Paint Diagnosis

[bkrownd]

Dupli-Color Perfect Match sprays. 3 coats warmed primer and 2 coats warmed color yielded the following texture:



I'm thinking perhaps the can was too far away, or I was sweeping it too fast?

[Cosmic Bilby]

What is the ambient temperature?

Looks like its dried pretty much on contact, no time for the droplets to level out....

[bkrownd]

probably 72-75F - air conditioned

[Cosmic Bilby]

Sounds perfect...

....Don't know, but someone will!

[Cincyslots]

are you sure it's not a textured paint?

Bruce

[dreinecke]

I shoot in the cold usually between 30-60 degrees regularly. I warm my colors only usually. The reason is that after several coats of primer, I give it a wetsanding.

When I shoot the paint, it is warmed in a tub of warm water, shook well, and then I go light paint coats - depending on the color, that may be 4-8 coats. The last one is the wet one and the others prior to that are very light.

Duplicolor always levels out nicely I've found. If you have issues, you could go back and shoot another wet coat (not enough to run though!!).

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I always say that when all the usual suspects have been ruled out, go buy another can of paint and see if its a defective batch. From what I see, it looks very much like the levelling elements of the paint are completely missing. It will only cost a couple of bucks to try and see. You can do it while your paint job soaks in 91% isopropyl.

[bkrownd]

The primer and color have pretty much the same texture. I could try spraying closer, but I'm usually really worried about too close causing runs and uneven thickness.

[bkrownd]

Pretty much every detailed painting guide I read said to warm up the can before painting, so I did.

I'm not sure if I'd want to sand the primer. I need to get it painted, finished and mounted on the body ASAP, and every chance for a big screw-up could set me back a week. The test surface looks nice at arm's length, but I haven't tried decals yet so judgement would be premature.

I guessed that the can was too far away or swept too fast, but with my history of blobs and runs when spray-painting I was trying to be very cautious about that. I'd much rather have this finish than blobs and runs.

Wow, that guy's dumping paint on that car in the first video! :o That's at least 5 times as much paint as I used.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I keep an old Mr Coffee in my shop and I fill it less than half full. When the water is hot, I plop the can in, standing up for maybe 30 seconds if full, less time if its half full. I then shake it hard to distribute the heated part of the contents and I get an even, warm but not hot paint that is ready to go. I seldom need more than two coats and many times only one. Tamiya polishing compound "fine" or "finish" takes care of any tiny dust bits that catch, and the car looks like it has been dipped in glass. I have to dull it just a bit to keep it from looking too shiny to photograph. I try to use nothing but Tamiya lacquers, but I also use Testors, Boyd, and other model paints. Paints for full size cars have huge pigment particles and flood details on models. It just doesn't belong on models.

[bkrownd]

[waaytoomuchintothis]

It does help with that a little, but the main reason for warming is to get the most from the levellers in the paint mix. Its particularly important if you are painting where its cooler than about 50 degrees F. Using 1:1 automotive paint, the particle size is against you already, warming just gets you a better chance at success.

[dreinecke]

All good points on this thread, but it doesn't help our friend and his issue.

I warm my paint in hot water from the faucet in a Scalextric lid for a few minutes. Why? It mixes easier and flows out of the nozzle better IMHO. As for the manufacturer recommending it, they never have. This is a model trick I've been doing for 35 years since my neighbor, a pro-model builder showed me. I do it with ALL paints - Duplicolor, Testors, Tamiya, etc. The other reason I do it is that my shop, while heated, can drop to the mid-50 degree range. I like my paint warmer than that.

Also, I paint in my shop or outside and then bring the parts back in immediately. I don't leave them in the cold. I use coat hangers to hold the car bodies upside down to keep the dust off them or I simply use my Tamiya paint stand on a turn table ( a Walmart $5 lazy susan).

I would give the car a nice "wet" coat and see if it improves.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

There you go.

[bkrownd]