okay, i've been doing a bit of thinking after starting the numberplate areas on my track plastics. i think i'm going to change the procedure for my own personal needs to take advantage of my strengths and downplay my weaknesses.

given equal prep work, i believe i can end up with a final product that is the same by rolling on the paint at full-strength rather than thinned. my thinking is this: it seems the main reason to thin the paint so much is to have it lay down flat and avoid orange-peel. the downside to that is figuring out the correct mixture ratio and the fact that it takes many coats to get a decent thickness. that's a time penalty. plus, i'm just really impatient and i want to put on more coats before the previous ones have finished drying. also, the bubbles are not popping for me. so that's a hassle. i end up going over the same spots over and over to pop the bubbles and screwing up the coat before it's fully dry.

personally, i'd rather put the coats on full strength and get good thickness, not worrying about the orange peel. i'd rather spend my time wetsanding and polishing than putting on many thin coats and waiting for good coverage/thickness.

so tomorrow i'm going to lightly sand the 2/3 coats i have on the numberplate areas and then put on some paint full-strength. that'll give me faster visible results and i'll worry about the orangepeel later when i have the whole thing done.

i also considered spraying, but the same problems of time/space/messiness still apply for spraying rustoleum as they do for 2k paints. the isocyanate are obviously removed, but the rest of the inconvenience still stands and this affords me an opportunity to paint the bike at my own pace (evenings and mornings) rather than tying up a whole part of my too-full garage to spray.

i'm not recommending everyone do the same, as i have way too much stuff for polishing personally and i doubt everyone has as much equipment for that part of the job as i do. but it's just something to think about.