sounds like you are trapping solvents. too much material on your coats. i do not use sg100 after a boat i flamed and pinstriped cracked and fell off. if stuff is wrinkling a week later thats a solvent trapping problem. lighten up your coats and increase flash time

Flash time quite possibly part of the problem. Seems I am always in a hurry. Working on one small piece at a time I have a hard time standing there watching the paint dry.

dont stand there. i train about about 7 painters a year and one of the biggest mistake all painters make is telling themself "it feels like 15 minutes" use a timer

Dave,

I have recently started using a timer. Still hard to wait. When I start painting the bike I don't think cutting the flash time short will be a problem. I'm guessing 9 pieces and 3 test panels will take about half an hour per coat. Would taking say half an hour to a full hour between coats cause a problem? Between coats of BC? Between BC and effects clear? Between effects clear and protective clear? I am thinking it will be fine, but it would be nice to hear your thoughts. I will be using TAMCO Universal Clear, HC2100 for everything... effects coat, protective coat, and final clear.

This will be my first time doing this large of a project. That's why I am running 3 test panels first at the start of each step in the process. If something screws up it will hopefully show up on the test panels before I start on the parts.

Doing some reading... looks like materials I am using have a critical re-coat time of 60 minuets at 70 degrees. I will be working in 80-95 degrees. I try to get things done before it gets too hot, but some times things don't go as planned. What is your guess at critical re-coat time at this temperature with medium reducer and activator.

Seems flash times and re-coat windows are generally speced at 70 degrees. Is there a rule of thumb type formula for the effect temperature has on these times?

good to hear ! i also must tell you that a timer aint the complete answer to flash times. temp, reducer, mil thickness, etc are all a factor but i think you will be suprised to see just how long 15-20 minutes feels like when using a timer, you will most likely see you have not waited long enough. another thing i like to educate painters on is reducer, do NOT ever says to youself "it feels like 85 degrees so ill use slow" big mistake, you couldve been sanding working hard or something else to raise your body temp and make it feel hot or you could just be relaxed feeling cool and use the wrong reducer causing you to wait very long periods for flash or getting that dry spray people complain about, so make sure you got a temp reader of some kind in the area you paint.

start your flash time with the last piece you paint. 15-20 minutes or more after the last piece is painted. you should be able to tack your base before applying more base. and before clear. the clear youre using is great im not sure on flash times.

So start the flash time countdown after the last piece?

I will be doing this assembly line style. Each part is numbered. Every part gets gets first coat, starting with #1 going sequentially through #11. Every part gets the second coat in the same order. Continue until I'm done with the session.

If it takes me an hour from when I spray #1 with the first coat until I spray #11 with the first coat, and then I wait 15 minutes before I start the next coat... the total time #1 has sat there drying is 1:15. Wouldn't that be way too long at 85 degrees?

What am I missing here???

If you're spraying that many parts in 85 degree weather you better be using very slow reducer . The idea is the whole job should stay wet through the whole first coat. Otherwise dry over spray will get on the first parts you sprayed flash times will vary.

Dave, thanks for taking the time to help me out. Just trying to absorb as much information as possible.

I don't think overspray will be a problem. Each part is on its own jig/stand. All parts are on a table at the "clean" end of the room. Idea is to pick a part up by the jig, set it on the turntable at the exhaust end of the room, and spray. Then put the part back on the clean table, pick up the next part and repeat.

This allows part #1 to dry while parts 2-12 are processed. I am guessing it will take 30-45 minutes to get back to part #1 for the second coat.

Critical re-coat window for materials I am using is 1 hour at 70 degrees. So now my question is, what does that equal at 85 degrees? Seems like I will be past that window. And if I need to stop for any reason I'm screwed.

Thinking about breaking this up into 2 sessions. That can cause problems with uniformity of the effects coat. But having the sparkle lay a little different between sessions is better than if parts start wrinkling halfway through the process.

the 15 degree rule this is a general rule in painting
for every 15 degrees over 70 your flash time and dry time would be cut in half. (using same reducer) so if you got one hour window on your clear at 70 if it is 85 you will have 30min.

i do what youre doing all the time leaving parts at one side of the booth. it should work. just make sure you are able to tack each coat of base before applying a new coat. and remember 3-4 light coats will be better than 2 heavy coats. the thinner your base and dryer the better your clear will look.

sometimes it is hard to teach over a forum but i think you will do fine. you are doing one of the most important things already... asking questions !!! thats huge in this industry