rebeldart wrote:If your are a beginner:
Spend as much time researching as possible. Go to a shop if possible (better yet a class at a community college) and watch, learn,ask, read, research.
Screw up or having a bad day in the garage (and you will) ? Walk away, take a break for a few days if you need to. All mistakes can be corrected, it's not the end of the world. Cover it up so you don't have to look at it, hit the forums and get advice.
Most take on their own paint/body at home for one of two reasons, either they enjoy the challenge and reward, or they can't afford the shop. If you plan to do it to save money and don't somewhat enjoy it, you'll be miserable and probably results will reflect it. Products are too expensive to waste.
NEVER waste your money on cheap sandpaper (seriously, the difference is amazing).
SLOW DOWN, AND KEEP YOUR WORK AREA NEAT. Especially when preparing to shoot product, personally, I need minimum distraction and radio/cell phone off. This is when I'm the most "anxious" due to time constraints based on products set-up time frame (2K in the gun, etc) But that's just me.
Did I say SLOW DOWN ?
yupyupyup. found out the hard way that when things aint goin right and i have to fight everything, walkin away is the best thing to do, or fix and even larger problem. i would usually break out the a** kickin machine and almost give up. but noticing when it was time to wlk away for a while sure changed my perspective. my sons step dad has been doing body work, painting, and restos for a very long time( i think he advised ford to stick with black because it dries quick!!). even with the amazing work i have seen him do, he admits he makes mistakes and its one thing the people that taught him admitted to doing, but its whats done with the mistakes that counts.
cant stress enough to slow down. going too quick has caused me to miss some things i should have done( and thats where a lot of the mistakes i have had to wak away from started).
the cleaner i keep my work area the more enjoyable it is to be out there workin!
theres one way the folks who are awesome at bodywork and painting have all had to do and that is develop the skill over time, and thats an acronym for Things I Must Earn
one to add: i have a dry erase board i break out to scratch things down on. my memory just aint good enough to remember everything.