Painting my 450

[pete]

Ok, quick update while the tank and tail are sitting in the sun drying ready to be sanded later on.

Firstly, masked as per Larry's recommendation around the filler neck:



I also put the Suzuki badge screws in and masked the head off so I didn't fill the holes with paint:



Then I gave the gun another quick check and spray through with gun cleaner just to make sure it was clean.

At this point, I couldn't see how to get the plastic filter thing out so I left it... which I regretted but more on that shortly.

Anyway, everything looked good, spray pattern test seemed ok:



Tank and tail on their respective mounts ready to go:



First coat of primer on:



I proceeded to put another 3 coats on but doing the 4th one I really didn't think I was getting material on and it sort of looked how it did around coat 3...



Checked the gun and boy was I cursing! That damn filter popped straight out and was chock a block full again and was causing the paint in the gun to start hardening too soon as well... grrrr

Anyway, with that out I was able to give the gun another good clean and get another 3 coats on, so I'm not sure really whether I have 4 coats or 5 or... I'm sure you get the picture...

I left them for half an hour or so to properly flash off and not be sticky then stuck them out in the sun and here they are in desperate need of a sand:

[pete]

And the tank:



So that's where it all is now. They'll be ready to sand in about 1 1/2 to 2 hours which means I should definitely have time to get the base colour on this avo which will be awesome.

[drivera84]

Its looking good pete...

Looks ready for some color!!!!

[rustybronco]

Checked the gun and boy was I cursing! That damn filter popped straight out and was chock a block full again and was causing the paint in the gun to start hardening too soon as well... grrrr

That filter is not causing the paint to harden up too soon. either the primers 'pot life' has been exceeded, or you are using too much catalyst, or??

[Collo]

Good luck with it all, Pete... this is really inspiring. How did you go with the badge screws? Can they just be undone or does fuel come spilling out? Mine are looking pretty bad, was thinking about new badges.

[pete]

Its looking good pete...

Looks ready for some color!!!!

Thanks mate! Uploading pic's of the base colour now... not sure if it's good or not yet, will wait for feedback...

That filter is not causing the paint to harden up too soon. either the primers 'pot life' has been exceeded, or you are using too much catalyst, or??

Yeah... when I said that I was thinking maybe it was reacting with the crud that was left and was hardening too quickly... unfortunately the problem was the actual hardener itself! I looked again just before and it has the word "rapide" on the can... if I had've read that earlier I would've just done two coats, cleaned, another two coats... you live and learn I guess...

It was a nice warm day so even I know now that I would need normal or slow hardener, not fast!

Good luck with it all, Pete... this is really inspiring. How did you go with the badge screws? Can they just be undone or does fuel come spilling out? Mine are looking pretty bad, was thinking about new badges.

Thanks Collo, we'll see how it shapes up...

The badge screws just undo, all good. There's actually a strip of metal recessed into the tank that they screw into, so unless it's rusted through then it's all safe.

And I'm currently waiting for pic's to upload...

[pete]

Well here goes... I gave it a quick dry sand with 400 grit then got the base colour started.

It seemed to sand a lot easier than I thought it would, I'm hoping that's normal? Sorry forgot to get pic's post sanding...

Anyway, pattern time again:



I actually ended up going with a slightly longer version of the left one but with similar material coverage and it seemed to be ok from what I could tell.

So, first coat went on, pic's while waiting for flash off:



Then after four coats, again waiting for flash off:



I had to hurriedly mix up another batch of paint after 1 1/2 coats because I completely underestimated how much I'd need. At least that was quick to do so I don't think it would've caused any issues and it's a straight 1:1 mix which is really hard to screw up...

And something must have gotten on the lense in that tank pic there because those splotches in the photo were not actually on the tank... not sure why they're not in the other photos either...

Anyway, left them sit there and did a good gun clean, and boy what a difference it makes when you clean them properly! That gun is pretty much sparkling...

So, I went in for a look-see tonight and I'm not too sure whether things are good or not.

Firstly, the front guard is showing some definite sanding marks still even though I went over it again the other day, so I'm thinking I might give the front a bit of a go over with some 800 grit in the morning before the clear to see if I can get some of them out without taking the base coat off again.



Is that a stupid idea or worth a try? I think I'll run out of the 24 hour window for clear if I need to do anything much more drastic than that as I still need to do the white stripes and the black on the rear guard.

And here are the rest of the bits tonight. They all appear somewhat splotchy but I'm hoping that's just a normal part of the drying process:

[pete]

I must say even though I have no idea if I've done a reasonable job of the actual spraying, I really like the colour...

And just a side note that the 1.7mm gun still really needs some cleaning. I let it soak in the gun cleaner for a while today which turned out to be not such a bright move:



It started to remove the blue plastic covering of the gun... oooops!

Anyway, there's still some gunk inside but not as bad as it was, so I'll need to keep cleaning that as I get bits of time here and there, it's not urgent as I only needed it for the primer.



So, so far I've learnt three valuable lessons which I probably should've known already:

• Select a hardener that's suitable for the temperature
• When sanding plastics, make sure the finish is smooth
• Always take the time to clean your gun thoroughly before the paint hardens

As always, feedback is welcomed even if it's bad and says I need to think about starting again...

[Flyboy]

Pete, having never used a spray gun in anger in my life, the only thing I am qualified to say is, i love that maroon, it is going to have seriously good depth to it once the clear is down, I can't wait to see it.
I am sure Dale, Larry or one of the other guys who know this dark art backwards and have been giving you such valuable advise so far will jump in and comment.

[pete]

Pete, having never used a spray gun in anger in my life, the only thing I am qualified to say is, i love that maroon, it is going to have seriously good depth to it once the clear is down, I can't wait to see it.
I am sure Dale, Larry or one of the other guys who know this dark art backwards and have been giving you such valuable advise so far will jump in and comment.

Yeah me too Stan, definitely lovin' it I'm just hoping like anything that I've applied it ok so it *can* pop out with the clear... and yeah I'm hanging for Dale, Larry, Johnny, anyone to let me know if it's looking normal or not... this is the bit where I have no idea how it's supposed to look while drying...

[pete]

I also had a quick query about the masking...

That Brian Martin website Dan linked to earlier shows a different technique for masking where he puts the masking tape and paper down first not quite up to the line where he needs to mask, and then he puts the fine line tape along the edge.

This is instead of putting the fine line tape down first, then masking tape and paper over the top of it.

It sounds like a reasonable idea from his blurb, any thoughts on whether this is a better way or just different?

http://www.autobodystore.com/ms24.shtml

[rustybronco]

Pete, you are using the 1.4 tip gun to spray with; correct?

how many regulators do you have in line between the compressor and the gun. if the gun has a regulator (valve) in the handle, is it completely open?

what air pressure is at the gun with the trigger pulled and air flowing through it?

how wide (tall) is your spraying width to when held a hands width away? 150~200 mm? judging by the width of your masking tape it doesn't look like the gun is set wide enough to me. widen up the spray pattern and see if that helps you get the metallic to distribute a bit more evenly. it could be a problem with the gun as well if the parts are not sealing correctly.

did you prime that piece of sheet metal and try the gun out first? sorry to have to say this, but you may have to sand the base after it's dry and re-base it.

And here are the rest of the bits tonight. They all appear somewhat splotchy but I'm hoping that's just a normal part of the drying process:

The metallic should be nice and even; similar to this > http://imageshack.us/f/84/img2132d.jpg/ if it's not, then it could be the gun, gun set up, your method of spraying ect.

It seemed to sand a lot easier than I thought it would, I'm hoping that's normal?

Sounds normal

as far as putting down fineline before or after masking, I guess that would be one's personal preference depending one needs to do with it. if you were to lay out intricate curves, I would put the fineline down first then mask


hopefully someone else will offer up their comments as well.

[rustybronco]

http://www.sherwin-automotive.com/~/media/Sherwin-Williams-Files/Files/Reference/Trouble%20Shooting%20Guide/tsg.ashx

see page 32 'Mottling'

and yeah I'm hanging for 'Dave8338', Larry, Johnny, anyone to let me know if it's looking normal or not...

I'm just a garage painter... you need to talk to those who do it for a living.

http://thegsresources.com/_forum/showpost.php?p=1512043&postcount=12

[nvr2old]

Pete, you are using the 1.4 tip gun to spray with; correct?

how many regulators do you have in line between the compressor and the gun. if the gun has a regulator (valve) in the handle, is it completely open?

what air pressure is at the gun with the trigger pulled and air flowing through it?

how wide (tall) is your spraying width to when held a hands width away? 150~200 mm? judging by the width of your masking tape it doesn't look like the gun is set wide enough to me. widen up the spray pattern and see if that helps you get the metallic to distribute a bit more evenly. it could be a problem with the gun as well if the parts are not sealing correctly.

did you prime that piece of sheet metal and try the gun out first? sorry to have to say this, but you may have to sand the base after it's dry and re-base it.


The metallic should be nice and even; similar to this > http://imageshack.us/f/84/img2132d.jpg/ if it's not, then it could be the gun, gun set up, your method of spraying ect.

Sounds normal

as far as putting down fineline before or after masking, I guess that would be one's personal preference depending one needs to do with it. if you were to lay out intricate curves, I would put the fineline down first then mask


hopefully someone else will offer up their comments as well.

I always find it easier to lay down the fine line tape first. That way you can see what the stripes will look like..then fill in the spaces with masking tape. The only place I would use paper on this particular application is down the sides of the tank. The top and between the stripes, tape only.

[drivera84]

looking good pete!