- Joined
- Apr 5, 2001
- Location
- St. Catharines, Ontario Canada
I posted a reply to another person's painting problems, and Stool asked me if I would post the same info here. It might be a little bit dated, and some of you may know it already, but here it goes:
If you get really bad (and I mean REALLY bad) fisheye or dust or runs/bags/sags in your paint, it really would be best to take the pans right back to the primer (if you did prime it) w/ some Laquor thinner/Enamel Reducer/Gunwash and try painting it again. The reason you get things like fisheye/dust is from improper handling of the pans between stages of painting.
Fisheye is caused by touching the case w/ your bare fingers (leaving oily finger prints that look like fisheyes, get it?) Or oily rags. Dust can be caused by environment, or a charge on the case attracting dust from the air. You can ground your pans/case by painting it on the floor, or by hanging something like a chain from the part you're painting to the floor.
Some of the reasons runs/bags/sags are caused could be because you're holding your gun (or spray bomb) too close to your case, moving it too slowly (thus putting too much paint on), or using a reducer (if you're using automotive paint, which I did) that is not suited to the environment you're painting in. Like if you're using slow reducer in a cold environment, the paint will run. You might want to try a medium or even fast reducer to stop runs. If you're bombing, you'll want to follow the instructions on the side of the can as closely as you can. Example: paint in the exact (or as close as you can) conditions on the side of the can to reduce the likelihood of runs.
If you get a few runs/fisheyes/dust that isn't so bad as to warrant a complete repaint, the best thing you can do is sand down the panel (the whole panel) w/ some 1000 or 1500 (although 1500 might be too fine. 1000 should do unless you feel adventurous) grit wet/dry sandpaper and some warm, soapy water (and I've even heard of Windex being used, but I'm not brave enough to try that) and then buff a shine into it w/ a buffer and some polishing compound. Sand in broad, even strokes, making sure to keep the panel and paper wet and clean (wipe it down every now and then w/ a wet rag in the same water). Don't sand too much, or you'll come down to the primer and have to do it all over again anyways! Just sand enough so the fisheye/runs/dust is gone. Rinse it down w/ some clean water, wipe it down w/ a clean, lint-free rag and let it dry, then apply some polishing compound to your buffing pad (and more to the panel if needed) and buff for 20 minutes, or until the shine comes back through.
I had to do this w/ my case. If you wanna see, just click the link in my sig (the very last line) to see what it might look like afterwards. I hope this helps somebody.
If you get really bad (and I mean REALLY bad) fisheye or dust or runs/bags/sags in your paint, it really would be best to take the pans right back to the primer (if you did prime it) w/ some Laquor thinner/Enamel Reducer/Gunwash and try painting it again. The reason you get things like fisheye/dust is from improper handling of the pans between stages of painting.
Fisheye is caused by touching the case w/ your bare fingers (leaving oily finger prints that look like fisheyes, get it?) Or oily rags. Dust can be caused by environment, or a charge on the case attracting dust from the air. You can ground your pans/case by painting it on the floor, or by hanging something like a chain from the part you're painting to the floor.
Some of the reasons runs/bags/sags are caused could be because you're holding your gun (or spray bomb) too close to your case, moving it too slowly (thus putting too much paint on), or using a reducer (if you're using automotive paint, which I did) that is not suited to the environment you're painting in. Like if you're using slow reducer in a cold environment, the paint will run. You might want to try a medium or even fast reducer to stop runs. If you're bombing, you'll want to follow the instructions on the side of the can as closely as you can. Example: paint in the exact (or as close as you can) conditions on the side of the can to reduce the likelihood of runs.
If you get a few runs/fisheyes/dust that isn't so bad as to warrant a complete repaint, the best thing you can do is sand down the panel (the whole panel) w/ some 1000 or 1500 (although 1500 might be too fine. 1000 should do unless you feel adventurous) grit wet/dry sandpaper and some warm, soapy water (and I've even heard of Windex being used, but I'm not brave enough to try that) and then buff a shine into it w/ a buffer and some polishing compound. Sand in broad, even strokes, making sure to keep the panel and paper wet and clean (wipe it down every now and then w/ a wet rag in the same water). Don't sand too much, or you'll come down to the primer and have to do it all over again anyways! Just sand enough so the fisheye/runs/dust is gone. Rinse it down w/ some clean water, wipe it down w/ a clean, lint-free rag and let it dry, then apply some polishing compound to your buffing pad (and more to the panel if needed) and buff for 20 minutes, or until the shine comes back through.
I had to do this w/ my case. If you wanna see, just click the link in my sig (the very last line) to see what it might look like afterwards. I hope this helps somebody.
brrr!
