"Goosebumps" in spray paint

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DentalDart

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This happened when I painted my wheels and now its happening on my console. Its just spray paint but still don't think its normal. I always do a self etching primer before painting. I do short strokes with the paint, and try to let it dry before doing a 2nd or 3rd coat.

How do I avoid this, or make it look smooth and shiny? Just wet sand with super fine grit? Clear coat on top?

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self etching primer usually means a sandable primer not requiring etch primer...you will need to sand the self etching primer...
 
If the surface you're applying the paint to is smooth then I'd say the paint is possibly going on too dry. When spraying solvent based paint with professional spray guns one can choose the speed of the solvent based on the temperature of the day you happen to be spraying. On a hot day you'd use a slow solvent. On a cold day, a fast one. Generally speaking with a gloss finish you want the paint to flow out on the surface it's being applied to. In other words you want all the paint droplets to land on the painted surface and flow together creating a smooth surface rather than sitting there as individual or groups of droplets. It's a sort of balancing act. Apply too wet and the paint runs. Apply too dry and it doesn't flow. With spray cans you have no control over the solvent that was used to thin the paint, but if you're having difficulty you might try spraying during a cooler part of the day to see if it helps.
 
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If the surface you're applying the paint to is smooth then I'd say the paint is possibly going on too dry. When spraying solvent based paint with professional spray guns one can choose the speed of the solvent based on the temperature of the day you happen to be spraying. On a hot day you'd use a slow solvent. On a cold day, a fast one. Generally speaking with a gloss finish you want the paint to flow out on the surface it's being applied to. In other words you want all the paint droplets to land on the painted surface and flow together creating a smooth surface rather than sitting there as individual or groups of droplets. It's a sort of balancing act. Apply to wet and the paint runs. Apply to dry and it doesn't flow. With spray cans you have no control over the solvent that was used to thin the paint, but if you're having difficulty you might try spraying during a cooler part of the day to see if it helps.

I see said the grasshopper.

I would try spraying during a cooler part of the day, but I was spraying last night around 8pm and it was still 90+ degrees outside lol.
 
I see said the grasshopper.

I would try spraying during a cooler part of the day, but I was spraying last night around 8pm and it was still 90+ degrees outside lol.
Yikes! 90 degrees is really getting up there. Most spray cans will tell you in the instructions what temperature range their product should be used in. Have a look to see if yours makes any mention of that.

Edit: I just had a look at several spray cans I have sitting about and though they all mention a minimum temp very few of them mention a max temp other than don't apply to a surface that's 200 degrees or more(duh). So even though it's a logical concern the manufacturers aren't offering much guidance in that regard.
 
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Yikes! 90 degrees is really getting up there. Most spray cans will tell you in the instructions what temperature range their product should be used in. Have a look to see if yours makes any mention of that.

Its hot in the Las Vegas desert...

Wait instructions???? :rofl:
 
I grew up using Krylon. Over the years, before Krylon was offered at Lowes I drifted into using Rust O Leum since I live near one. Long story short, I've had countless nozzle failures and bizarre atomizing with Rustoleum, especially with that ridiculous finger trigger type. So, I go Krylon exclusively now, I get better flow characteristics and zero atomization issues, I live in Phoenix so hot is typical. That being said, you can probably bury your pebbling issue with clear, as long as you clear it heavy enough each coat, with multiple coats, maybe 4 or 5 to be safe. If any of your clear coats are too thin, pebbling may continue. Get indirect light right so you can confirm flow. Clear Runs can be sanded out. Sherwin Williams offers catalyzed clear in a can ( 2 part). I've had good success with it for small parts and it beats mixing, loading and cleaning a gun everytime I need a performance clear.
Good luck!
 
I grew up using Krylon. Over the years, before Krylon was offered at Lowes I drifted into using Rust O Leum since I live near one. Long story short, I've had countless nozzle failures and bizarre atomizing with Rustoleum, especially with that ridiculous finger trigger type. So, I go Krylon exclusively now, I get better flow characteristics and zero atomization issues, I live in Phoenix so hot is typical. That being said, you can probably bury your pebbling issue with clear, as long as you clear it heavy enough each coat, with multiple coats, maybe 4 or 5 to be safe. If any of your clear coats are too thin, pebbling may continue. Get indirect light right so you can confirm flow. Clear Runs can be sanded out. Sherwin Williams offers catalyzed clear in a can ( 2 part). I've had good success with it for small parts and it beats mixing, loading and cleaning a gun everytime I need a performance clear.
Good luck!

I'm pretty sure I have rustoleum, ill spray it with clear and see how smooth I can get it then maybe wet sand after to get it a little better. At the end of the day it looks better than it did and will hold me over for a while until its done the "correct way," which is also significantly more than the 20 bucks I spent to do it this way lol.
 
Sprayed another coat today, sprayed much slower than I did the other day to get a heavier layer on the pieces... looks MUCH better.

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Nice job. It does look much better, so I guess you've got the spray can technique figured out.
 
Nice job. It does look much better, so I guess you've got the spray can technique figured out.

The silver looks better, the black is called "hammered" to give it a little more of the texture look. I didnt put primer down on the console, but it looks good still.

Question- I havent done clear on them yet, will a clear coat help them be less "sticky" or likely to come off on clothing that scrapes along them?
 
The silver looks better, the black is called "hammered" to give it a little more of the texture look. I didnt put primer down on the console, but it looks good still.

Question- I havent done clear on them yet, will a clear coat help them be less "sticky" or likely to come off on clothing that scrapes along them?

Clear will definitely help, but you'll need to let the silver cure for a couple weeks first. The solvents keep coming out for a while. You can 'bake' the parts to help speed the curing. In your neck of the woods, just put them in the car with the windows up and park outside for 2-3 days.

As far as clear - DONT use the typical rattle can clear. It will turn yellow, especially in the heat. It may take a year, but it will turn piss yellow eventually. Buy yourself a few cans of '2k' clear by spraymax. I used the stuff to redo the bumper of my daily driver and it's held up for the past 7 years. I've also used it to clear the saddlebags on my motorcycle and the gas tank too. The nice thing about the 2k is that it's a hardened paint. It won't dissolve easily and it's slightly flexible without being tacky, but is hard wearing. Read the directions THOROUGHLY beforehand and USE A RESPIRATOR. A bandanna isn't going to save your lungs from this stuff.
 
Clear will definitely help, but you'll need to let the silver cure for a couple weeks first. The solvents keep coming out for a while. You can 'bake' the parts to help speed the curing. In your neck of the woods, just put them in the car with the windows up and park outside for 2-3 days.

As far as clear - DONT use the typical rattle can clear. It will turn yellow, especially in the heat. It may take a year, but it will turn piss yellow eventually. Buy yourself a few cans of '2k' clear by spraymax. I used the stuff to redo the bumper of my daily driver and it's held up for the past 7 years. I've also used it to clear the saddlebags on my motorcycle and the gas tank too. The nice thing about the 2k is that it's a hardened paint. It won't dissolve easily and it's slightly flexible without being tacky, but is hard wearing. Read the directions THOROUGHLY beforehand and USE A RESPIRATOR. A bandanna isn't going to save your lungs from this stuff.

Wait, did you just say park the car outside for a couple of days? Thats crazy talk :poke: the garage does get pretty hot too, so I'm planning on leaving it out in the garage for a while. Im still trying to figure out which console insert I am going to get.

27 bucks for some clear, but like you said 7yrs of protection is a good amount of time. I don't have a respirator but I have N95 masks.

Now I have to figure out how I want to do the tail panel, light bezels and front grill. I guess if I got that clear I could use it on everything. If it wasn't so dang expensive to re-chrome and fix the trim that would be nice.
 
Wait, did you just say park the car outside for a couple of days? Thats crazy talk :poke: the garage does get pretty hot too, so I'm planning on leaving it out in the garage for a while. Im still trying to figure out which console insert I am going to get.

27 bucks for some clear, but like you said 7yrs of protection is a good amount of time. I don't have a respirator but I have N95 masks.

Now I have to figure out how I want to do the tail panel, light bezels and front grill. I guess if I got that clear I could use it on everything. If it wasn't so dang expensive to re-chrome and fix the trim that would be nice.

I wouldn't use the N95. The catalysts in the paint are no joke, they'll kill you if breathe enough of them. But the results are worth it. $20 for a 3m respirator isn't that bad and it's what I used and survived (I tried spraying stuff in the past w/o a respirator and I almost died). This 2k clear has outlived the GM factory clear on my car and is still going strong. I really can't say enough about it. Plus, it only takes ~12hrs to fully cure and then it's ready for use. It will also polish really well if you want that super high shine. They make a matte version as well which might look good on the black part of the console.

The hotter the parts get, the faster the paint will fully cure - won't matter much, it'll cure anyway but with metallics I've had best luck when using higher heat. Just don't burn/warp anything! LOL.

There's some decent chrome-like paints available in the modeling world, but you'd want an airbrush or small HVLP sprayer for it. Plus the super high shine stuff typically needs to be buffed, and I'm not sure how it would look after a clear coat job..
 
Please get and wear a good respirator if your spraying paints.
Wear something to keep it off your skin as well.
Solvents are toxic and can have a cumulative effect.
N95 is a non-toxic particle mask.
 
the 3M's work well. comfortable and easy the breathe through. you can stack the organics and dust filters. a better than nothing test to see if it's sealed is put your palms over the filter intakes and try to breath in. should not be able to. you know it's working well when you can't smell anything while spraying, until you take it off
 
Ok heres another question...

I cleaned the console up, fixed 2 broken spots then sanded down some of the deeper scratches. After I cleaned it I painted it with "hammered black" spray paint. Well i can still see some of the imperfections, should I spray bedliner on it or is there another way to do texture on the console?

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Those marks mean the repair wasn’t flush with the surrounding surface. Some fillers will shrink as they cure requiring several efforts at filling and sanding to get them right.
 
Hard to match the texture. Luckily, once it's in the car it will be tough to see. Otherwise, I've seen textured pads of vinyl or other materials you can press into filler so that the filler picks up some texture.
 
Those marks mean the repair wasn’t flush with the surrounding surface. Some fillers will shrink as they cure requiring several efforts at filling and sanding to get them right.

Some of the spots are from filler and other from scratches. I was worried about sanding to much off of the console though, didnt want to damage it to much. The only other thing I've seen to add texture is will bedliner.

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