I have paint gun & compressor, what else do i need?

[nvr2old]

I agree with 90% of the instructions on this thread, and would add a few of my own. If you're spraying a metallic color, you're gonna have to clear coat it if you want any shine or depth to it. Spray a metallic in all directions, criss-cross it, up and down, end to end, side to side. This gets the metallic to lay down evenly. It's also sprayed a little dryer than a solid color. Solids don't need to be as dry or carefully laid out. If you spray a metallic really wet, or in the same direction, that's when you get the dreaded tiger-stripes. Standing back will lay the metallic on top, wetter will bury it a little. The clear coat is what brings it all together. The clear is what gives it the depth and shine, and, protects the metallic. There's no difference in BC/CC or single stage finishes when done. I've done a ton of single stage solid colors, and when properly finish sanded and polished, they look every bit as deep and lustrous as anything sprayed with a clear coat. Clear is really only needed for metallics and candies because you can't sand them w/o disturbing the way they lay. So many people forgo finish sanding and polishing. That's fine if you're satisfied, but the results go from good to great when you do. Today's modern polyurethane paints are very flexible just the way they are, they really don't need flex agents and such for plastic parts. I've had great success just prepping plastic parts exactly like metal parts, priming, block sanding, and painting them all the same. When spraying a single stage, you can buy active reducer which basically has the hardener in the reducer. If you're going to use BC/CC, then you have to buy the hardener for the clear separate. Single stage costs half as much as using clear, but if you want a beautiful metallic finish, you gotta go with clear. Also no need to sand between coats. You're just sanding off what you just put on that way. If your surface is prepped correctly, you won't have sand scratches or imperfections to worry about. Spray the amount you want with 15-20 minutes inbetween and you're good to go. If you get dirt in it, then maybe a little sanding will be necessary after it has an hour to set, but generally, spray 3-4 coats of color, (then the same amount of clear if it's a metallic) let it dry overnight, open it up with 600 the next day, let it breathe for a couple days, finish wet sanding it with progressively finer grits up to 2,000, polish, viola. Here's a few pics of a '74 Honda CB 450 with a brown metallic that I sprayed last night with these techniques. Just needs scuffing with 600, stripes painted, clear coated some more then finish sanded and polished.