Using a high quality paint will assure better results as well. I use Krylon, Rustoleum and Wally World paint and they all spray differently and I prefer Krylon for shiny stuff ( It’s what I used on my IC piping). I haven’t used Dupli-Color to paint a car because it’s $8 a can and the cost to “Spray Bomb” a car can easily get into the hundreds of dollars defeating the purpose of the DIY rattle can job.
As mentioned by Josh, technique is paramount and I couldn’t agree more. It’s important with a can that the paint flashes between coats but is not allowed to dry completely. Also, you don’t want the can too close as you will have stripes if your overlap is not correct. Worse yet is to create a run the length of your door or quarter because you are not overlapping correctly. If you hold the can too far back, you will be spraying dry and will never develop a shine. You may think that dumping 12 to 15 cans of color onto an MX-3 is excessive, but 30% or more of that will never find it’s way onto the car and you won’t even be close to the film thickness of a single stage automotive paint job.
I think the best bet in increasing the durability and shine of a rattle can job is to wet sand the car once the paint is cured and then clear it. I would wait two days and wet sand it with 900 grit (1200 or 1500 if you are nervous about busting through the color due to inexperience or lack of film thickness) re wrap the car and unload another 15 or so cans of clear onto it. If you really want to get it to shine, you can wait a couple more days, wet sand and then polish it with a buffer.
As far as performing a blend? Yes, with the proper prep, well matched rattle can and a high quality clear I could do the job better than a lot of the bodyshops in our area. But, it would come out better if I used my Sata Jet 90 and a top notch paint system. Oh, it would last longer as well.
I love reading other people’s worklogs and the quality of work I see is top notch. I have no doubt that I could make a car look better with spray bomb than a lot of “budget” body shops and I have seen proof in other worklogs that there are people here that can do the same. I could not however do it for $40 like I did my rat rod flat black. If I were to do a shiny job, I suspect I would spend 250 to 300 on paint and sealer and clear to get a result that would truly make me happy and it would never have the durability that I could get out of a professional paint system.
In the near future, I will be doing what I consider a “correct” paint job and will share it all here.
