Topic: Lacquer Botsford Blue Green Advice


presidentsamito    -- 06-13-2010 @ 4:58 PM
  Hello Friends, well I'm at the (hopefully) end of bodywork on my '46...and am using lacquer. Yes, I know there are those who love it and not Well, I am sanding between coats, but am having trouble now that I am coming up on the "final" coats. When I sand the Botsford Blue Green with 600 between coats, the color is different when "dull", that is, it appears significantly more "green" than blue, and so that when I re-coat it with the next spray, where I sand through it you can clearly see the difference in color. Paint is the same color, same batch, mixed correctly etc. It is just different color when sanded.

I can't see any way to avoid it other than sanding all the way up to 2000 and buffing out (this makes it the correct blue green) but if I leave it anything less than full polish, the next coat shows different color when I sand through it.

Any thoughts?

This message was edited by presidentsamito on 6-13-10 @ 4:59 PM


presidentsamito    -- 06-13-2010 @ 5:00 PM
  Here is the color as sprayed, not sanded. Compare with the first


37RAGTOPMAN    -- 06-13-2010 @ 5:20 PM
  are you adding retarder to the paint ?
About a shot glass to a 1 qt cup,
this will stop the moisture from getting in the paint,
lacquer from drying to fast,
are you painting inside or outside
do not spray lacquer in the sun,it drys to fast,and leaves it dull,it should have a little shine,and you pictures look like it is very dull,
this might be the problem,
it seems this might be your problem,youy said you made sure you mixed the paint and thinned it the same exact way every time you sprayed a coat,
what grade paper are you using between coats,?
give more info,
37RAGTOPMAN,,,,,,,,, KEEP ON TRUCKIN,,,,,


parrish    -- 06-13-2010 @ 8:14 PM
  My suggestion is to stop sanding your color base...too much work! Simply spray a final color base and then (within 24 hours) spray a few (3-4) coats of clearcoat lacquer (with 15 minutes or so flash time in between coats). The clearcoat is then wet sanded starting with 800 to 1000 to 1500 to 2000. The more smoothly you lay down the clearcoat, the easier the wet sanding. Just take it down to a smooth, dull finish as you've experienced with your base color. Then buff the clearcoat with a random orbit sander (or DA) and you will be happy...


presidentsamito    -- 06-16-2010 @ 3:45 AM
  Thanks! No, I am not adding retarder...just lacquer thinner thinned 1:2.

Trouble is when I spray and sand between coats (which seems to be necessary with lacquer) the color of the sanded product changes when sanded...that is, the coat becomes dull as in the shot. When I spray on top of it and color sand again, I burn through to some places with the previous coat and the difference in coat color is obvious from the sanding.

I realize this is a tough question, and thanks for all help from all.

I'll spray clear lacquer if I need to, but I wanted to see if there is anything else wrong.


37RAGTOPMAN    -- 06-16-2010 @ 5:40 AM
  parrish
has a good idea if you want a wet look, which is a little overkill to me,but you have to get the color right first.,I never sprayed a clear coat,a lot of new cars shed the clear coat in time,if the laquer dulls out, you can polish it year after year,and do nothave to worry about going though the clear coat,just the paint,I painted a MODEL A back in the 1968 with black laquer and it still looks good, yes, it has rubbed though in a few spots on the rear fender, buy I have the option, of spraying in a few areas,on the coating changing color,if it is hot and damp, you should add retarder, and spray inside out of sun light,you can keep the garage door open and use a fan to exit the fumes, and by all means use a special mask
This will make the paint dry slower,you might trying applying paint a little heavier,and shake the spray gun a little, so the paint stays mixed,
sand very lightly using 320-400 between coats using WATER.and just enough sanding to make the next coats stick,just flatten out the paint so it is dull and all the same color, some painters use the scotch pads for this,just wipe down the surface before applying more coats make sure it is fully dry,
once the car is fully painted [ and color matches,you can make you mind up if you want to apply the clear laquer. it leaves a wet look,
I would not, it does not look original at least to me as the car left the factory, ,nice on motorcycles, but that is my 3 cents,you could just polish out the paint and see if you are happy with it, and then if not apply more paint till you are,you can keep going till you are happy with it,
hope this helps and good luck,
KEEP ON TRUCKIN 37 RAGTOPMAN

This message was edited by 37RAGTOPMAN on 6-16-10 @ 5:59 AM


TomO    -- 06-16-2010 @ 7:15 AM
  You should not have to sand in between coats of lacquer, unless you are waiting more than 24 hours between coats.

Back in the day, we used to shoot 5 coats in one day, just allowing time for the previous coat to flash over. The recommended number of coats for acrylic lacquer is four wet coats, with about 10 minutes between coats.

If you are waiting more than 24 hours between coats, you are more likely to have crazing of the finish later. You also stand the chance of not having a good match on all of the parts sprayed.

If you have already sprayed more than 3 coats, just try rubbing out the top coat, without sanding.
Tom

This message was edited by TomO on 6-16-10 @ 7:18 AM


presidentsamito    -- 06-16-2010 @ 8:14 AM
  Ok, I'll try adding the retarder...that would make sense, it does seem to be drying way too quickly and not "flowing out."

I'll sand down with 600, clean, shoot 4 wet coats waiting 20 minutes between each for flash. Then I'll give it a week and wet sand and polish out.

Stay tuned...


TomO    -- 06-16-2010 @ 6:31 PM
  If the paint is drying too quickly, you may not have your gun set up properly or you are too far from the surface when spraying or moving the gun too fast.

I don't know how much paint you have on the car, but be careful to not get the coating too thick, it will crack and start to chip off in a couple of years. Check with your paint supplier for the optimum paint thickness.

Tom


parrish    -- 06-16-2010 @ 7:18 PM
  One additional advantage of clearcoat is that you can "freshen up" your paint job years down the road without creating a color mis-match.


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