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I too have found that many metallics seem to be thicker paint than satins or flats. Especially the Pactra and Testors brands. Tamiya seems to be able to spray a thinner coat. The worst for me is Rustoleum because it tends to krinkle waaaay too often. Have never experienced any of the above as an end of the can phenomena, but I will be cautious no.
Thanks for sharing.
Jeff

They do come out a little thicker. I always remove the tape as soon as I can, so as not allow the edges to dry. This helps prevent the paint edges from "tearing".

But with paints like silver, I'm almost never fast enough it dries so quickly.

Might be time to break out the Ye Olde Airbrush?

A light wet sanding using 1000 grit sandpaper, may fix the issue you have. How it became an issue, may not be so easy to determine. Using rattle cans of any kind can add a degree of risk to a paint job. Age of the can,how it was stored, how it was shaken, temperature, nozzle type etc all add to the degree of uncertainty of the spray coming out. My worst disasters in painting have all come from a rattle can. Nothing worse then a can of flat black being mistaken for clear coat. Turned a pinstriped CNR locomotive into a stealth engine in a heartbeat.

Hello Waay........Metallics are "thicker" than non metallic paint, but, of the Metallics (in spray cans), Tamiya is the thinnest of the bunch, and obviously specifically formulated for plastic models,....so,....as far as brand choice, you can't beat Tamiya.

I have found (over the years) that mist coats of Metallic (with 45min. between coats) work far better than 1 or two wet coats, particularly when using masks that must be removed, but, I am sure you already do this.......and even more importantly, when the can is less than full, it is critical that the can be heated in some hot tap water to re pressurize the can. Most of what comes out of a can of spray paint is propellent, and when the levels of propellent are reduced, the pressure drops, and, the paint is not properly "atomized" as it leaves the nozzle,.coming out "thicker" than normal.......so...if you are not already doing this,.....heat that can !!

Cheers
Chris Walker

With all the tools and stuff on my bench, I decided not to heat the cans this time. I have an ancient Mr. Coffee (bought when Joltin' Joe DiMaggio was still alive to do TV ads). I use it to heat water for my rattle cans when painting small jobs. I don't get the whole air brush rig out for single jobs usually. This particular time, I was almost out of my best silver (Silver Leaf), so I tried several other silvers, but decided that the Silver Leaf was best for this, and took the chance that there was enough left to try it. The Light Green Pearl went on perfectly, and it never occurred to me that the silver wouldn't follow suit. So, unheated, I sprayed it, and it came out thicker than I would have seen. When I unmasked, there was a tear in the silver like I have never had, and as I was handling it, the front deck (soft, but fully dry), got to be the ugly mess you saw in the photos. Today I saw my thumbprint on there, too. I don't know what I'll do about this, but it feels a lot better to have the mystery solved. Chris, you saved the day. Now I have to figure out what to do.

I always test spray on junk cd's...

Painting is sometimes so easy and sometimes so hard!
Spray Booth: There are some nice units on ebay for around $80 or so. I finally bit the bullet and just made one up with a plastic storage box, small fan and a furnace filter. You can see it on Rod Toddhunters online slot mag, page 99.
http://slotcarmods.com/summer2016.html.
I'm sure all you guys subscribe to his effort.
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Paint. I use nothing but lacquer, I've given up all enamels. Tamiya and Testors are the best. I do use Duplicolor white, black and candy lacquers. They offer candy colored lacquers in their suspension paint. Their depth and shade depends on how many coats and what color base coat you use. Here is red over a silver base.

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Chris pointed out that a coat of clear in between colors will stop any bleeding under tape. I usually remove tape after 10 minutes or so.

I do wash with dish detergent before painting and I use cheap soap that has no kind of additives, just plain dish soap. Sometimes I also use an SOS pad. Of course, I sand everything after washing. Usually I do alright, but sometimes I end up throwing the whole body in stripper and starting over. It happens.

I know what you mean. I never would have thought that there was something basic I didn't know about painting, but there it is. I never would have thought about the pressure in a rattle can that was almost out being too low to atomize the paint. Basic, like I say, but it never occurred to me. I guess I have been lucky all these years in this situation because I always use my little hot water bath setup mentioned above. The lesson is,- "Don't mess with a formula that works". Especially if your excuse it something like "too many tools on the table to clear off".

The biggest invitation to disaster is applying too much liquid film, especially on base color passes. Frequently the accent pass is laid on a base that is still active. I'm not a big fan of pushing recoat times. Any "two tone", or an added effect is a re-coat in my book as well. Even if you think your safe in brand. The accent pass can interact with a base that is still receptive to volatiles.

I know the airbrush can be annoying for some, but in order to remove the "bomb can variables" from the equation, I decant EVERYTHING and use the DA. Unless I'm doing an open wet on wet metallic effect, I prefer that every "stage" has had plenty of time to dry before I lay up next to it, or on it.

Like Chris points out, fog a few calculated easy puffs of clear to seal any vulnerable open edge BEFORE proceeding with any transitions that are to follow.

The long and the short of it is that I dont bang out a paint job in one afternoon, I dont expect to. I always get the best results when I walk away and let things fully gas off, and come back another day.

I actually razor cut my masking tape, then pull it. Also, the angle at which you pull the tape is extremely important.

On most all the candy colors I do, I usually do the whole job in 20-30 minutes, base, color and including clear coats. On more than 2 colors where I have to mask fresh paint, I like to let it dry overnite at least before I apply the next masking. The quick drying is one advantage of lacquer. Plus a hair dryer helps it dry quicker.

These are the Dupicolor candy paints.
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Lacquer, this one did take 2-3 days
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