Hey Bronco I got your PM, I'll just post here...I'm not any kind of expert, just sharing what I've found.
I shot my car last year and due to building a new chassis and having to remove the body again I reshot it a couple of months ago.

It does go on a little rough but not so much to the eye.(play with the air) Once you wet sand it you have to reshoot it, because you're not putting clear over it to hide the dullness and variations like when you sand a colored base coat at least IMO. I usually wetsand it with 320 to 400 and reshoot it when I mess up.

It takes quite a bit of gun control and setup practice to shoot this stuff if you're a beginner. I use an HVLP with no problems. If you're getting droplets, turn up the air or reduce it down?
I use lighter even coats followed by a mist coat. You can paint it all day long if you follow the flash times but after that it is supposed to be allowed to cure for 2-3 days. I usually wait until the next day to wetsand and reshoot if I have to. I do a panel or section at a time. Make sure your mixtures are consistent for blending if needed.

Your orange peel problems may be due to laying it on too thick or heavy or wrong gun setup. On the can it warns about shooting it thick. The paint will shrivel from the reducer if put on too thick. The JD thinner is junk. As mention before you can reduce it with anything. I use Valspar acrylic enamel medium reducer personally.

I really think it'll only last a year or so before it starts looking slighlty aged here and there and I keep my car garaged always unless it's out and driving. You have to treat it like real paint. Jean rivets or a purse may marr it even though it's tough.

For the money it's the answer. But when it isn't about the money but the look I think there might be better choices. It's great for chassis, engine accessories(I used medium gloss JD on my engine parts over epoxy). I think next spring I'm switching to something else for the exterior. Maybe the Valspar 2K chassis black, not as tough but keeps it's color better.

I don't know. For the price it sounds good but not sure about how it doesn't last long. If I spend all this time doing all the body work I dont know about using crappy paint and have it last about 2 or 3 years only and then it's crappy. My truck will be outside in the sun quite a lot and only in the garage probably one day a week. I am going to buy this stuff, paint it on my sheetmetal golf cart and see how well it holds and lasts. If it does and looks the same in about 5 months after I will use it. If it fades or messes up ANY then I won't use it... Oh did I mention, this golf cart has a big lift and huge tires on it and goes through ANYTHING and it's even battery powered but noone knows that until they hear it and I show em heh so I will test it through mud, rain, snow in the winter, etc. hehe

hey jc55, thanks for the reply to the pm, i started another thread too and it does sound like i had my air pressure set too low, i'm going to try adjusting it tomorrow until i can spray it without it atomizing so bad. that's what i get for being a beginner! I'm not that worried about the fading because next year i want to repaint it anyways (more body work planned this winter) but i just wanted it to look at least decent for this summer, and i like the satin look of jdbb instead of the real flat primer look. I'll let you guys know how it goes with the gun tomorrow, thanks for all the help!

~frank

Just finished spraying my 2003 Yamaha R6 with Blitz Black. Turned out amazing. Just what I was looking for.

I am going to let the paint cure this week before adding the hardware and mounting it back on the bike, but here's a little preview to give others who are interested a close look at the finish.

You can tell by my reflection and the softness of the camera's flash that this paint has a great satin look to it......



I'll be sure to post up pics of everything back together next weekend.

Thanks for all the great advice in this thread!

hey nemesis,
that looks great, could you tell me the specifics on how you sprayed it? What kind of gun did you use, and what psi? How much did you thin it? I'm trying to get the satin look but my fender keeps turning out shiny, i'd like to know how to fix it! thanks a lot

~Frank

I used a conventional HVLP suction-feed spray gun made by NAPA, very similar to this:



It's not the best gun in the world, nor the most expensive, but was just right. You don't need a $200 gun to get good results.

I reduced the paint in the recommended 8-1 ratio and set my compressor to 60psi outlet pressure, so it was probably a little bit less at the nozzle.

If you are getting too much gloss, you may want to try and lighten up the coats you are applying. Shoot just enough to get an even coat. Also, it looks much glossier as you shoot it but after it dries enough it will start to dull a little.

On the primer, what kind from JD did you use... the Buff kind? Also what did you sand it down with and how many coats?

I painted a 1950 ford pickup 2 years ago with the blitz black, and it came out great. The guy was very happy with it. Amazing what you can do with a cheap paint, and i just used my regular old paint sprayer that i bought from Napa years ago.

Here's the finished product for those that are interested.....

Came out much better than I expected, especially for my first time behind a paint gun.

R6 that looks cool. I am in the process of painting my Harley the same color. I will post pics when I get it done. I wish the finish was a little more flat than that but it will have to do. Already bought the paint and opened it. Can't wait to see how mine turns out.

that looks really good, NICE

I have just shot part of my roof top on my 64 CAdillac and it looks amazing given the fact that I shot it with spray cans. I live in California and its impossible to find it in Gallons here. Anyone in surrounding states can help me? I need a gallon ASAP. This stuff looks amazing.
Questions:
Is it the same paint in cans vs gallon.?
Why is the spray can paint not very scratch resistant?

I went to the John Deere shop here in Montclair California. Went by the tractors and tried to scratch the satin black finish on one of then and it seemed inpossible to scratch. Is this the same paint they use on them? if so, WOW!!!!!!!
Help anyone. I will post pictures as soon as I spray the entire roof top.

<a href="http://www.imageshack.us"><img src="http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/466/caddy3fm.jpg" border="0" width="150" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>

I have just shot part of my roof top on my 64 CAdillac and it looks amazing given the fact that I shot it with spray cans. I live in California and its impossible to find it in Gallons here. Anyone in surrounding states can help me? I need a gallon ASAP. This stuff looks amazing.
Questions:
Is it the same paint in cans vs gallon.?
Why is the spray can paint not very scratch resistant?

I went to the John Deere shop here in Montclair California. Went by the tractors and tried to scratch the satin black finish on one of then and it seemed inpossible to scratch. Is this the same paint they use on them? if so, WOW!!!!!!!
Help anyone. I will post pictures as soon as I spray the entire roof top.

<a href="http://www.imageshack.us"><img src="http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/466/caddy3fm.jpg" border="0" width="150" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>

[img=http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/466/caddy3fm.jpg]

Help
[img=http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/9323/caddy5lj.jpg]

Looks pretty good man. IMO I wouldn't put flat on a 64 Caddy but the paint job itself is nice. I am hearing from a ton of people to not use this paint on my everyday driver 66 Ford truck so I don't know. Has anyone used their medium gloss and high gloss paint from JD? They have it and it's supposed to be the same kind of paint as Blitz Black but with medium gloss and high gloss...
Let me know, thanks!