Thread: Beginning painters

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I've only been on this group for a couple months, but I've been one of the guys trying to help a few beginners get started painting.

I have noticed that opinions, methods, materials choice, and philosophies about the "right way" to achieve a great paint job, seems to vary a lot from one pro to the next.

After some thought, it occured to me that there is no "national custom paint school", and that all of us have learned to paint through different means. A few attended various classes, but most have learned as they went, either by trial and error, or by getting our answers wherever we could. Some of the info we got was good, and some was not so good.


Here would be my advise to anyone looking for guidance from more experienced painters on this list:

Get as much information as you can from other members, but don't assume that the information will always be accurate, or will work for your situation. Compare it with other sources, and use what makes sense to you. Expect the learning curve to be endless, and don't be discouraged by problems, because you will have them. Just remember that each job will get a little better, and you can always take pride in the fact you did it yourself.

And buy a cheap hood from a junkyard, get some rustoleulm farm and tractor paint, with mineral spirits thinner, and practice painting on the hood, keep sanding the paint off and changing your tequnique until you get it to look good, then use that tequnique.

good advice hot rod paint.

knowledge is power. I am a newby/learning painter myself. I have been around body shops almost my whole life but never got the urge to try it till a yr ago. i grew up on as treet with a body shop like 6 buildings down.

from my experience.the materials question is just up to personal preference. I know 2 shops in my town . One would not use sherwin williams anything if you paid him to do it , he uses ppg and dupont on everything.. another shop in town uses exclusively sherwin williams products. both put out really good work.

The two main things you get from brand name paint are "gloss holdout" (how long it lasts before chalking out) and "color holdout" (how long it lasts before fading).

I have seen a red metallic GTO turn pink in 6 months! My daughter's Camaro had the clearcoat fail in one year! That is the tradeoff for using low priced paint.

I would say that ANY recognized product will give you good life, but you will find that some are easy to work with, and some are not. I use R-M and Sherwin Williams, which are both owned by the same company, a Marhyde primer, and I use X-otic Colours and House of Kolors for custom shades. After using these for about 15 years, I guarantee my work for as long as you own it.

I don't personally like Dupont since they went lead-free, and PPG took me too many hours for the finish work, but I'm sure you will find people who prefer them. Try the brands you like, and then decide if you would use them again.

P.S. I still use a Dupont adhesion promoter which has always worked well for me.

I'm gonna use Martin Senour on my car, a single stage, medium dark grape purple, I'v heard of many people getting good results with martin senour, and it's not too cheap but not too expensive, gonna cost 160-250 bucks to do the car. It's not too cheap as it's not like the cheap paint that Pep boys sells, 50 bucks for any color, I'v heard that stuff dosn't like the sun very well and fades out fast, and the candy apple red, looks more like a torch red. Also, the NAPA I'm gonna get the paint from, the guy at the paint counter, is a professional paint tecnician himself, and stands behind the paint.

Originally posted by HOTRODPAINT
The two main things you get from brand name paint are "gloss holdout" (how long it lasts before chalking out) and "color holdout" (how long it lasts before fading).

I have seen a red metallic GTO turn pink in 6 months! My daughter's Camaro had the clearcoat fail in one year! That is the tradeoff for using low priced paint.

I would say that ANY recognized product will give you good life, but you will find that some are easy to work with, and some are not. I use R-M and Sherwin Williams, which are both owned by the same company, a Marhyde primer, and I use X-otic Colours and House of Kolors for custom shades. After using these for about 15 years, I guarantee my work for as long as you own it.

I don't personally like Dupont since they went lead-free, and PPG took me too many hours for the finish work, but I'm sure you will find people who prefer them. Try the brands you like, and then decide if you would use them again.

we use standox base but nason clear, the boss is a cheapass an looks at price per can..and not the actual amount of material used in the job. Over the alst month weve had a bunch of cars back that had been done recently( like over last 5 months) for minor stuf, moldings , stripetape lifting etc. and every one had died back severly..... so far no one has complained but it stil looked horible...im glad im out of the paint shop now!!
I agree wholeheartedly with your advice, just as i tel people who want me to fix their cars on the side then compalin about the price( everybody 'knows a guy" who will do it for half my price) or start jabberin about maaco.....this busines it comes down to you get what you pay for....

PPG has a custom paint classes , but you have to be a certified PPG painter to go to them .

I cant express the need to lean the basics , and good gun control , and prep work.

Most all painters have a preferance of products , its what you get used to and have good luck with .

Just remember with painting , things can go wrong quick, to many variables of things that can cause problems , just make sure not to mix products as all paint lines are chemically designed for compatiability of the companies paint lines !!!!
And if you have a pint problem later on and you have one type primer, another type base , and another type clear , dont even think of going back to the place you bought the product and ask for advice , as whos to know what layer failed .

Spray Tech, Let me say first that I agree beginning painters are better off if they stick to one brand. You have to become an amatuer chemist as you advance in this game, but I have done this using some good advise from my paint store, and sometimes I make a change if something forces me to find another way. The ultimate goal is to find something that works for you every time. You can't make a living if you have to keep repainting. You will get enough of that anyway.

Years ago I read an article by an experienced painter who said "use anyone's quality two-part primer, sand, use anyone's quality acrylic urethane basecoat, and finish with the quality acrylic urethane clear of your choice. It's worked for me.

I don't worry too much about blaming any paint company for my problems. If it's their fault, all they will do is give me another can of paint. I'm the one who has to contribute hundreds of dollars of my time to fix it. I guess that means that I am going to have to stand behind my own work. Besides that, why would I want another can of something that didn't work the first time? Knowing this, I am going to use products that work for me every time, even if the paint cans don't match.

just a remark...
I'm not a professional, but made some discoveries by trial and error...

Prepairing the surface, before even getting to the spraying, that's just as important as everything else!
I used several layers of filler and sanded them down again until the surface was mirror-like... several days can go into sanding and layer after layer of filler or basis can go by before the actual paint comes into play...

Keep calm, take your time when sanding; one hour more into the prepwork and you avoid disappointment afterwords!
If you prepair your surface with confidence and with no hurry, you can get good results even with a spraycan (eh, on minor surfaces or for a patchjob)

probably stating the obvious, but hey, we're posting advice for starters, right?

there's nothing like the look on the faces of your friends, when you tell them you've done it yourself, outside in the backyard...

just a thought here...
hope it helps,
greetz,
tom

Just remember....smooth is okay, but it is most important that it is straight!

The two part primers will fill most of the sand scratches as you go through to process of guide coating, blocking the primer, and glazing any imperfections that remain.

Beginners tend to "oversand" filler, to make the edges pretty. When they finally paint, they discover that they can see a slightly depressed shape called a "repair ring". At this point, you have created the need to spot repair the paint, and that never is quite as good as the original finish.

Quick question...My t-bird was painted (Nationwide chain, starts with M and ends with O) 10 years before I bought it, and had 1 and 3/4 Gallons of paint in the trunk. Is this any good for touch up? Granted, its a metalic red (I've discovered red does not like sunlight), and 1 of the cans is still unopened (DuPont brand, not near it for more info). Any good, or dispose of it ? Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
Matt

Originally posted by HOTRODPAINT

Beginners tend to "oversand" filler, to make the edges pretty. When they finally paint, they discover that they can see a slightly depressed shape called a "repair ring". At this point, you have created the need to spot repair the paint, and that never is quite as good as the original finish.

Theres no need to "Feather" the edges out of primer, when I did my '51 chevy bodywork and filler work, I featherd the edges out but, I hand sanded it back and forth, going well past the filler and then back, well past the filler until it was smooth and feathered out. what am I suppose to do when sanding filler?

Matt, when doing plastic work, I trust my hands before my eyes. I sand until it feels straight, checking for either high or low spots. If it feathers out okay, that's great.

What I was referring to is that if the dent or low spot is an irregular shape, I have found that beginning bodymen will try to keep sanding until it has a uniform shape, and by then they've gone too far.

40 roadking, The paint should still be good, unless it has dried up from not being sealed tight.

A can of red brand-name paint can cost up around $400, so I wouldn't throw it away. Some Dupont reds don't cover well at all, and have to be used over a special red base coat, so check it out before you paint something with it.