“Why would you do that…”

Discuss custom painting, artwork and airbrushing



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PostPosted: Thu Aug 03, 2023 1:36 am
I have a group of buddies that shy away from painting their rust buckets/rat rods with anything other than a rattle can due to the cost of materials (paint, clear coat, hardeners). Most of them have harbor freight hvlp guns and are not afraid to spray. So, I thought I’d try an experiment. The parameters were, the materials must be inexpensive, easy to get, relatively easy to use and have some reasonable durability.

Here’s what I came up with:

1. Primed a panel with Rustoleum auto primer. (“I know, it’s a rattle can. I wanted to keep this step simple”).

2. Shot three coats of Rustoluem enamel reduced with mineral spirits and then catalyzed with Majic Hardener (enamel hardener) . (Ratio 4:3:1). (Rustoleum from Home Depot and the hardener from Tractor supply)

3. Sat the panel in the sun (75-80 degrees) for 3 days.

For a quick and inexpensive rat rod paint job it sufficed. It’s nothing new and a 30 second google search would reveal the same info.

However, I thought I’d take it a step further to see what would happen. On top of the catalyzed Rustoleum I airbrushed some simple graphics using reduced 1 shot enamel. I’ve never airbrushed with 1 shot enamel and was curious as to how it would shoot. It actually sprayed fairly well…usual tip dry using white.

Because the 1 shot was reduced and not catalyzed it’s very weak. I’d like to bury it in a clear coat.

So, here is the question, “what clear coat would you suggest be used to spray over this test panel?” Remember, the 1 shot enamel has been reduced, not catalyzed, and it was sprayed on top of a catalyzed Rustoleum enamel.

Thanks,
Dave

P.S. “Yes, it would have been better to do a base coat, inter coat clear, graphics and then bury it all in a clear coat.”

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 8:17 pm
Old post, but since no one answered, I will throw in my limited knowledge.

Since it is a test - and I have done a LOT of test panels - I would shoot it with whatever clear that I had (Tamco) laying around.

It will either work and you can move on or it will be a POS and then you will know what to sand back to metal and redo it correctly.

All test panels below

Brown tests Clear & Satin (2).jpg

Purple panel 3.jpg

Test 5-2-18  (02).jpg
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 7:13 am
OFB, you do some nice work on your panels. You look like you're ready to do a low rider paint job after seeing your practice panels. You could try applying those skills on a pedal car just for fun. It would be interesting to see what you would come up with.

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 12:30 pm
grump wrote:OFB, you do some nice work on your panels. You look like you're ready to do a low rider paint job after seeing your practice panels. You could try applying those skills on a pedal car just for fun. It would be interesting to see what you would come up with.


Thanks, below is the trunk of my Caddy, you could call it a lowrider.
The others are an 18" sub that I built for a good buddy that is a big sports guy.

Learned a whole lot from the guys on this site.

Came here originally because I wanted to do a true Piano Black on the subs that I used to build. Got out of hand quickly.

Apologies to the OP for going off topic.

(T) Round 2 (11).jpg

Caddy Six Five (2).jpg

A 5 18 Paint (3).jpg

Finished 18 in Sub (7).jpg
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 7:04 pm
nice work OFB. I can still see in my mind a pedal car with your paint on it. keep up the good work.

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