you have to spray like a machine would. your nozzle needs to be perpendicular to the surface at all times. practice spraying the roof and keeping your gun at the right angle. this requires you to use your fingertips to paint.

you will also have to walk the sides of the vehicle. do a test run with the air hose connected to your gun and try not to step on your air hose.

I don't use a drop coat and manufactures don't use a drop coat just make sure your overlap is consistent.

Thanks Jamon. I'll do some dry runs with air to get comfy with the motions. It's a convertible so the only thing I'll need to reach for is the hood, cowl, and rear deck lid. A good friend has been helping me keep the hose out of my way when I painted the underside and engine bay. He's pretty good at perfecting the gun adjustments too so it's nice having him there to support me in this. I was going to use a 75% overlap unless you guys think that's a bit too much.

I'm excited to start on it this weekend. Should be great weather out here. The main thing I worried about was screwing up an otherwise good job by not putting down the drop coat right. Good to know that some pros don't always feel the need to use them.

Good or bad, I'll add a couple pics of what I do this weekend.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

I have painted cars panel by panel with metallic paint and had them turn out perfect. No mist, fog or drop necessary but then some paints do call for that so follow the tech sheet.
They have come a long way with the metal flake design in helping them to orient properly.
The key is to not lay it on too heavy and buy a premium quality paint - especially for a Corvette. I use a 50% overlap which is basically centering my spray over the edge of the last pass and for me that is easy to keep consistent with.
Let your coats flash off the appropriate amount of time (tech sheet or longer) and like said above, be consistent in your application. Tipping gun will give you tiger stripes so keep it perpendicular to the surface at all times (I robot). Strive for correct distance to surface, overlap and speed. Most problems come when you are trying to hurry. Take your time and be deliberate.
I suggest that when you get it laying down the way you like it that you keep a log book with the mix ratio, reducer used, activator (yes you should activate base coat IMO), spray gun used, fan and fluid knob settings, and air inlet pressure with trigger pulled full open.

thanks for the info guys, im learning as well this was my first metallic job but have done plenty of solid colors. but what was I doing wrong that I kept getting mottling when every stroke I did the same, same technique same overlap same speed and same strokes. as it went on I can see it go on even but dried it was very mottled. I HAD to do the fog coat to save what ive done so far, I made some emergency calls on the spot to other painters I know and the way I did it was the way they told me to. would love to get it right the first time

there is a video on youtube, kevin tetz says lay it on in big droplets not as well atomized for last coat with dropped pressure, will that do it?

and for paint I used nason, it was recommended by the supplier. so other brands spray different and are different to work with?

Guns, tips, compressors, and products do make a difference.
Without knowing more information on the above it would be hard to tell you what you did wrong.
Check this thread out: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8988&start=10

I rate Nason about equal with Omni - I don't use either one.

gallogiro, if your having mottling problems your putting the paint on to heavy. also base coats are not all the same some work much better than others. I've used the nasons base coat and didn't like, it if I'm doing metallic its Chroma Base. as said before with good quality base coat and correct gun technique you won't need to do a drop coat
Jay D.

Bad six and Coronet, I wish I had posted this before buying the paint. I asked the guy at the paint store for the best quality solvent based two stage and Nason is what he sold me. Not sure if he just didn't sell the Chromabase or if there is some added chemical in the Chromabase that he is not allowed to sell in Calif. or maybe he was trying to sell me what he thought was most compatible with the primer sealer I had already bought from him. I'll have to ask next time I'm in there. I have a 70 Challenger I want to paint down the road so if he sells it, I'll get the Chromabase for that car.

Since I'm doing the underside of the rear deck lid and some small parts, I can experiment with what I have and see if I like the results I'm getting. My thought was to give the base several hours to dry before putting on the clear. I sprayed a touch up color on a spare part and it looked great but when I added the clear, it suddenly became mottled. At the time, I was sure I simply didn't wait long enough before clearing it, I think it was like 15 minutes.

The Kevin Tezt drop coat video was one of the ones I've seen before. They make it seem fairly easy but I'm not crazy about resetting adjustments and pressure in the middle of the job. If I had more experience, I probably wouldn't be as concerned.

Regardless of how it comes out, this is sure to be the first of many paint projects. I really enjoy this kind of stuff and since I don't have the pressure of doing it for a living, I can slow down, Have fun, and enjoy the results (hopefully).

I'll add some pics this weekend

If the base goes on too heavy it will tend to mottle. The idea is to spray medium coats and let them flash properly. Don't try to get full coverage on your first coat, instead spray 3 coats (or more depending on coverage and quality) to get full coverage. Spray out cards can help with determining how many coats to get true color.
The base should look almost flat in appearance:




Clear brings the shine and depth:

just to clear my mind, you are using a base coat clear coat system aren't you. you say two stage, some people call single stage urethane two stage because you add a catalyst to it and that gets confusing. you should be using nason full-base base coat with a clear coat .
thanks Jay D.

Yes, I'm doing a base coat followed by clear. i have heard that's the easier more forgiving system for a newbie like me. can hardly wait for the weekend so I can get started.