Urgent help needed - Spray painting advice

[DiscoDave]

I'm trying to get my ex-army Series III ready for the Expo. It's all rubbed down and primed ready for the camo-green enamel to be sprayed on. Scouse was going to do the spraying as I have no experience with that. Unfortunately for me Scouse has been distracted by happy personal circumstances (congratulations mate! ) and wasn't able to do the spray job. Off I go to Supercheap and buy one of the electric spraygun things - total disaster! It would make a fair paintball gun - it just spits gobs of paint onto the surface which promptly run. I tried turning the "increase" knob but it didn't seem to make any difference either way. There was a second nozzle in the kit so I tried that - marginally better but still useless. I tipped the paint back in the can and went to flush out the nozzle with turps and after a bit the damn thing starts to spray like a proper spray gun. What's going on?
I've got a 0.8 and a 0.5 nozzle whatever that means. How much thinner should I be adding to the paint when spraying? How do I make the fracking thing work! Can anyone help me?

[100I]

I've got one of those I did the side room with, it spattered like that when I got toward the bottom of the pot or tilted it too far, I kept the pot reasonably full after that & it was ok. It did the job, but when it did muck up at least I could touch it up with the brush. I would not attempt to paint my car with it tho:(.

[ladas]

I'm trying to get my ex-army Series III ready for the Expo. It's all rubbed down and primed ready for the camo-green enamel to be sprayed on. Scouse was going to do the spraying as I have no experience with that. Unfortunately for me Scouse has been distracted by happy personal circumstances (congratulations mate! ) and wasn't able to do the spray job. Off I go to Supercheap and buy one of the electric spraygun things - total disaster! It would make a fair paintball gun - it just spits gobs of paint onto the surface which promptly run. I tried turning the "increase" knob but it didn't seem to make any difference either way. There was a second nozzle in the kit so I tried that - marginally better but still useless. I tipped the paint back in the can and went to flush out the nozzle with turps and after a bit the damn thing starts to spray like a proper spray gun. What's going on?
I've got a 0.8 and a 0.5 nozzle whatever that means. How much thinner should I be adding to the paint when spraying? How do I make the fracking thing work! Can anyone help me?

Now I am totally crap at spraying - but on the odd occasion I have done it, I have diluted 40 paint/ 60 thinners, and put loads of fine coats on.

[DaveS3]

Just try more thinners untill it works.
You may just need to spray more coats to get good cover.
Not much you can do - what sort of pressure are you running??

Dave.

[isuzurover]

It is very hard to do a good job first time with a spray gun - lots of practice is needed.

If you are painting it (matt) camo - maybe think about using a roller and brush - should be impossible to tell if you do a good job.

Otherwise, get a high-pressure spray gun, and hire/borrow/buy a compressor - at least 6cfm preferable 8-10. Supercheap spray guns are OK.

Get a spare panel and experiment with thinner mixtures and spray techniques. The amount of thinner you use depends on the paint, the temp and the humidity. Start with about 10% and add thinner until it doesn't look like orange peel when you spray it on - also don't spray it on too heavily or you will get runs.

When spraying enamel, it is best to use one light coat (so you can still see the undercoat) - then wait 15 mins or so and do a heavier coat (so you get full coverage - but not too much so it runs). Spray evenly, and vary between up-down and side-side.

[DiscoDave]

Thanks for the quick responses guys - I'll go out and try more thinners. It's not like I'm trying to do a classy job or anything, just aerolsol-can quality would do! If not then the brush and roller!
DaveS3 - this is one of those electric spray guns - no idea about the pressure.

[DaveS3]

With enamal I've always used about 20% thinners and on the last few coats I've used hardeners then polish.

I've always practiced on cardboard hanging up then undercoat, that way you can stuff the undercoat up then rub back and spray the good coat with a good arm/sparay action.

bens spot on about the compressor though, you will be waiting all day for the compressor to catch up

[DaveS3]

Thanks for the quick responses guys - I'll go out and try more thinners. It's not like I'm trying to do a classy job or anything, just aerolsol-can quality would do! If not then the brush and roller!
DaveS3 - this is one of those electric spray guns - no idea about the pressure.

Sorry misread your post. Electric? never seen one.
Goodluck with it then, hope you sort it out.

[Phoenix]

Yup, use a proper air compressor and spray gun (can be bought and borrowed cheaply for a quick job).

Also, I'm advised a 50/50 paint to thinners mix works well with the olive drab paint. If it's good enough for master dinty, it's good enough for me. It is quite thick paint though.

[lokka]

Sounds like your havin fun dave if i was close id come heip mate :D:D:D


Sounds like u need to thin the paint at least 20% thiners tho depends on the paint you are using what type and brand is it are yousing the corect thinners for it

Those electric spray guns are a bugger u will need to play with it for a while to get it to spray rite best way to set it is to increase till you get a wet pattern then back it off a bit not so it looks dry coming out u need it to be just wet lookin and keep a steady motion and even distance around 8 to 10in off the pannell tho u should get some practice in on a wall or old pannell or something first :D:D

It all comes down to the technique you use and plenty of paitence :D:D:D:D

[harry]

you may think i am stupid, but with enamel we used to thin it so that when you stirred it with a flat stirrer [wooden rule] ,and when you lifted the stirrer out the paint running off the stirrer sounded like a little boy piddling.
we used to paint every new cessna with enamel.
just add a bit of thinners at a time and spray light coats, take your time and allow lots of time between coats, rushing it will end in runs.
enamel spraying is an art form, take your time, don't get excited and wack on a heavy wet coat, it will look great then when your back's turned it will run.
spray light coats that look just on dusty, that's the dry coat, make your coats just wetter than that and let them sit, test for wetness by touching the paint on the masking near the edge of the panel, when it just gets tacky, throw another coat on.
good luck.
now i need to paint a series long body in drab, can you give me the details of the paint type and number

[DiscoDave]

Hmmm... well a lot more experimenting has allowed me to spray the roo bar half-reasonably but geez it's a touchy process. The bonnet will never be the same I'm afraid. Not sure I'm game to turn it on the Landy but what choice do I have? :(

Thanks for the tips everyone, it all helps to give me an idea what I should be doing. (this may sound really stupid but does anyone have a method of getting the paint out of the 4L tin into the spray pot without pouring half of it on the floor?)

Harry - I only have the NSW info but here it is:
Protec Pty Limited (NSW)
111 Airds Road
Minto
NSW 2566
Tel 02-9792-1411

342 Camouflage Enamel
Camouflage Green (342-1166)

- that's the real mcoy, the same paint as the military use.

[paulthepilot_5]

Hmmm... well a lot more experimenting has allowed me to spray the roo bar half-reasonably but geez it's a touchy process. The bonnet will never be the same I'm afraid. Not sure I'm game to turn it on the Landy but what choice do I have? :(

Thanks for the tips everyone, it all helps to give me an idea what I should be doing. (this may sound really stupid but does anyone have a method of getting the paint out of the 4L tin into the spray pot without pouring half of it on the floor?)

Harry - I only have the NSW info but here it is:
Protec Pty Limited (NSW)
111 Airds Road
Minto
NSW 2566
Tel 02-9792-1411

342 Camouflage Enamel
Camouflage Green (342-1166)

- that's the real mcoy, the same paint as the military use.

you can get a cheap little plastic lid pouring thingy from alot of the hardware stores, But I would just use a 2L Juice container with the botom cut off as a funnel:D,

[100I]

oh yeah and you'll want to strain the paint thru a lint free cloth so you don't clog the gun's orifice

[harry]

thanks for the paint info.