Silver metallic

JC Daniel

Promoted Users
I have repaired a few places on my brothers 2013 Toyota Tundra hood and tailgate and am going to paint tomorrow, My question is this. Should I spray the primer areas first then fan out into the remaining areas with thinned paint or just spray even passes over the whole area?
 
Two ways you could do it. One way is to extend each pass. First pass (coat), just the repair area(s). Second pass just a little farther out, Third pass farther out still. Do however many you need until you get full hiding. Never stop a pass in the same spot. Or slight variation is to first get coverage of your repair spots. Remember don't stop in the same spot on any passes, then when you have coverage you make several passes with reduced base (ideally reduced with blender) over the entire area extending each pass farther out. If you feel comfortable doing it you can slightly pull back as you feather off the trigger at the end of a pass and do the same at the beginning of a pass. Feather the trigger on and come in slightly as you are beginning to make the pass. Hope that makes sense.:)
Light medium coats, never heavy, don't try to get coverage in two coats. Light medium may take you 4 coats or even 5, but you can maintain more control over the panel that way. Use as slow a reducer as you can get away with. Make sure you have your air pressure high enough to give good atomiztion. Test your pattern to verify that.

I left out that you don't want to start or stop a pass in the same spot. That is critical.
 
Tack between coats as well. If you are getting a lot of dry overspray on the tack cloth, you are either applying it too lightly, or using too fast of a reducer. If you do it right you will get little to no over spray dust on the tack cloth. If you have a blender product or SPI Intercoat you could lay down a wet bed beforehand. That is simply a coat of the product (blender or intercoat) over the entire repair area. That helps with dry edges sometimes and how the metallic lays down. Lots of guys do it, I personally don't. Me saying that is not meant to be taken as I don't feel it's a good or valid technique. It's just that I learned to blend without it and have never needed to do it. If I'm having issues I find that reducing the RTS Basecoat with blender (usually 1:1 is a good choice) provides a more effective way to blend the color, especially silvers, golds and beige metallics. Using as slow a reducer as you can get away with helps a lot as well. SPI's reducer is probably the best I've ever used and highly recommended.

Edit: Thinking about it a little when I say lightly, I should have said, spraying too light with the gun too far away from the surface.
 
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At the start and stop of each pass I found a twisting of the wrist action to be helpful for me.
Think of it as spraying into a 90 degree corner. You would need to rotate your wrist through the corner to get coverage and avoid runs.
Not saying it's the "professional" way of doing things but it works great for me when blending not to leave an edge.
I too follow the "cover just the repair area", then second pass a little farther and third pass a little farther.

Personally, I always clear the entire panel after blending. I have seen too many clear coat blends fail after time.

Spraying the blend area first with intercoat clear will help you see the blend area better. If you don't have intercoat clear handy, I have used heavily reduced clear coat to get the same effect. Mixed 30:10:90 (clear, activator, reducer). Maybe Chris or one of the other pros can comment on this?
 
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If you can't find a good blender to use as a base for your silver,
Bulldog adhesion promoter also works great for that.
(and it's in the instructions on the can)
 
Don't let the dislike that some have for the intercoat keep you from using it. It acts like a sealer and provides a nice level surface to paint on.
 
JC, the only advice I have to add is the next time you order some SPI, order a quart of the intercoat just to have. It can really help with some colors, and can get you out of a bind when nothing else will. As an example, say you spray your hood and you are not really sure if your blend is "right" or not. Mix some intercoat 1:1 with reducer and add hardener the same as your base. Spray 1 medium coat over the whole hood or past your repair area, and if the blend shows or doesn't look right, it is easily repaired by mixing the reduced base and reduced intercoat half and half. If you're not sure the blend is right and you clear it anyway, it can be a redo and you wasted the clear.
 
I really appreciate the help TK, JC Clark said that Bulldog adhesion promoter will work for blender. I do have the Bulldog on hand but I am shakey trying to figure out what to do.
 
I have never used it in that manner so I can't comment. It may work as a wet bed but I, for sure, would not try to use it as I suggested using the intercoat. Silver is blended everyday without an intercoat, and doing as Chris suggested, you can too. Slow reducer, lots of flash time, extend each pass past the last, tack between coats. You didn't mention which brand base you are using, but some blend easier than others. Most modern high quality bases blend easy.
 
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As 68,Chris and Texas said and plenty of flash time. Now not to confuse JC I want to throw something into the mix (ha ha) I was taught to do a reverse blend by a older european painter, So a few ways to get the job done. Maybe try on a old panel and good luck
 
I am using Cromax basecoat, I did a blend on this same truck last year on the bed and it looks really good, My problem is that there are several places in primer that are a few inches apart and have original paint between those areas and don't know if I should go all the way over them in one pass or separate passes, I am leaning to cover it all in one pass and extend each coat further out?
 
I really appreciate the help TK, JC Clark said that Bulldog adhesion promoter will work for blender. I do have the Bulldog on hand but I am shakey trying to figure out what to do.
Read the instructions on the can, it even says you can add some base to it.
I use to use Bulldog before I started using a base blender that's the same brand as my base.
But bulldog can be used over the entire panel first, and it helps adhesion.
the base lays real good over it, just like spraying over plastic.
And it only has to dry for like 10 minutes before base.
The instructions on the can covers it all.
 
Long ago I had serious problems with Bulldog used as an intercoat. It made the clear peel off later. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but luckily for me I did not have to redo too many jobs.

Now I only use excellent prep followed by clear basecoat that matches the basecoat color's system (if that is desired, depending on the job). It's the K.I.S.S. principle for me. The fewer the products used, the less chance for error.
 
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