Paint Job came out dull

[JJ]

Last Fall I completely stripped and painted my cub. I used Dupont Centari with the recommented reducer and hardener.
My problem is the paint looks dull- not shiny.Not like the paint jobs i see on this site.
I put the paint on in many thin layers and I'm wondering if this was the cause. I notice on some components I painted which were lying on the ground they came out shinyer- like there was more paint on them

Any ideas.. I want to repaint it now

Thanks

[George Willer]

JJ,

Might be you have the paint upside down. The dull side belongs against the metal since it sticks better. Does the paint chip easily, indicating the shiny side toward the metal?

Kidding aside, did you finish with a nice wet coat? It's necessary for the paint to be wet so it flows together and makes the glossy surface.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Several years ago I had a 63 Chevy pu that was getting in pretty bad need of paint, but I had a very limited budget, so I bought some Van Syckle Ford tractor blue, and used my Wagner airles gun to paint it. Dew fell before paint dryed good and left a dull finish on the hood, so I sanded it and repainted it. Samething happened again, so I left it that way. When anyone would ask why the hood had such a dull finish I would tell them that it was to prevent the sun form reflecting in my eyes when I was on the way home of an evening. LOL. Don't know what answer I would have given if they had asked why the roof of the cab was the smae way.

[beaconlight]

Moterists wise SIMONIZE!

Bill

[cowboy]

You can wet sand it an clear coat it and that will make it shine.

Its 47 degrees here I just spent two hours mowing without gloves and i can barely move my fingers to type.

[michigancub3]

You should be able to wet sand and rub the Centari and rub it. It's been a long time since I sprayed Centari but they used to have a performance pack hardner for it that made it realy flow nice and shine like a base clear coat system. Chroma one single stage was some nice stuff too. I stay away from Dupont though... I don't like there driver lol. This weather does suck huh Cowboy? I spent most of the day putzin my cub around making sure all the bugs were worked out of it. And it was cold up on there when the wind was blowing and no sun

[Jack Donovan]

More than likely you reduesd it to thin, this causes die back, Poor ventilation also contributes, The over spray can lay back on top , cooling down to far or being to hot can cause dulling, Like said in previous post you can sand w/2000 grit and buff, But if only the hood seems bad it would be faster to repaint, Good luck

[Todd]

less paint = Shinier More paint = Duller. Trust me on this. Everyone wants to put on a bunch of paint. It is the worst thing you can do. Centari with hardner should be pretty shiny. Also keep in mind the less reducer you use it is, better for the enviroment, and you paint is shinier. Reducer is just a Vehichle to get the paint on the metal. Test a panel and keep adding till it comes out of the gun nice. If it has taken a while to dull, it is one of three things or a combination. No:1 Overreduced, No:2 You did not wait the proper time in between coats or didnt have the temp set correctly.

With acrylic enamle I would start with a real light piss coat use a lot of airpressure and bairly get the paint on the metal. let it sit up. Then one nice coat, wait the proper drying time at the proper temp. If its colder than the recomended temp, wait a while longer. Make sure its not too hot or you will trap the solvent. Then one more good wet coat. Thats it! If you really really want you can do a third heavy coat, but only if you are going to wet sand and buff the hell out of it. If not don't be tempted, if you have paint left throw it away!!!!!

For you problem now, you can not clear it, its been too long since you painted it, the clear will peel off. even if you wet sand it first if there is dirt in the paint or you want it smoother you can wet sand with 1000, then 1500. If you dont know what your doing don't wet sand it or you will be re-painting. I would try and buff it with a white foam pad and some fine cut compound. be carful and tape up all the edges first. Then on a slow speed polish with a black foam pad and some 3m #06064 Perfect-it 3000 swirl mark remover. Use a little bit on a slow speed and work it in, nice and easy

[Patbretagne]

Todd, Thank you so very much for an informed aproach to painting, it is much appreciated, one day I might even get around to spraying, up till now, it's always been brushing, I don't get the brilliance because the paints that I use are different (Vapormatic) to your spraying paints, but I can get away with temperature differences so long as I chose the right time of day to let enough time to dry before temp drops and humidity rises. Thanks again,
Pat

[artc]

GW wrote:

Might be you have the paint upside down. The dull side belongs against the metal since it sticks better. Does the paint chip easily, indicating the shiny side toward the metal?

George, you've got the right idea, but your answer is, well, ummm, not quite correct, shall we say. The paint is actually INSIDE OUT


Todd, with your knowledge, you should write something on painting for all of us painting challenged individuals. we could post here or on RUDI's site.

[Todd]

I keep meaning to, I started a couple of times. I even took some pics of the process. The problem is, depending on what paint is available to you, there are slightly different techniques. Also budget is a big factor

[Jim Becker]

GW wrote:

Might be you have the paint upside down. The dull side belongs against the metal since it sticks better. Does the paint chip easily, indicating the shiny side toward the metal?

George, you've got the right idea, but your answer is, well, ummm, not quite correct, shall we say. The paint is actually INSIDE OUT

Wasn't it Stephen Wright that said he bought some paint in a used paint store? It came in the shape of a house.

[Todd]

I use A geo for base coat and a Sata for clear and single stage. I used to sell those turbine HVLP, could never get used to them, but man they were efficient. Something like 80%.

Everyone may find this interesting most old type spay guns are 35% efficient. This means 65% of the paint you spray goes in the atmosphere. Now I am not environmentalist. But that cant be good! Now a days guns are so efficient you can paint an entire average size car with a 1 1/2 pints of base and 2 quarts of clear. And still have enough to buff!

[Jack fowler]

JJ

I not a painting expert like most of the other people on this forum. The body shop at the company I work for uses this material all the time. It contains no silicone or wax.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/Jackf/100_0692.jpg

If the paint is smooth try using 3M Finesse-it Part #051131-05928. I wouldn’t use a buffing machine only use a clean cloth and hand buff it.

Jack Fowler

[Todd]

Thats good stuff, but most people stoped using it 7/8 years ago. It is the predicesor to the 3m number i gave. It is also not meant to be used by hand. To work it needs to be used with a Black Foam pad. It is also meant to be used to get out very smalls scuffs or Compound swirls. If the paint is dull, He will need a compound first