Help a Brother Learn To Paint

[Doctor.Dro]

Hello MBN,
So the time has come that i want to paint some of my plastic parts, but i am not to knowledgeable when it comes to painting, i obviously know i have to use a sand,primer,base coat, clear coat. but i do not know much beyond that.

i also am curious about reinforcing and shaping the fairings, i really do not know much about what i am even talking about, so please help me out. and should i use a spray gun or would cans be fine? im looking for a professional finish, ive heard of the term "wet sanding" to do after you paint, i just hope someone can teach me a couple things in this thread.

[Blitz$M.Inc.$]

i like fibreglass bondo and mesh to fix cracks
i like the rubber undercoating in a spray can to add strength and dampen vibration on the insides of the body
rattle cans work ok, ive used the cheapest you can get but the paint for all purpose crafts is great
wet sanding is done with a high grit paper(400+) for that purpose
the benefit is you can use the paper longer and get a better surface
the downside is its kinda messy, i just sprayed mine off in the shower when i was done

[The Nutty Professor]

I've seen some work done with a can that looked like a spray gun was used but they took a lot of time but in the end it cost less and you couldn't tell. What we need is a sticky on step 1 through the end...but I ain't the guy to write that one.

[FiveStarSky]

Hey Doc, i was in the same boat you were in about paint. I used high quality auto paint and clear, and it turned out kinda nice for my first try. But it quickly scratched and now looks ugly. If i were you i would just use the money on upgrade parts.

but if you do decide to paint, for you lower plastics, just use can paint. Those parts always get scratched up, and you can cover them up with more spray paint. better that than messing up paint you spent hours on.

[Unproracer]

If your just throwing another color on, no major plastic repairs or nothing, get a scotch bright pad(grey or yellow) mix dish soap and water, and use the solution to clean and scuff your plastics. Go get krylon fusion paint in a rattle can and DUST a light coat to to start with("overspray like) let dry 1 minute then begin paint. Make passes from one end of the panel to the other in a fluid motion across the panel, overlap each layer of paint about 50% into the previous path. once again, fluid motion, overlap, and dont "wet" it down, with overlap proper, and enough coats itll all dry to the same finish, and u dont have to fix runs.

Clear is a pain, and the stuff in the cans doesn't cure like automotive paint. Id rather rattle can once a year for 10 bucks then pay a few hundred for something thatll get wasted if u down ur bike. I use to paint automotive, maybe thats why im partial to spray cans though lol.. dark colors show body work, scratchs, swirls, etc, light colors just show dirt. GL.

[Doctor.Dro]

I've seen some work done with a can that looked like a spray gun was used but they took a lot of time but in the end it cost less and you couldn't tell. What we need is a sticky on step 1 through the end...but I ain't the guy to write that one.

that would be great.

[Doctor.Dro]

i like fibreglass bondo and mesh to fix cracks
i like the rubber undercoating in a spray can to add strength and dampen vibration on the insides of the body
rattle cans work ok, ive used the cheapest you can get but the paint for all purpose crafts is great
wet sanding is done with a high grit paper(400+) for that purpose
the benefit is you can use the paper longer and get a better surface
the downside is its kinda messy, i just sprayed mine off in the shower when i was done

what is the difference between wet sanding and just plain sanding, also what do the different grit paper mean, i would guess the strength and roughness, but what do they mean as far as leaving a smooth surface for paint. by rubber undercoating, you mean something like plasti-dip?

[Doctor.Dro]

If your just throwing another color on, no major plastic repairs or nothing, get a scotch bright pad(grey or yellow) mix dish soap and water, and use the solution to clean and scuff your plastics. Go get krylon fusion paint in a rattle can and DUST a light coat to to start with("overspray like) let dry 1 minute then begin paint. Make passes from one end of the panel to the other in a fluid motion across the panel, overlap each layer of paint about 50% into the previous path. once again, fluid motion, overlap, and dont "wet" it down, with overlap proper, and enough coats itll all dry to the same finish, and u dont have to fix runs.

Clear is a pain, and the stuff in the cans doesn't cure like automotive paint. Id rather rattle can once a year for 10 bucks then pay a few hundred for something thatll get wasted if u down ur bike. I use to paint automotive, maybe thats why im partial to spray cans though lol.. dark colors show body work, scratchs, swirls, etc, light colors just show dirt. GL.


i dont mind spending the extra on a paintgun setup and paint, i would find more things to paint than just the bike lol, but i really dont know what is quallity and what is not when it comes to those

[FiveStarSky]

on sandpaper, the bigger the number, the finer grit. When i sanded down my plastics prior to painting, i used an 80 grit flap wheel, to remove all the paint, the used 800grit sand paper to make it nice and smooth.

Wetsanding is where you get a bucket of water (or a water hose) (if using a bucked put in a drop of dish soap) and get the sandpaper and the surface nice and wet, and go to town sanding. It leaves an ultra smooth surface, but its reccomended that you use 1500 or finer sandpaper

[Blitz$M.Inc.$]

dont use 80 grit omg bluelaugh
i started with 400 and went to 1000 grit on the wetsand
i suggest doing a lower panel first
http://midbikenation.com/showthread.php?t=1422&page=2