Dipping toe into painting

A head up for anyone doing a copy buy. The r100 is flawed by design and leaked compressed air into the paint chamber. The chinese got the design from italians who gave them a bum deal. The chinese knew something was wrong, but unable to fix it. For the gun to work properly, teflon tape has to be used on the threads indicated here in red. If not corrected, the spray will pulsate from the air that entered the paint chamber.

air-leak-fix.png


I played with the gun using water. It appeared capable of painting using 1 bar. This make it very useful to me.
 
Panel painting out in the open is more likely a to be a multi-month job than multi-week. Everything is easy except the clear coat. Bugs and dust are guaranteed to get on the panel while the paint is wet. There's no way to make quick corrections on 2k clear given the slow cure time. This means one coat of clear at a time, following by cure, and then correction.

I used the R100 to do the clear today. The gun was a pass and capable of giving a factory finish at 1 bar. I didn't judge the paint flow correctly and chose 4 turns from closed. That was too much and gave me a slight run on the side. I prepared 45ml of paint, used around 10ml, and the rest thrown away. I went in thinking I could do multiple coats. How silly I was. Two coats of clear will be good enough, bugs and dust permitting. Hand brushing and wet sanding small correction spots is a possibility.

Mirror'ish finish:
clear-coat-1.png


Bug, dust, and the sky. The texture must have been from the primer. I didn't sand it.
clear-coat-2.png
 
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It may look ok from a distance (with an eye patch on 1 eye and the other eye half closed) but don't try and kid anybody that that's a factory finish.
 
Ok, I have fixed up all the dust spots and runs by sanding. On one spot, I had to break through to the base coat to remove the debris. The second clear coat will cover that up fine. This could be simulated and seen by getting the spot wet with water.

To add to my earlier analysis, the hardest part of the hardest part of painting out in the open is getting the first clear coat done properly. Once that is done, debris dropping on the second clear coat is easier to sort out because there is close to zero risk of the base coat being affected. Debris on the second or later clear coats could simply be sanded out and the area polished. The completion of my third panel is near, I can already taste success.
 
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DiyNutJob said:
Ok, I have fixed up all the dust spots and runs by sanding. On one spot, I had to break through to the base coat to remove the debris. The second clear coat will cover that up fine. This could be simulated and seen by getting the spot wet with water.

To add to my earlier analysis, the hardest part of the hardest part of painting out in the open is getting the first clear coat done properly. Once that is done, debris dropping on the second clear is easier to sort out because there is close to zero risk of the base coat being affected. Debris on the second or later clear coats could simply be sanded out and the area polished. The completion of my third panel is near, I can already taste success.
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As long as you are happy with a finish that even a child could get better with an ordianry spray tin.
 
It's becoming apparent fixing up dirt is a major part of painting, as major as spraying the paint. It has to be done on every coat of paint. The quicker a beginner realises this, the faster he is on his way to becoming proficient. Painting in the open has one advantage: waiting for the weather gives plenty of time for corrections.

Here's a pro painter doing the necessary:

 
The painting process continues to be a challenge for a non-specialist like me, and mistakes continue to be made. A possible solution is a written down Apollo launch style checklist.

Yesterday evening there was a spraying window and I took it. I intended to do 2 turns from closed at 2 bar using 13.5ml of clear coat. I ended up doing full open at 2 bar and created an Apollo launch style plume of spray. I was half way through the panel and my paint ran out. The bewilderment froze me and I didn't know what to do. So, I packed up and called it a day. Before I started, I also forgot to strain the paint.

After overnight curing, the mirror finish is not bad. Top part of the panel in this image I ran out of paint on and worse finish quality. The bottom part is A-OK. The panel itself is not flat anyway - just a weather-worn and heat-cycled 20 year old piece of plastic. Oranges, anyone?

I'll correct the dirt spots and do one more coat then I am done. 2 turns from closed at 1.5 bar using the R100 should be the ticket. My earlier assessment of the R100 design flaw is likely to be wrong. The nozzle needs higher torque than other guns for it to seal properly. It is a documentation flaw and my faith in china products restored.

mirror-finish.png
 
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