Everything was going great until this guy showed up. I tried to pull him out with tweezers but that just made it worse. Now that the clear is hard, I think I should try to gently scartch him out with a razor during the cut and buff. If I do that and end up going through to base, will I need to prime the spot, cover the with base and fade it out, and then reclear the whole panel? If that sounds about right, what grit should be the final grit over the rest of the panel so the new clear will stick to the old? Does that sound about right or is there a better way?

Don't ya just Hate that?
I think they are attracted to smell of the Clear ?

Every one has tried picking them out, sometimes you get lucky, I don't but some do. When I Try to pick them off I usually end up just pushing them in deeper or making a mess of the clear so I leave them alone till its hardened up and hope it stays on top then sand it off then buff or scuff and re-shoot the panel with clear.
If its deeper than that yup your repainting your color.

Repair Depends on if you hit color or not.
Wet sand with 1200 lightly see if it comes off?
If it does with out hitting color your golden just scuff panel with 1200 respray coat of clear. Or just Buff it out depends how deep it was.

Repair

Scuff whole panel lightly, feather out damage area.
Spot prime just your damaged area and a little out from the damaged area then wet sand primer, Spray your Color over primer blending or feathering it out a little over past edges of primer afterwards spray whole panel with clear.
The great thing about BC/CC is how easily its repaired.

I love my Iwata Airbrush for small repairs like this.

Yes I left out Grits of paper used it was intentional as its always a argument as whats best.
What I like to use and what others like R 2 different things.

I keep a pair of thin pointed tweezers handy for just such occasions. Bugs and from time to time dust and hair seem to come from out of nowhere and mess up an otherwise perfect job.
If you get them out right away the clear will usually lay back down and the next coat will make the troubled area disappear.

In your case the clear has hardened. Usually the bugs and dirt remain near the top and can be sanded out easily. Hope that is your case.

Bugs get me more than they should. You just have to do your best to paint in the morning. You can try to sand it off, but you'll probably get rid of all your millage in the process. Block sand it flat and if you break through just treat it like a repair area. Very, VERY lightly apply base until you get coverage and clear it all. When I say light, I mean you don't get coverage for like 5 passes. Very light so it doesn't burn.

sportbikepainter wrote:Bugs get me more than they should. You just have to do your best to paint in the morning...

I agree - I am just a weekender hobby type guy and my projects were always ending up late late late in the day or evening. The shop lights and dusk combination were a bad problem. When I realized that the BC could be on there without clear for up to 24 hours, I started leaving the clear for the next morning and have gotten a lot less bugs.

I also have two sets of tweezers, one super pointy and one with a larger ends. I have been able to dig trash, bugs etc out of the wet clear and then add a little more clear in that area on the next coat.

I spray in my shop the "Pig Barn" and pretty much flow coat everything anyways. I'd sand the whole panel with 600/800/Scuffing Paste then reshoot clear. The second coat of clear lays down really nice!

sportbikepainter wrote: if you break through just treat it like a repair area. Very, VERY lightly apply base until you get coverage and clear it all. When I say light, I mean you don't get coverage for like 5 passes. Very light so it doesn't burn.

Ya I am rarely that lucky it most always burns that's why I say Prime it lol
BUT I have done it that way before.

This is why you Catalyze your Base coat initially it helps when you have to make repairs like this, Also supposed to help with CC adhesion, just my understanding any way please correct me if I'm wrong?????

I'm almost certain that I'm going to hit the base coat when I sand this guy out. So after reviewing my Paintucation DVD "Body Shop Basics" and from what I've learned on here, my plan for the repair is:
1) first try to sand him out as I do my primary cut of the panel and hope to get lucky and not break through to base.
2) if I hit the base coat, prime the spot to cover the damaged area and block it to perfection.
3) then, shoot some base over the repair spot as needed
4) then, thin the colored base with clear base 1:1 and spray out a little farther to fade it into the original base
5) then, delute the deluted colored base mix again with more clear base, 1:1, mix and fade it out even farther. At that point I should have faded the new into the old.
6) then, clear the entire panel, two coats and then cut and buff as planed the first time

So if this prcess is correct, my question is: When I add the clear base to the colored base, should I thin the clear base with reducer 1:1 just like any other colored PPG base, and then add it to the colored base or is it supposed to be added without thinning it first? Hope the question made sense.
Thanks again for everyone's help

Lenny B wrote:...So if this prcess is correct, my question is: When I add the clear base to the colored base, should I thin the clear base with reducer 1:1 just like any other colored PPG base, and then add it to the colored base or is it supposed to be added without thinning it first?..

When you say clear base, I am assuming that is an intercoat clear.

If so, I mix all kinds of different colors with intercoat to get the look that I want.

I use the same brand of intercoat and reduce them down first prior to mixing together.

I keep about a quart of reduced clear IC marked RTS (Ready to Spray) just for this purpose.

I don't think that it matters either way, you could mix your unreduced bases together first then reduce or do what I do and get the different colors RTS and mix in a third container and they are still RTS.

I wouldn't add some unreduced IC to a container of reduced color - then you would need to do some math.

Lenny B wrote:I'm almost certain that I'm going to hit the base coat when I sand this guy out. So after reviewing my Paintucation DVD "Body Shop Basics" and from what I've learned on here, my plan for the repair is:
1) first try to sand him out as I do my primary cut of the panel and hope to get lucky and not break through to base.
2) if I hit the base coat, prime the spot to cover the damaged area and block it to perfection.
3) then, shoot some base over the repair spot as needed
4) then, thin the colored base with clear base 1:1 and spray out a little farther to fade it into the original base
5) then, delute the deluted colored base mix again with more clear base, 1:1, mix and fade it out even farther. At that point I should have faded the new into the old.
6) then, clear the entire panel, two coats and then cut and buff as planed the first time

So if this prcess is correct, my question is: When I add the clear base to the colored base, should I thin the clear base with reducer 1:1 just like any other colored PPG base, and then add it to the colored base or is it supposed to be added without thinning it first? Hope the question made sense.
Thanks again for everyone's help

If you activated your base coat and you didn't sand through the base, then you can simply clear over the area. It is always best to put a light coat on just the sand through followed by another one or two with each one extending slightly farther, so you have matching layers of clear on the sand through area. In other words, 3 coats of clear on the panel, need 3 coats on the sand through. Then clear the entire panel.

If you didn't activate your base coat then the process is different.

I did not put activator in the base. Will the process be the same except sand the repair spot down to the seal coat, then prime the spot and block it smooth with the panel, then apply the new base feathering it out a little past the repair (3 coats or hiding), then apply the same number of clear coats sprayed originally to the repair area, followed by 1 full coat to the entire panel?