Newbie painting plastics - any reasonable chance of success?

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2022 5:51 am
I need to repair rocker panels on my old Jeep Liberty. After the bodywork, I can use raptor liner on the rockers, or take the plunge and use a single stage urethane. If I do paint it, I will paint the rocker panels, plastic fender flares and the bumpers. My question is will I have a reasonable chance of success given my lack of experience?

I did spray bedliner in the bed of my work truck and it came out much better than I expected, so I have that little bit of experience, but the bar was set low there. But now I know about the time it takes to do the prep work.

If I decide to paint it I will read even more here and ask questions first, so right now I am really looking to just make a decision to either paint the plastics and rockers or just bedliner the rockers.

Thanks.

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2022 4:51 pm
You are seeing a lot of the newer SUV and specialty trucks using some type of textured effect in those low areas. When I built Smyth Ute conversion we used Raptor on all those lower areas. We've put over 13000 miles on over the last two years and I don't regret doing it. Something you might want to consider is getting the"better" version of their Shutz style gun which has the Vari-Nozzle. You can adjust that nozzle down to very little texture, which I feel is a surface that is much easier to take care of....
Attachments
X final shoot 27.jpg
This is my Grandson's Smyth Jeep Ute done with an ultra-fine texture on the gray and very rough texture on the lower black....
xxx sale 11.jpg
I ended up doing my lower bumper trim in it as well with a little more texture. This helps to keep my Novi Flex nose mask tighter in place.
xxx sale 3.jpg
My lower trim is blacked out with Raptor. That is also on my belt trim as well.
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2022 6:42 pm
SORRY TO BUT IN. BUT Darrel are you set on Raptor liner? are there others? i did a couple bed liners years ago and can't remember what it was that i used. i'm wanting to do the running boards on my 31 chevy, they are pitted badly in spots and i don't want to try and fill them. they have the diamond formed texture it would be a nightmare to try and fill the pits and smooth them out. its just a driver for me. i have the regular Shult gun but i'm going to check out the vari-nozzle. REALLY LIKE the looks of the two rigs you posted.
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2022 10:10 pm
Jay, so here's the deal with "why" I like Raptor over several others I have tried over the years. First, if you stay within the stock Raptor factory colors you can get the stuff from just about anywhere on the net in a few days. It easier to use than most because of those quart/gun screw on assemblies. I can have one of my guys be ready to mix/shake the next container when I feel the quart running low, let's me to just keep moving staying "wet." Raptor liner is also available in 2k and 1k arerosols which work well for touch-up or fixing something that gets wacked. I knew my Grandson was going to be off roading to do wildnerness camping with that Jeep so that's why we have all that black down low. I can spray some of that black just into a cup and take a pipe dope brush and smush into that texture easily for a quick and darn near invisible fix.
So I was looking back on about 6 different bedliners I've used over the last 20 years. Raptor is the most consistent and provides good durablility and is easy to repair/blend.....
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2022 9:56 am
Darrel, I like the different textures you did on these machines. I used Raptor liner on my truck bed with a fairly rough texture. I talked to tech support before making the purchase and the one upgrade the man suggested was the better gun (with a regulator and adjustable nozzle). So I was able to control the texture easily. I think that I will be good if I go with the raptor route.

But ....
If I do go with a single stage on the plastics and rockers, can I expect to get reasonable results on my first try?



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PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2022 10:58 am
like with anything TEST, TEST..
Jay D.
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2022 11:00 am
DarrelK wrote:Jay, so here's the deal with "why" I like Raptor over several others I have tried over the years. First, if you stay within the stock Raptor factory colors you can get the stuff from just about anywhere on the net in a few days. It easier to use than most because of those quart/gun screw on assemblies. I can have one of my guys be ready to mix/shake the next container when I feel the quart running low, let's me to just keep moving staying "wet." Raptor liner is also available in 2k and 1k arerosols which work well for touch-up or fixing something that gets wacked. I knew my Grandson was going to be off roading to do wildnerness camping with that Jeep so that's why we have all that black down low. I can spray some of that black just into a cup and take a pipe dope brush and smush into that texture easily for a quick and darn near invisible fix.
So I was looking back on about 6 different bedliners I've used over the last 20 years. Raptor is the most consistent and provides good durablility and is easy to repair/blend.....
THANKS Darrel, :bighug:
Jay D.
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2022 4:36 pm
Steven, sure you can get great results with single stage. I'm just becoming addicted to what I can do with raptor.....
Jay, no problem..... 8)
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