HELP Paint reducing.

[The Chef]

Hi Pro painters.

How much do you reduce your opaque paint by? As I'm having trouble removing the last masked sections without lifting the previous paint.

The only thing that I can think of is that the paint is too think/heavy and wont tear as the mask comes away, it also makes the mask very difficult to remove and lifting the paint on fine areas.

The thickness/weight of the paint is the only thing that I can think of.

[jonmiller]

Perhaps you are laying it on too thick Kristan? Or it isn't fully dry.

[The Chef]

I use a heat gun to take the shine off of the paint. how long should it be left?

May be too thick may not be dry enough. What do you do do you start and finish 1 shell or do you have a few on the go that you rotate through giving them longer between coats. Drying transparent I've found to be fine with the heat gun but the opaques are a different kettle of fish.

Thank you for the reply but any other advice would be a great help.

K

[jonmiller]

I normally always have several bods in the booth at once yes. I find opaques dry very quickly compared to others.
I think you are just applying it too quickly, try fewer lighter coats.
Another option could be that your masking is a touch on the thin side? Mask as before but add another light coat and see if that helps.

[U1timate PigDog]

Originally Posted by The Chef

I use a heat gun to take the shine off of the paint. how long should it be left?

May be too thick may not be dry enough. What do you do do you start and finish 1 shell or do you have a few on the go that you rotate through giving them longer between coats. Drying transparent I've found to be fine with the heat gun but the opaques are a different kettle of fish.

Thank you for the reply but any other advice would be a great help.

K

Hey Chef,

applying paint too thick or mask too thin? maybe? mask would remove fine when the paint is wet still but it would definately open up the possiblility of catching the paintwork and marking the previously painted surface. So I don't think that would be the problem,

Nevertheless I use a hair dryer to dry mine and I let the whole body get warmed up and apply heat to both inside and outside of the body to give the best drying effect

If yur apply the paint a little too thick before drying it will definately cause it to overlap (build up)on the mask and will cause the paint to tear when removing the mask even if the paint is dry.

I'd try apply the paint in thinner coats, and possibly giving a extra coat of liquid mask if it only tends to happen on the last bits of mask to be removed.

I also re-cut the lines around the windows before removal as these get hit with the most paint.

A bit of a essay but hope it helps.

[U1timate PigDog]

Also I dont tend to reduce opaques unless they require doing so eg. shadows etc and black and white sometimes need a little reducing more than others.

[eyeayen]

When I'm painting I use a heat gun, much hotter than a hair dryer to the point I almost can't hold the shell as it gets it so hot. I let this cool slightly before putting on the next coat.

I also try and cut along the mask before I move it to save this. Only had this problem with masking film and water based paint.

You could try keying the shell up too, that would make the paint stick more but I'd say the best idea would be to cut along your design.

Also keep the painted area as confined as you can, spray everything to make sure you get an even coat will load the masking up you haven't removed so then by the time you're on your last colour it's all a bit thick and therefore might lift ???

Trial and error is usually the key mate, none of this is ever easy

[U1timate PigDog]

"When I'm painting I use a heat gun, much hotter than a hair dryer to the point I almost can't hold the shell as it gets it so hot. I let this cool slightly before putting on the next coat."

The missus hairdryer is pretty tip top and on the hot setting (which i use) does heat the body very hot so.....I then switch to the cool setting to cool it down

works a treat!!! Like eyeayen said some stuff is just trial and error and getting the feel for what works best for you.

Has it done this before? its just you have done a aweful lot of shells and if it hasn't done it before, is something new you've started doing to make this happen.

[eyeayen]

Originally Posted by U1timate PigDog

Has it done this before? its just you have done a aweful lot of shells and if it hasn't done it before, is something new you've started doing to make this happen.

ha, that means nothing with the laws of painting I'm afraid. You can do something 100 times and suddenly without any warning at all you are suddenly left with a complete mess

The trouble is there are so many things to go wrong, is the rep okay ? Was the masking okay, have you mixed the paint exactly as you did before, was your airbrush too close, was your airbrush too far away, was there too much moisture in the air, did you touch the shell with your finger causing a grease spot and the paint to lift, is it a new batch of paint that's bad, are the thinners okay, was there a contaminant on your brush... has your head fallen off shortly before the world is going to explode ?

At the end of the day, it could be anything, and probably is, you'll paint another 20 without issue, and then once again, on a sunny day when you're chilled, having fun doing another one that's going really well BANG it all falls apart on a monumental scale and you feel like it's your first time because it's gone so wrong.

Painting body shells, hardest job in the world. And to every single one of you on here that paints I take my hat off to you, and the pro's that do it every day, astounding guys, keep up the good work !

[Mike Parker]

Hi Kristan,

If the paint is coming away with the mask it could be a combination that its been sprayed on too thickly, and each coat you put on has to dry thoroughly....

Quite a few guys use heaters, hot air guns & hairdryers to get the drying process down. I use my missus hairdryer on the cold air setting (hope she doesn't read this!!) to flash off the coats and then leave to cure off before I peel away the next part of the design...

Hope this helps

[The Chef]

Thank you all for you replies. There is a few things I'm going to try. I'll report back.

K