Tried my hand at paint today...

ESP47 said
Right on man. I'm thinking about doing the same myself. Can you give us any details on your "paint booth"?

Hey ESP47 I can give you my 2 cents on painting been doing it for many years and hope I'm not boring you but here goes. Best to paint the car in sections take the doors off fenders and so on and paint one piece at a time so the over spray is at a minimum this will take more time but better in the long run. The worst thing you can do in a shop without a paint booth is clean it and blow all the dust out just before you paint. Best to clean everything and wait at least a day so the dust settles then wet the floor down and make sure you the painter is clean of dust mostly like if you have a dog don't get around it so it's hair is all over you before you paint. Keep everyone out of the shop as you paint and make sure you have good lighting.
The worst thing people do is try to put the paint on to fast read the paint instructions and give it dry time in between coats. Base you can wait about 24 hours between coats without re-sanding.
The biggest mistake people do is put the clear coat on over the base paint way to soon, it might take 6 months but will see little bubbles all over your nice paint job, that's because the base paint was not dry enough and the clear trapped the base solvent in and the only way for it to come out is break through the clear coat.
Paint is expensive as you know and sure hate to see you waist money and your labor.
Again just my 2 cents.