I no longer have a compressor or a good spray gun - which is OK because I only have a few small parts to paint. I'm a fair hand with surface prep and painting, but the Duplicolor acrylic black lacquer and acrylic lacquer clear (spray cans) just turned out horrible.

I sanded everything down and primed with their high-fill primer then followed up with lighter weight sandable primer. I used multiple grades of sandpaper, and finished up with 600 wet. I cleaned it thoroughly, tacked and sprayed the (so-called) gloss black. It wouldn't flow smoothly, and had a velvety look to it. I sanded it back down, wet sanded again - same result. I thought that the clear might bring out the gloss, but it's velvety also.

The part was completely dry after wet sanding. I let the various coats dry for the recommended time and followed the instructions exactly. Temperature was around 80F and humidity was a tad above 40%.

I guess I can try color sanding and buffing it out - but I just may sand it down and go with enamel.

Question: Were the conditions wrong, am I a horrible painter, or do Duplicolor spray bombs just suck?