I need painting tutorial or info

I guess I'm not the only one and the FAQ and 'How to' covers only brief instructions about the painting. I read some of the real good tutorials on the web about painting but today my almost perfect paint job was ruined with clear coat. So I'm looking for a good tutorial about the painting or some info about the clear coat.
The paint job had 4-5 layers that made the color quite thick. It was metallic paint which should be clear coated. So I did a clear coat from the same distance as the color coats, but I got flat pait :screwy: . I waited about 30 mins and let the paint dry. Then I clear coated the body again - from really close distance and made it intense sprayin. The first thing I noticed was a milky white paint over the black. Luckily that milky white faded away, when clear coat was dry, but then I got some serious cracks in paint that were only growing. I'm the third one with this problem. :eek7:
I waited for about 18 hours to dry the color coats and then clear coating. I'm also wondering, why the h*ll is clear coat so more heavier than paint - like it wouldn't be thinned. You must spray it from very close to get the shine. But this procedure just made my door handles to be painted over. After all - 5 color coats and 2-3 clear coat are A LOT.
I have succesfully striped the paint now, but I'm really scared to do anymore painting with spray cans from DupliColor - metallic lack or clear coat. My friend - D.J. also had the same problem with Silvia. Should I wait for a week before clearcoating the body? I really don't have any more trust in the spray cans, at least for DupliColors clear coats. They seems to be VERY hard to lay down.

well i am not a real EXPERT on this but i know my ways around painting.

it sounds if you were using a dull coat? you said it turned flat? i have had cracking in my clear also and destroys paint jobs! heres how to fix! paint the body. let it dry over night, wash with saop and water and let air dry then clear coat. the craking is becuase a reaction to dust or particles on the piant, a simple wash and dry will fix it.

here is my paint method:
body work
wash with water n air dry
primer
slight wet sand
wash air dry
paint
let dry
paint
let dry over night
wash with soap and water
clear coat x 2

it works, washing helps alot making the piant stick to a clean area

i personally use duplicolor clear on most of my projects. No need to worry about the quality of their spray cans, maby you should worry more about your technique (nothing personal).
first off, if you think the color coat is too thick, it probally is. make your first 3 coats "mist" coats, maby you need to back up a bit. The first coat dosen't have to completely cover the primer.
the last 2 color coats should be "wet coats. move in a bit and move the can faster.
of coures you should follow all the tips in the faq like preping the body and heating the can.

for the clear, if your paint is cracking it probally wasn't dry enough when you loaded the coats on. Patience is key so waiting a week before the clear would only help. Apply the clear the same as the color coat, mist the first few coats. Don't expect it to look shiny from the first spray, be patient. Clear coat isn't magic, but it will do magical things if you know what your doing. after your mist and wet coats of clear you need to polish, this will give you your shine.

You said you only waited 18 hours - thats too soon! Next time let the body sit for a week, especially if you had 4-5 thick layers of color on it.

You said you only waited 18 hours - thats too soon! Next time let the body sit for a week, especially if you had 4-5 thick layers of color on it.


yea, like i said if it is a light paint job wait 24- 48 hours and then wash and clear, 4-5 coats of heavy paint is way to much!

So patience is crucial.
jswillmon: nothing personal taken ;)
freelunch: Got it.
supermod04: Clear coat surely was a gloss one from DupliColor. And procedure is written down ;)
I would like to clear just one more think with clear coat. The first coat was a mist one. But than I just couldn't get any shine. So if I applly mist coats they will 'join' together and give me the final shine?
Thanks!

Recent thread on "Complete and in-progress" forum:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=219808

Scroll down a little, and you'll have the answer!

If you are spraying any gloss paints clear or otherwise and they are coming out flat, the problem is humidity related. Duplicolor is a laquer and laquers are the most sensitive to humidity. If you paint outside make sure it's not too humid.

I'm painting in my garage with two doors open to make a little bit of a draft (but I still get HUGE headaches :bloated: ). The humidity could also be a problems, yes.
Right now I'm starting to get the point.
We have Acrylic paints (water based), Enamel paint (oil based) and Lacquers (whick I don't quite uderstand. Are they also oil based?).
So DupliColor Metallic Black Lack is a Lacquer, just like DupliColors ClearCoat? And most of the Automotive paint are Lacquers?

If I use, let's say Revell's or Tamiya's Acrylic paint, I should use Acrylic clear coat?
When painting all the paint should be on the same base?

Sorry for maybe silly questions :icon16:

This is the method i will be using (thanks joeham) when I get a better quality camera

Primer Method
***Warm Up Cans***
Day 1- Primer, Wait 1 day
Next day, Wet Sand 1200 Grit
Then Primer
Day 2- Next day, Wet Sand 2000
Final Primer Coat, wait a day

Paint Method
Mist Coat
Wait 30 minutes
1 full even coat
Wait a day, and Wet Sand, 2000 grit
Add another Mist over that
Regular Light coat
Wait a day
Do a Nice even clear coat
Wait a day and add another “thick” coat
Wait a day, then wet sand with 2000 grit
Compound &Wax 

Here is my method:
http://italianhorses.net/Tutorials/PerfectPaint/paint.htm

wow 360 that is a very nice paitn job

I'm painting in my garage with two doors open to make a little bit of a draft (but I still get HUGE headaches :bloated: ). The humidity could also be a problems, yes.
Right now I'm starting to get the point.
We have Acrylic paints (water based), Enamel paint (oil based) and Lacquers (whick I don't quite uderstand. Are they also oil based?).
So DupliColor Metallic Black Lack is a Lacquer, just like DupliColors ClearCoat? And most of the Automotive paint are Lacquers?

If I use, let's say Revell's or Tamiya's Acrylic paint, I should use Acrylic clear coat?
When painting all the paint should be on the same base?

Sorry for maybe silly questions :icon16:duplicolor has a enmal line of paints but most are lacquer. when paitnign dont mix enamal and acrylic ect.

acrylic paint = acrylic clear
enamal paint = enamal clear

and so on

About the paints; I figured that out when I laid down a clear coat over enamel (old Rewell Viper) - the paint start to crack, getting soft, and crazing. Not a nice seight. I guess I got the paint bases right, then. Still wondering on which base is Lacquer. BTW, I know there somewhere is a FAQ or Tutorial on this page where everything technical about paints is written down. Can't find it ...

Until now I thought that humidity wasn't important issue, but now see that is. And a lot!
Read a post where someone had a problem with flat look. He was painitng after a rainy day and that was the problem.
Many thanks! :)

Oh man, this is depressing!
Here's the situation. As you know I'm still working on my Civic. The paint was stripped due to cracking.

Today I painted the body again. As usual the body was sanded, primed with DupliColor Transparent plastic primer, painted with DupliColor metallic black (metallic spray paint) and finally clearcoated with DupliColor Rally Clear lacquer - acrylic.

Black:heated can in warm water, 3 mist coats and 2 wet. Black paint was left to dry for about 4-5 days. Then it was washed in soapy water and then after running water. 24 hours drying time.
ClearCoat: heated can in warm water, one mist coat and after that I did 2 or 3 wet one. After 15 minutes I saw 2 cracks on front hood panels. NO! :wtf:
What the *ahem*??? I guess there's something wrong with clear coat. I thing is for sure - I AIN'T BUYING ANOTHER DUPLICOLOR PAINT!!! And anoter thing - this problem occured to me for the 3rd time now. My friend also had the same paint cracking problem after appllying clear coat from DupliColor. I really don't know what to do :screwy: I ain't striping the paint again. I'm gonna put together this Civic and than think for a while what do to. This *ahem* sucks! I put about $500 in to this hobby but right now I'm so angry I would sell the whole *ahem* thing :swear:

EDIT: I censored the cursing. It's not appropriate :grinno:

dont give up. your still using duplicolor, I advise switching. use tamiya or testors high gloss next time.
the duplicolor may be the culprit.

maybe you can sand the cracks out of the hood? :dunno: how bad is it?

Thanks!

I have already striped the paint once and sand it again. So the plastic is getting really thin. I'll leave the cracks :dunno: and maybe do a wash over them. I was looking at the hood - paint job is perfect! :22yikes: (for me). It's really smooth and very shiny - a little of polishing and I'll get the shine. Although both sides are a bit dull, but after polish I guess the thing will look better.

And YES, I'm for sure switching spray cans for Tamiya. And also clear coat from Tamiya. There's allready topic open about these decisions - Testors clear coat over automotive paint (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=226472) . Anyway I'm still a bit sad 'couse I wanted to build exact copy of my 1:1 Civic. I guess Tamiya will bring me solutions ;)

I have an Acura Legend, its pretty beat up, but I decided I was gonna put some love into it, but I'm kinda lost where to start, so here is a list, plz help me.

How to paint dashboard?
How to install racing seats? is 88 after all
Can I install any new kind of gauges for it?
Changing interior carpet?
How to remove stains from carpets or seats?
What are the best products for cleaning?

Check my page out, Thanks a lot

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/569777

:) are you sure you posted in the right forum?

I'm for sure switching spray cans for Tamiya. And also clear coat from Tamiya.

duplicolor makes great spray cans. if i could get it in a jar, thats all i woudl use. tamiya paints are great also. only thing with duplicolor is humidity. but like all paints, dont paint when it is frezzing cold, or 100 degress outside. paint in the mid 60's- 70's.

I guess hi humidity don't give you the shine on paint. But cracks in color coat after 4 days of drying :screwy: Don't bealive that's from humidity.