so my first attempt at a ghost style flame
no it isnt perfect i shot all of this with my lph80 with 1.2mm tip..
this little gun shoots really well
im going to let it set over night before i put a clear on it .
im scared now when i shoot clear something will happen lol .
ill be using my lph 400 lvx with the 1.4mm tip and orange cap.
maybe that tip might be too big for clear im using autobahn euro clear..
im thinking about getting the lph 400 with the silver cap for a clear gun.
in a 1.3mm tip have not decided but kinda scared im gonna screw the clear coat up when i shoot it lol..
i used a crappy black basecoat and then i taped off the fender traced my flame out.
and i shot the flame in didspade interface purple over the black base..
yes i got some high edges i sanded them down some but im still learning..
i then shot 3 coats of Tamco's violet candy pearl.
tomorrow evening sometime ill shoot the clear

You shouldn't be shooting clear the next day without sanding. BUT, you also shouldn't be sanding a candy coat, either. If I can't shoot final clear over graphics, I always shoot a coat of clear or 2 on the project, either intercoat or final clear, so I can sand it and shoot the rest of the clear whenever I can, but sanding it first. The only way out of your predicament is to just ry and lightly scuff the candy with a gray Scotchbrite, just enough to get good adhesion, but not remove any material.

thanks for the tip

Probably too late now, but I doubt that you would have had a problem shooting clear the next day without any sanding or scotchpads. I do it all the time on small projects like that as I shoot my stuff in a POS pig barn shop. I learned quickly that I can spend all day taping and shooting graphics, BCs, Pearls, candies or whatever. Then by the time that I am ready for clear in the late afternoon/early evening is when the bugs come out which seem to be attracted to fresh clear plus I am just old fat and tired.

So I usually just clean up a little, get my materials ready for the next day and get up early when it it still cool - my pig barn can reach over 105 degrees in the summer afternoons - and shoot my clear without any sanding.

Don't try to sand out edges in basecoat. Shoot your clear, let dry, sand. Don't worry about getting all of the edges out in one shot, it can take multiple shots depending on how much taping and graphics that you are doing. To get the edges out of my Caddy's trunk took me three times.

BTW, the tech sheets will tell you that you are NOT supposed to wait until the next day to shoot clear (and your not), but it was a guy that taught a custom painting class that told me about waiting til the next morning for clear. What you are doing is custom painting and you will be bending/breaking the rules.

For what you did, I would have shot a speed clear over the black base, scuffed, then laid out the flames, shot the candy, more speed clear, sanded the speed clear then used a regular HS clear.

OldFatBald wrote:Probably too late now, but I doubt that you would have had a problem shooting clear the next day without any sanding or scotchpads. I do it all the time on small projects like that as I shoot my stuff in a POS pig barn shop. I learned quickly that I can spend all day taping and shooting graphics, BCs, Pearls, candies or whatever. Then by the time that I am ready for clear in the late afternoon/early evening is when the bugs come out which seem to be attracted to fresh clear plus I am just old fat and tired.

So I usually just clean up a little, get my materials ready for the next day and get up early when it it still cool - my pig barn can reach over 105 degrees in the summer afternoons - and shoot my clear without any sanding.

Don't try to sand out edges in basecoat. Shoot your clear, let dry, sand. Don't worry about getting all of the edges out in one shot, it can take multiple shots depending on how much taping and graphics that you are doing. To get the edges out of my Caddy's trunk took me three times.

BTW, the tech sheets will tell you that you are NOT supposed to wait until the next day to shoot clear (and your not), but it was a guy that taught a custom painting class that told me about waiting til the next morning for clear. What you are doing is custom painting and you will be bending/breaking the rules.

For what you did, I would have shot a speed clear over the black base, scuffed, then laid out the flames, shot the candy, more speed clear, sanded the speed clear then used a regular HS clear.

yeah my old wood shop isnt much better than your pig shed lol
trying to come up with some air movement ideas with some box fans from like lowes or wally world. cant really come up with anything lol

Well, below is a couple of photos of my high tech paint booth, which consists of an old cage fan and an open door. You can even see my shelves of gardening supplies which will hopefully be moved out sometime later this year.

A couple of things that I do to keep the dust limited (never eliminated) is;

* Use my electric blower and blow out the shop's floor and O/H lights to get the dust out. Don't do this the day of shooting!!
* Wet down the floor on the day of shooting
*I don't shoot clear at night time anymore especially during the summer months due to bugs. I just wait til the next morning as it is usually over 100 degrees in the Pig Barn by then anyways.