[67Elcamino]

I purchased my new Iwata Supernova platinum cap 1.4 gund to shoot my clear thinking the gun was going to do the magic.... damn this gun is not for beginners.
I was planning on shooting one coat on the heavy side, do some pinstriping to cover the line between colors, sand any imperfections from the first clear coat and shoot two coats over that before cutting and buffing.
Well didnt quite go as planned. I ended up with runs and sags on the first clear coat. I decided to take a break for a fews to think about how I plan on attacking this but I hear that the longer you wait to sand the runs the harded it is to sand.. is this true?

I was planning on attacking it panel by panel. I seem to shoot one panel at a time much much better than the entire car in one shot.

[67Elcamino]

Originally Posted by 67Elcamino

I purchased my new Iwata Supernova platinum cap 1.4 gund to shoot my clear thinking the gun was going to do the magic.... damn this gun is not for beginners.
I was planning on shooting one coat on the heavy side, do some pinstriping to cover the line between colors, sand any imperfections from the first clear coat and shoot two coats over that before cutting and buffing.
Well didnt quite go as planned. I ended up with runs and sags on the first clear coat. I decided to take a break for a fews to think about how I plan on attacking this but I hear that the longer you wait to sand the runs the harded it is to sand.. is this true?

I was planning on attacking it panel by panel. I seem to shoot one panel at a time much much better than the entire car in one shot.

Another questions how long after I sand the runs and the entire panel do I have before I can shoot the final two coats of clear before i begin to loose adhesion?
What is the best method so sand down these runs?

[evolvo]

I'm a novice painter as well. Since your using SPI you should just call them and ask these ?'s. They'll have answers, for sure.

[astroracer]

I use "drip shavers" or "run files". Just did this on an MG I sprayed when it was too cold. Had a few sag/runs to take out. I let the paint (catalyized) cure for a week or two to let the paint harden. The drip shavers work very well to skin off just the run. Leaves you with a flat enough transition between run and paint that a little wet sanding with 1200 will smooth everything out.
I'll get some pics if you want. I got the drip shavers at Harbor Freight.
Mark

[swvalcon]

I would say it needs to be sanded and re cleared over the whole car. Looks pretty dry and peely. Wet sand with 800-1000 grit and give it at least two more wet coats of clear. A high dollar fancy paint gun does not a painter make. It helps but the only way to learn this trade is to do it and learn from your mistakes. It's not that us old timers are any better at this than anyone else we've just learned how to hide our mistakes better than most.

[MARTINSR]

Spraying one coat then sanding it is asking for trouble anyway. You don't ever want to sand thru the clear, solvents from the next coat can get under it and lift. So be careful not to sand that clear too thin.

On those runs, you have to be careful to sand ONLY the run. Using a run shaver as mentioned is one way. If you sand the run, use a very narrow block and concentrate so you are cutting ONLY the top of the run and not the surrounding areas. Do it very carefully, just take your time and do it very carefully cutting JUST the run until it is level.

I would be wet sanding that run and not try to use anything else, you have much more control with a little block and wet sanding. Use a rubber squeegee (3M 05517) to clean off the water so you can see. Use it often, keep your bucket and sand paper clean enough to drink out of. You don't want anything to get in there that can scratch the clear.

Just be very careful to not cut the clear thru. If you do you have to be careful not to apply the next coat over that area too wet.

Brian

[skip99]

I use a safety razor blade held at a 90 degre angle and lightly scrape the run
, might even file the edge(each corner) the first few times so you dont tip into the paint..

[MARTINSR]

I have never gotten the hang of that, but damn it works good as I have seen others do. I had a guy screw up a tail lamp yesterday and he scraped off all the funk with a razor and then polished it to perfection.

Brian

[67Elcamino]

Thanks for all the advise. I feel like I learned so much from this paint job that I will perfect the next one... but I know you learn something new everytime. Reading some blogs on line and practicing on some spare panels I think I finally got my Iwata adjusted correctly and been practicing my technique. This is why Im in no rush to apply the final two coats of clear.

I definitely need to get me some of those shavers. anyone have any pics of what they look like?

I think, or hope that I will be ok with just one coat of clear to block without cutting through. I applied it pretty heavy thats why I got runs. On one area I went less heavy thus the dry looking area. This is where I will be really careful not to cut through the clear.

As far as the timing... I painted the car 4 days ago its 85-95 degrees here in California. Iif I wait a week or 2 before sanding with it make a big difference as to how hard the paint will get making it much more difficult to sand?
After sanding and removing orange peel and drips how long of a window do I have before applying my final two clearcoats?

[cyclopsblown34]

I use the razor blade method but bend the blade just a touch so the corners are up and away from the material. Another method I've heard mentioned is taping alongside the run on both sides and then wetsanding the run til you start to cut paper, then go to finer paper and wetsand checking frequently as Martin said.

[cyclopsblown34]

If the material happens to be rock hard, your opportunity to cut through the clear is less.

[deadbodyman]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

I have never gotten the hang of that, but damn it works good as I have seen others do. I had a guy screw up a tail lamp yesterday and he scraped off all the funk with a razor and then polished it to perfection.

Brian

The whole trick to using a razor is to put a slight bend in the blade so the corners dont dig in....believe it or not it took me years to figur this out,I tried rounding the edges and everything this works best with soft clear then let the run cure a day and sand with 600 on a wood block 3/4' x 3/4" x 2" long ..not that I ever got a run but I do get an occational Flow indicator..

[cyclopsblown34]

Originally Posted by deadbodyman

The whole trick to using a razor is to put a slight bend in the blade so the corners dont dig in....believe it or not it took me years to figur this out,I tried rounding the edges and everything this works best with soft clear then let the run cure a day and sand with 600 on a wood block 3/4' x 3/4" x 2" long ..not that I ever got a run but I do get an occational Flow indicator..

I sign them occasionally with a flow indicator as well. Did a flow coat last night on the SS Giallo Fly on my son's hood...wow!

[John long]

Flow indicator. I like that. I have learned one thing. The perfect paint job is not the last one. It is the next one.

John L