Ok what did I do wrong

[KTM520guy]

Fisheyes can be an easy problem to solve or a hard one.

To start, the surface you intend to paint needs to be clean. A good quality wax and grease remover along with lint fee rags is needed.

Second, your air needs to be clean. A good water filter and oil filter are needed. Also make sure that your compressor is not passing oil as it runs.

Third, don't let any cleaners that have silicone in them anywhere near your paint area. Add to this list anything like WD-40 or LPS2. Even your neighbor can ruin your paint with these guys.

Forth, unless you have a lot of experience with the paint your using, follow the manufacturers instructions to the letter.

Fifth, and this one is a tuffy, the soap you use to clean yourself or your clothes with can ruin your paint. Perfumes and colognes can also be bad news. This also extends to things you might clean your car with.

[JordanGrant]

When I first started painting, mine looked like that. I was doing small test pieces like you, so I wanted to mix up only small amounts of my expensive paint. My brilliant idea was to pull small amounts of paint out of the can with a syringe and squirt it into the cup for mixing. As it turns out, syringes are made with silicone and contaminated the paint every time.

As others said, that looks a lot like silicone contamination, so if you're using a syringe or anything else like that, stop it.

[madmaveric]

Originally Posted by BillL

The Churchill spec sheet does refer the the clear coat as "lacquer".

And - let's not hear about the bonnet or the boot either.

Two countries divided by a common language. Brilliant!

Cheers

At least on here we don't have the added pronunciation issues, especially with all this aluminium around.

I now also plan to try and get hold of a local painter for advice and maybe a tutorial on these new paints and the 'painting booth' setup I have.

Nice breakdown of the sources of contamination there KTM520guy, I had forgot about soap. I'm going to make a 5 point checklist for when I paint from that to consider all options before starting a paint session.

I also need to look at making a better paint booth. Mine currently is my build area with a partition to split the area in half that. This means the area I paint in is the same as where I build in (same tables).

I have been using syringes to mix paint. I have now ordered 50 mixing cups instead and will stop using them. That was one source of contamination I hadn't thought of.

I don't expect to get a perfect finish like some professional painters (I say 'some' as I've seen so called professional Jobs that are worse than ones I have done myself in the past). If I can get it down to low level orange peel and just the occasional spot in the paint i would be happy.

[swisseagle]

Once again, do not use syringe with RUBBER! Those RUBBER seals are contaminated and will further more contaminate the paint!

Use only syringe without rubber when you pull the amount of paint/hardener/thinner out of the can.



Happend to me and many others here. On the Air supply also all must be free of oil. If you used once a hose with a parts that where contaminated (compressor, regulator, ...) then the hose need to be exchanged.

Good luck!

[swisseagle]

There are syringes without rubber! Ask in the pharmacy or better where you buy epoxy and fiberglass.

[madmaveric]

I am going to stop using the syringes now and use measuring cups, just need to find a clean way of getting paint from the tin into the cup

Anyone got any tips on transferring paint from a tin to the cup without pouring it down the sides of the tin (obviously not using a syringe lol).

[swisseagle]

See my previous post!

[bret]

I did the paint your own plane thing, don't let anyone talk you out of it, it is park of the build your own plane thing, I also had a steep learning curve. And expensive.......all I have lef is the fuse, I will be getting a dececant air dryer for the last part of my paint, I built a boot out of 1" PVC and visqueen, with box fans and filters. Came out great. Are you wet sanding your primer? I did 400 wet and base clear.

[madmaveric]

Hmm I might have to revisit the syringe thing, I'll see how I get on (if I can come up with a non spill way of getting 30ml of paint out of a full 1 litre tin without spilling it everywhere :P)

I'm trying to avoid getting talked out of it, if I end up having someone else do it, it will be because I can't do it rather than someone else telling me I can't do it lol.

The plan is to prep the surface and then paint the etch, base and clear in one session (that session will probably be a day or more depending on the flash time needed) with only gentle tack rags in between coats. If I find I need to sand in between coats then I need to try and fix the reason to avoid having to do it every time. I'm sure there will be some sanding needed (dust,runs etc) but I don't plan to do it automatically, only if needed.

I may then colour sand and polish the clear if it needs it (which it probably will) to get the finish I'm happy with. I don't expect a professional finish, just one I am happy to put my name on.

[bret]

If you need to sand between coats, this will not work with metallic. only one shot or start over, go ahead, ask me.....and with most paint you have around 24 hours between base and clear for maximum chemical bonding. I used epoxy primer and it worked well. if you sand the primer, there is no window, you can take your time. as long as you are not in a humid area.