Painting with a spray gun...first time..

[brobinson]

Wow Great Job

BR

[electric]

Have a hull to paint before long and this thread has given me lots of information. I will be asking on my build thread MADD CATT about What to use for primer, base ,and I have the clear. It's about a month before I tackle the paint. I've just used rattle cans before but would like to try something new. I like the waterborne paints for airbrushing. I can keep up with the cleaning and multiple color choices easier but I like the effects of the 2k clear coat I've used before. No pealing from hatch tape, no cracks, it just seems to hold up well for me. So again thanks guys. I just don't know it all yet,,,,,,,,lol,,

Cooper, good luck with your paint job. Having some airbrushing experience will help out I am sure. If you want to start a new thread then fine, but you could just start a new one here where mine ended and then everything you do and learn will be in the same thread for others to read. Either way is your choice of course, just thought I would throw that out there. Good Luck!

[egneg]

Would it be a good idea to let the base completely dry say a day or two before clearing?

You can but then you will have to sand the base coat to give you a physical bond as the time has passed for a chemical bond.

[Heaving Earth]

You can but then you will have to sand the base coat to give you a physical bond as the time has passed for a chemical bond.

Egneg is right on here. Of course sanding basecoat is a bad idea, especially if it's metallic.

[Cooper]

Thanks, I don't have much knowledge with the actual paints, most of my experience is with airbrushing waterborne colors to canvas. Never had to worry about flash time ect. So I'm learning that this is one of those times it really pays off to read directions. I did base a boat with a silver paint and when I applied clear it ran and ate through base. ( past experience of not testing and waiting the proper amount of time. ). So thanks and when time to paint comes around I will post up here of what I plan to do before I do it so y'all can catch any problems if I'm not doing something right.

[electric]

Project 2 Starting. I am starting to paint a ML-boatworks GP400 I have built. I will post some pictures later today. Right now I have the first coat of (KD3002)primer on and have just finished block sanding and filling a few spots. I will be putting on the second layer of primer tonight. I will be including the paint colors and pictures as I go.

I am planning a two color paint job this time around. My first question is particular to the House of Kolor paints. I am probably overly concerned about the adhesion of the clear coat(don't want the tape destroying the paint job). My plan is to put the primary color down first (orange metallic), then apply the (S2-SG100) Intercoat and the put down the accent color(blue or purple). The timing would be to put down the base coast and then immedietly go to the SG100 intercoat for the entire boat (front and back) even though the 2nd color will only go on the top of the boat. The next evening after work I would tape off the area for the second color and complete that. Then pull that out of the booth and take off the masking and immediatly go to the clear coat (UC35). Will that be ok? Is that too much time between the (base/intercoat) before I apply the second color and the clear? Should I lightly sand the intercoat before putting on the second color or just go to painting the second color and clear? The directions indicate it is possible to do this with that big a time gap without sanding, but it sounds like kinda on the edge of it.

When you do a design on a boat, do you typically draw it off on the boat itself with some type of marker or pencil and then use that line to do the tape work? I can't see just freehanding it? Just a highlevel description of the process would be helpful.

My last question is for a different boat. I plan to just add some color on the top of a boat(fiberglass). Is the best process to just tape off and rough up the top of the boat and only apply the color and clear coat to the top of the boat only OR rough up the entire boat and clear top and bottom?

I will be busy painting over the next few days so I will share the pictures as they come on both boats.

[Heaving Earth]

Why not just clear after first color.
Taping is done freehand usually

[detox]

Rough orange peel and runs are the hardest thing to avoid when spraying. Some colors will show these flaws worse than others. White is verygood at hiding flaws and black probably the worse. I use single stage urethane that has been thinned more than instructions recommend. No booth is needed, just spray on a clear calm day and use correct thinner for that temp. Let paint shrink couple of days then repair by sanding any bad spots and polishing. Practice

You will also need clean dry air to prevent water in paint. I use those throw away air line driers along with another water dryer upline near tank.

Good paint is expensive.

I have never sprayed a good clear paint over cheap base paint, but it may bond and last. If you scuff before painting

[Cooper]

Are u guys saying that I will not be able to paint different colors/ layers in the course of several days? My question is after reading the above about too much time passing for the paint to chemically bond, or is that just pertaining to clear coat? As I'm air brushing logos and artwork onto hull and I just don't see being able to do everything at one shot. Or is that what an intercoar is for ??
In the past I have painted, let sit for days, painted again, let sit and later cleared and had no problems. But I am learning alot about painting and paints and doing higher end paint jobs so following directions is in the plans now. Just doing work for myself, compared to past stuff of just one color to now designs and multiple colors, art, logos, it's my higher end of painting.

[electric]

Are u guys saying that I will not be able to paint different colors/ layers in the course of several days? My question is after reading the above about too much time passing for the paint to chemically bond, or is that just pertaining to clear coat? As I'm air brushing logos and artwork onto hull and I just don't see being able to do everything at one shot. Or is that what an intercoar is for ??
In the past I have painted, let sit for days, painted again, let sit and later cleared and had no problems. But I am learning alot about painting and paints and doing higher end paint jobs so following directions is in the plans now. Just doing work for myself, compared to past stuff of just one color to now designs and multiple colors, art, logos, it's my higher end of painting.

Here is what I know(very little, but I have been reading like crazy) for HOK paint they say primer, sand, put down your base color, then put down an intercoat clear. Then if you do your artwork(or second color) within 4 hours you can go directly to clear and it chemically bonds. They do note that they have gone as long as 24 hours to put on the second color and then cleared and it went ok. Someone else told me after that "window" you should scuff the intercoat up with some mild sandpaper and then do the artwork and go to clear. First type of bond is chemical bond and second is physical. The intercoat clear from HOK is specifically designed to allow you to put artwork down and not risk pulling the paint up when lifting the tape and also prevent "depressions" in the paint from the tape job. THAT IS WHAT I READ and I am a rookie so take this all with a grain of salt. I might also point out this is for House of Kolor paint. Each paint company has their own technical datasheet on how their paint works which may be very different from what I am saying about HOK.

[electric]

Why not just clear after first color.
Taping is done freehand usually

I was afraid you would say that (freehand) chuckle. Ok so if I am painting a windshield on a boat for example, do you just feehand it with the tape until you get something that looks symetrical? I am going to do a pattern on the sponsons so I thought I would make at least a paper template. I guess I could do that and use that as a guide as I do the taping work on the hull to guide me into a fairly symetrical look on both sponsons?

Actually, just clear would probably work fine as I did that on my first boat and it went ok. The intercoat clear dries to a dull finish so I guess it make for slightly better adhesion for the clear?

[electric]

Here is the some of the data sheet on the Intercoat Clear and how it is used:

S2-SG100 Intercoat is an important tool for the custom painter. It is designed to be applied over a given base color, prior to taped art work or air brush art. This allows for easy removal of mis-tapes or air brush errors without damage to base color.

APPLICATION
Apply 1 to 2 medium coats of Shimrin2® S2-SG100 Intercoat with a 50% pattern overlap. Allow each coat to flash dull (Typically 5 to 15 minutes) between coats. Additional coats may be applied if build is required to fill tape-out lines. We suggest you allow the Intercoat to flash 30-60 minutes before doing tape outs, etc over the S2-SG100 product.
FINISH SANDING
Typically, S2-SG100 does not require sanding or scuffing as long as it hasn’t sat more than 4 hours prior to top coating. In the event it will have to sit beyond 4 hours such as when performing artwork, it should be sanded. The S2-SG100 can be sanded after 1 hour dry time. Recommended grit is 500 wet or dry. You can also use a gray scuff pad..
SHIMRIN2®
S2-SG100 INTERCOAT

See how it allows a window for the second color/artwork to be applied and then straight to clear with no sanding? I guess it really is not big deal if you go long on the time, just sand it and paint.

[Cooper]

I'm going to be using waterborne paint. I'm looking into time on repainting. I think with waterborne paint I don't have to worry about waiting too long to paint another color. Anyone know that for sure?

[JimClark]

It really depends on the manufacturer you better read your directions before starting

[Heaving Earth]

I agree with Jim, while there are some general guidelines to painting, you really need to follow manufacturer recommendations.