What is your usual recipe for painting bodies?

[JollySipper]

Hey, everybody! I thought that this could be a very informative thread for folks who may be struggling with painting bodies for one reason or another..... There's a Ton of y'all who get better end results than I can get, and I hope that some of you will post up your 'formula' for body painting! I'll start with this Camaro, which I did just like I do most of my paint jobs. The primers I use the most are DupliColor filler primer and Rustoleum flat primers. I generally use DC 'perfect match' for the color coats...... Then comes the clear! I've found out through testing and such that VHT Engine Enamel clear works great over the perfect match paints........ It's a 'hot' clear, though, so you can't use it over everything. Anyway, here's my modest effort at smooth and shiny paint!

So, you guys that have learned a formula to work by that get consistent results, please share what you do..............

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

I struggled with obtaining show quality paint for many, many years and dreaded the painting process, until I resigned myself to the fact that it wasn’t necessary at all to try to get a perfect paint job straight from the can or airbrush.

It was such a liberating experience when I discovered that a mediocre paint job can be transformed into a exemplary one just by spending a little time cutting and polishing.

No more worrying about all of the usual issues that often accompany the painting process.

Several coats of a good quality automotive primer, followed by a number of coats of lacquer color, and finally several more coats of a quality lacquer clear coat, and finished with cutting and polishing, and I’m all but guaranteed that I will end up with a perfect finish.

I can’t remember the last time that I had to strip a paint job due to an application issue.

I no longer have any use for experimentation or scrambling to find a color or a product that I have no experience with.

Duplicolor sandable or “primer sealer”, MCW, Scale Finishes, or Duplicolor lacquer color, Duplicolor Perfect Match “Protective Clear Coat”, and cutting and polishing never fails me.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Dave G.]

19 hours ago, JollySipper said:

Hey, everybody! I thought that this could be a very informative thread for folks who may be struggling with painting bodies for one reason or another..... There's a Ton of y'all who get better end results than I can get, and I hope that some of you will post up your 'formula' for body painting! I'll start with this Camaro, which I did just like I do most of my paint jobs. The primers I use the most are DupliColor filler primer and Rustoleum flat primers. I generally use DC 'perfect match' for the color coats...... Then comes the clear! I've found out through testing and such that VHT Engine Enamel clear works great over the perfect match paints........ It's a 'hot' clear, though, so you can't use it over everything. Anyway, here's my modest effort at smooth and shiny paint!

So, you guys that have learned a formula to work by that get consistent results, please share what you do..............

 

Looks to me like the Camaro mostly just needs polishing

[JollySipper]

5 hours ago, Dave G. said:

Looks to me like the Camaro mostly just needs polishing

I'll take that as a compliment, thank you!   

An aside question...... Would you do any sanding to the Camaro, with very fine grit of course, before polishing? It looks a bit better in person........

Edited 23 hours ago by JollySipper

[Dave G.]

3 hours ago, JollySipper said:

I'll take that as a compliment, thank you!   

An aside question...... Would you do any sanding to the Camaro, with very fine grit of course, before polishing? It looks a bit better in person........

Well it's only to polish if that's what you want !

I don't see it in person though, as such I can't say or see that it needs sanding. When that's the case for myself I just go with a fine scratch remover, that tends to bring up the gloss. Then I may use a soft polishing/ soft wax. Or not.

[bill-e-boy]

Pretty much as @StevenGuthmiller says but using an airbrush instead of rattle cans

Paint of late has been mostly Tamiya Surface Primer, grey or white dependent on final colour, sanding to 3200g and finally Tamiya LP lacquers for colour coats and clear followed by sanding/polishing process

Process is simple - execution is time consuming and should not be rushed 

[Radretireddad]

Two to three coats of Tamiya white primer from the can. The gray primer works well but the dried finish is not as smooth as the white. The white primer dries dead smooth with almost no eggshell finish. Three coats of any of Tamiya’s bottled acrylics thinned 50/50 and sprayed at around 22 to 25 psi with the airbrush needle set for a coat heavy enough to level itself out well but not drip, sag, or run. If I’m spraying Tamiya metallics, I’ll apply three to four coats of Tamiya clear the same way. I polish and buff with foam backed polishing pads I get at Hobby Lobby. They start at 2500 and go all the way up to 12000 grit. A final buff with Meguiars Plastix polishing compound and a soft cloth finishes it off perfectly. Createx and Craft store acrylics also work well but will need as many as five to six coats to be able to withstand the polishing and buffing stage without rubbing through to the primer.

Edited 17 hours ago by Radretireddad

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, bill-e-boy said:

Pretty much as @StevenGuthmiller says but using an airbrush instead of rattle cans

Paint of late has been mostly Tamiya Surface Primer, grey or white dependent on final colour, sanding to 3200g and finally Tamiya LP lacquers for colour coats and clear followed by sanding/polishing process

Process is simple - execution is time consuming and should not be rushed 

I use an airbrush as well, but mostly just for the color coats.

 

 

Steve