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Red Rambler
Thanks everybody for the help here! Greatly appreciated.
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Red Rambler
I sprayed my fenders again and it layed down much smoother. I had my flow set at less than two turns out. I will be able to block and wet sand this coat before putting any color on. Still have just a few dimples but much improved, and they will block out.
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Just a couple suggestions. That epoxy is way too wet. With those settings you must be moving way too slow, possibly too close, and/or with too much overlap. When you get to the base coat, putting it on that wet will cause big problems with solvent trapping. I would suggest practicing on a scrap piece before spraying the actual piece. The base should look even with very little texture, and should dry flat (no gloss) within a few minutes. Do not try to cover with the first coat, just a nice even coat. Better to put on multiple coats than to try and get coverage all at once. You'll get it!
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Red Rambler
Thanks! I put 3 coats on this go round, the first two went on good as you described, not much of a wet look at all, then the third coat I went too heavy and got the end result. I am going to block it out to remove the orange peel look and if I don’t break through I will apply color. As you have suggested I am going to have to practice on some scrap, with the color and with the epoxy because I have a lot more to epoxy further down the road. I moved faster this go round and was excited that the first two coats went on so well. But then totally went backwards on the last coat. Is there a good video of travel speed and distance anywhere on YouTube? Or somewhere I can read? I have sprayed epoxy a few times before and it went on fine, but was spraying a larger area.
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Red Rambler
I think I am going to get a junk panel, put 80 grit scratches from my DA on it. Then take pictures of each step and post here, see if I am possibly laying all layers on too heavy or moving too slow.
Gun speed, settings, distance, and overlap is a combination. I tend to spray a little slower than some I've seen, but I tend to stay 5 to 6 inches from the panel with 75% overlap. The best advice I can give you is to really concentrate on how the material is laying down. If it is going on too heavy with lots of texture, speed up, move farther away, or don't overlap quite as much, in that order. If it's going on too dry, do the opposite, slow down, move closer, or tighten your overlap up a little. Usually with the epoxy, if the first coat goes on without craters, you can put additional coats on quite a bit wetter. If you're getting them on the second or third coat, you're laying it on too heavy.
sprint_9
Rookie
Not sure if you have seen this but its a nice read on setting up your gun : https://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/adjusting-your-gun
One thing that helped me with distance is a paint stick as a guide. Figure out what distance is good for your gun, assume 6 inches for an example. Get a paint stick and tape it to your gun so the end is 6 inches from the tip and use that to get a visual reference for where you need to be holding the gun. In my case I was too far away and this really helped me realize that.
One thing that helped me with distance is a paint stick as a guide. Figure out what distance is good for your gun, assume 6 inches for an example. Get a paint stick and tape it to your gun so the end is 6 inches from the tip and use that to get a visual reference for where you need to be holding the gun. In my case I was too far away and this really helped me realize that.
R
Red Rambler
I will try all of the tips on a scrap panel, thank you @texasking . I am only painting a fender cup on both of my fenders as I’m doing a patina truck, keeping the original paint, but fixing all the rust and blending where I can. Below are a few more pictures of how the fenders currently sit. @sprint_9, I will for sure try the paint stick trick. I feel like I stay at a good distance, but the paint stick will verify that. I will get this dialed in. I appreciate the support!
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Red Rambler
I sanded the dimples out again and will give this another go. I need at least one more round of primer as I did sand through in a few spots. I also have a small practice piece I am going to attempt to do correctly first.
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R
Red Rambler
I got up early to put another and hopefully final coat on my fenders. I experimented first with a scrap piece and got it dialed in to what I feel is ideal. 2.5 turns out, anything less than 2.5 seemed to be laying dry and spraying 6” from the panel. I did use the paint stick and did quite a few practice moves without actually moving any paint. It truly seemed to help as I do believe I was too close with too much flow previously. The coats are still glossy as opposed to nice and flat, but I’m unsure how to correct this.
First coat.
Second coat:
Final coat:
First coat.
Second coat:
Final coat:
R
Red Rambler
Epoxy will dry with some gloss. I was referring to the base drying flat. First and second coat look a little dry, third coat is about perfect. Should sand out nicely
Awesome! I thought the same thing about the first and second coats being a little dry, but that was with the flow screw at 2 turns out. I went a quarter turn out after the first coat, then another 1/4 turn out for the 3rd coat. Now, for sanding, I will likely use 120, then 320, and wet sand 600. Would I be okay in trying 320 first, then going to 600. I sanded with 120 before laying the current round of epoxy.
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Red Rambler
I will just get some 220, I may have some. No need to rush it at this point. I greatly appreciate the help here! I have a frame to sandblast and epoxy primer so I will for sure be spraying more of the SPI epoxy, black.