Can I fix this? Dust in the paint

[Quick GMC]

I laid down a pretty nice paint job, only to come back and find a ton of dust in the paint. I painted two bodies in two days, one perfect, and one full of dust.

This is airbrushed enamel, no clear coat. i was thinking I could sand it down so the texture is smooth, then clear coat over it, or do more color coats. The thing I'm afraid of is it took 4 coats of color to cover evenly. I think I might sand through the paint.

The other body I painted is a basecoat with clear. No dust. Both painted in the same spot 24 hours apart. I'm not sure what happened. My wife may have had the fan on in the room or something. I usually leave the fan off for 2-3 hours before painting. We live in the desert so there is always the chance of dust in the air.

the dust you see in the picture is in the paint.

[W-409]

I might 'polish' it smooth to get rid of the dust and then spray a clear coat and do the final polishing and waxing. I think that would solve the problem...?

[Ace-Garageguy]

That's a heartbreaker. It looks like you did an outstanding job of laying out a beautiful gloss. To come back and find dust stuck in a surface that nice can ruin your day.

The problem with "polishing" first is that it won't remove dust that's actually embedded in the paint, but just ride over it and make shiny raised spots where the dust was. If you think about the mechanics of what you're trying to achieve, what you want is something that will 'cut' the dust flat, level with the surrounding surface. THEN polish to bring the gloss back up.

How you approach the problem depends on how deeply the dust is embedded into the surface. It LOOKS like most of it is on the very surface and hasn't sunk in, except for one spot in the left rear corner of the roof. For the deeply-embedded particles, this method works best for me:

Sanding pads that are stiff but not hard.

The fairly stiff foam backing allows them to cut the dust mote while minimizing removal of material around it. Sandpaper with no backing tends to go through the paint AROUND the dust particle faster than it cuts the dust flat.

Start with the 2400 grit using just the corner held flat against the work, and use PLENTY of water with a drop or 2 of detergent in it to help keep the grit clear. Go slow, work with plenty of light (and magnification if you need it), look at your surface frequently, and as soon as you see the mote is gone, STOP.

You have 2 options at this point.

1) Add more coats of paint or clear, OR

2) Sand and polish what's there.

Option2:

Go to finer and finer grit pads progressively. By the time you get to 12,000, your gloss will be almost all the way back.

At this point, polish to bring the gloss all the way back up. Your surface should be flat, clear of orange peel and dust, and perfectly glossy. THEN, put a bright light on it to see if you've gone through or if the color is getting thin. If it is, you'll have to scuff it overall and add more coats of paint.

IF, ON THE OTHER HAND, the dust is only on the VERY surface and hasn't got down into the paint, a quick polish MIGHT knock it off, and then a light scuffing and a clear-coat as Niko suggests may be the hot setup. Be sure to pay attention to the "recoat window" with enamels. They'll wrinkle sometimes if you rush them.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[cobraman]

As always Bills advice is 100 %. Remember enamel can take a long time to dry so make sure you wait awhile. Also to avoid dust in the future you can cover the body with something like tupperware or as I found that works good for me is to hang it upside down to dry. Good luck !

[Quick GMC]

Bill, that's great. Thank you very much. I actually have those polishing pads at home. I think the lowest I have is 3600 which should be good enough. I have had it in a dehydrator on and off. I'll put it back in and give it a few days.

Thanks for the help. If I can just get the texture cut flat and smooth without going through the paint, i think I can save it.

[Mike Kucaba]

Are you airbrushing? If so I would and have just sanded with what ever grit needed to get the paint nice and smooth and dust gone. Even if you sand and hit primer just re-coat with color and try and find out how to keep the dust down. I'm not sure how this would work with aerosols as they tend to put down more paint. Check out an auto parts store for the sanding pads by 3M. they make a couple of foam backed pads meant to be used wet. One grit is for polishing before machine buffing And work well. It's a large pad and I use them cut down into small squares. BTW I live in the desert too and dust in the paint has been my nemesis since moving here in 2008. HTH

[Quick GMC]

I am airbrushing with Scale Finishes enamel. The other body I did with a basecoat and clear was flawless. It's weird.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sometimes you can pick up a static electricity charge that will bleed to the model and attract dust. Yes, it IS weird.

I got into the habit of grounding 1:1 cars in the paint booth because of just that...air moving over a car body can cause a static electricity buildup that will attract dust like a magnet.

Different days, even time of day, temperatures, humidity levels, etc. can all play merry hello with your work.

[Quick GMC]

Sometimes you can pick up a static electricity charge that will bleed to the model and attract dust. Yes, it IS weird.

I got into the habit of grounding 1:1 cars in the paint booth because of just that...air moving over a car body can cause a static electricity buildup that will attract dust like a magnet.

Different days, even time of day, temperatures, humidity levels, etc. can all play merry hello with your work.

would this still hold true after a layer of paint?

Before I painted, I rubbed the car down with a cheese cloth (tack clotch) and it seemed like stuff was sticking to it. I had to use my bare finger to swipe the dust away as the tack cloth and microfiber seemed to encourage a static cling. I did not have this issue with the other car I painted.

[Sixgunner68]

I've read that you can lessen the static charge by rubbing the body with a used dryer sheet, like Bounce, before painting.

[LoneWolf15]

Try washing the body off with blue Dawn dish detergent and warm water , rinse thoroughly , blow dry the body off with compressed air , set it on the stand and immediately begin painting the body . Have your paint mixed and ready to go , beforehand . Controlling your paint environment is the single , most important factor for laying down a clean finish , each and every time !

[charlie8575]

Bill and Donn have probably the two best approaches overall, I think. Niko's will work, again, if the dust is on the very surface.

I've had many a black paint-job meet this same fate. Absolutely maddening.

Charlie Larkin

[Mike Kucaba]

I guess I don't know what I'm talking about.

[Quick GMC]

I guess I don't know what I'm talking about.

Your post made perfect sense. I think Donn was referring to the initial paint job. Wash/dry/paint right away.

I need to let the paint cure more before I sand it, it is still a little soft to the finger nail. I'll update when I start messing with it.

The funny thing is I was low on paint. I ran out right as I was finishing. Knowing myself and how much trouble I have painting bodies, I ordered another bottle from Scale Finishes in anticipation of screwing up. I don't know if I should be depressed or happy that I though ahead.

The color is Ford Washington Blue, from the Model A days, but I went over grey primer and it's a little dark. When I get all this worked out I'll make sure the color shows properly in the photos.

[Mike Kucaba]

[Mike Kucaba]

[Mike Kucaba]

[Mike Kucaba]

Those were all painted about 10 years ago.

[Quick GMC]

now you're making me feel bad.

[Mike Kucaba]

Didn't intend for that. It seems if you don't have 5000 posts, your not relevant.

[Quick GMC]

I appreciate your help. I'll update this thread when I make some progress

[mnwildpunk]

Sometimes you can pick up a static electricity charge that will bleed to the model and attract dust. Yes, it IS weird.

I got into the habit of grounding 1:1 cars in the paint booth because of just that...air moving over a car body can cause a static electricity buildup that will attract dust like a magnet.

Different days, even time of day, temperatures, humidity levels, etc. can all play merry hello with your work.

bill you are right again. During the winter in the great north tundra things build a static charge very easily. Paint a car model or 1:1 and dust is attracted to it like moths to light