Another tip when removing tape from new paint is to pull it parallel to the surface, i.e. folded back over itself.

another bodyshop trick-
when you are masking over a fresh painted surface, put the tape across your clean pantleg to break a bit of the adhesive of the tape.
It will also help it to keep it from pulling off fresh paint.

I've read this thing over and over and over again, and I think it's a viable alternative for those of us on a budget. My question is this:
I understand that metallic paints can't be used because of the roller problems with metallic, but couldn't you paint the car with the methods here but hand cast the micro flakes, let dry, then knock down with a wet sanding then clear coat it? I seem to remember that back before the spray gun, the metal flakes were hand cast like this.

I've tried hand casting metalflakes on some very small parts...
It worked OK on these parts, as they were REALLY small (like half inch by 6 inch strips), but even then it was EXTREMELY difficult to get an even distribution of the flakes.

I wouldn't try it on a large area, I think it would end up very blotchy.

I would think that since we're rolling in layers, that if we hand cast over each layer and then wet sand, and then hand cast the next layer and so on , it would and should even out. I have my old satellite hood that I replaced with a Roadrunner bulge hood I think I'm going to try. Just a pinch between the cheek and gums. . .oops, wrong product! I'm thinking maybe something like an old flour sifter or something to help control the dispersal. . .it's worth a try.

Nice Job otherwise. What brand/color blue is that?

Thank you. Aside from my moment of disaster, I'm really pleased with it. Brightside Largo Blue and White. I'm trying to pseudo replicate the old Datsun 510 Trans-Am paint job. It'll get red stripes diagonally on the side of the fenders and front doors yet (done in vinyl; I'm not that crazy).
I simply brushed a coat of straight Brightside white on my FUBAR areas last night to get some coverage. It actually went on fairly smooth. I may hit it again before the first sanding. I think it will turn out okay; just horribly deflating thinking you're ready to bolt the car back together and have it on the road only to be set back another week of evenings.

The vertical panels. . .hmmmmm....

I might try putting the car on ramps one side at a time to elevate the vertical panels a smidge so they aren't perfectly vertical and try to continue with the sifter idea or. ...elevate and use an old talcum powder bottle elevated enough for the dispersal. . I would think that since we are working in layers, it would be time consuming but well worth the try. . .hell, they used to hand cast these things back in the day, so there has to be something on the net about it. . .

This is an expensive alternative, but I would think innovators found here could come up with a cheaper alternative

http://www.innate.com/Paint/OSF/OSF_Jobber.htm

It can be done. . .low pressure air, I wonder if you could use something like an aquarium pump and supplies?

Hmmmm....if the flakes are small enough, they should be dry-sprayable through any gun with a large enough nozzle, but then we might as well just spray metallics if we've got that kind of equipment.
I think the squeezy talc bottle might still give you blotches, as the bulk of the material will be in the initial 'puff' with the surrounding areas getting less.

If you can get the handcasting working on a horizontal panel, why not go for a two-tone? Or even a single tone, but with the flat surfaces 'metallized' - that might be a neat look?

I was a spray painter over 30 years ago, and at that time one of the "old timers" told me they used to hand cast metal flakes when they first came out. (At the time they were big flakes, and wouldn't fit through the gun nozzel.) I also like the dry spray idea. However, don't sand right on the flakes. They are typically colored aluminum, and sanding them will expose the base color, and turn it dark. The guy I knew years ago said they used to go over them with a roller to flatten them out, then put on a heavy clear coat before sanding. Even when using modern spray equipment, clear should be sprayed over a metalflake coat to make sure the flakes are completely covered before wetsanding.
Do a test panel and post pictures!
LanceB

I had a funny thought about how to randomly get metalflake dust onto a coat of fresh paint without leaving a pattern that may have greater concentrations in some spots and bare spots in others...

OK>.. Imagine this. You have just laid a fresh coat of paint on to the hood of your car. In front of the hood you have a large fan mounted on something so that it is blowing its airflow out and over the hood of the car.

You now stand behind the fan and slowly take little pinches of metalflake fall in front of the fan. It randomly scatters the pixie dust all over the car hood. The key here being that it is randomly spreading it.

And you could move the direction the fan is blowing to send a greater concentration to an area that isnt getting its fair share of the pixie dust...

The only shortcoming with this method is that a lot of pixie dust would be blown all the heck all over the place when it doesn't land on a wet sticky surface to adhere to.

But this is the same sort of principle you would use if you had an aerosol bomb of metalflake pixels. Instead of spray it directly at the surface you would indirectly spray it so that it disperses a little before coming in contact with the car panel...

.

Project Double Displacement Walkaround Video:
http://www.cobra4me.com/phpBB/Paint1.php

It is still not done, but putting it back together, the rear spoiler and front section have been painted with 2 coats of rusto, will apply another 2 coats of Brightside. Most of the car has been Polished using PoorBoy's SSR3, will do another coat of SSR2.5 and then another of SSR1

The first part of the video I did in low resolution so it shows a bit grainy.

Results:


I'm overall very happy with it. Pretty smooth even without the final wetsanding and polishing. This was using the gloss sail blue color.

I had a crazy idea.

I used Rustoleum primer in my engine bay, which was stripped to bare metal. To apply it I mixed Penetrol with the primer and used the Harborfreight rechargable spray can. That spraycan did not work out so well for me, it just shot little globs of paint, but the best part was that the paint self-leveled well enough so I got a pretty smooth coat of primer.

So the idea is...what about using a $2 plastic spray bottle, like those you can buy at Home Depot (similar to what Windex comes in) to apply the paint? I would think the spay would be localized enough that it wouldn't kick up enough dust to by like really spraying, but should apply the paint in small enough particles that if you thin it it should self-level fairly well an merge into a uniform coat. You would have to set it to the widest spray pattern so it was more like mist than a stream of paint.

Is this idea even worth testing?

it cant hurt to experiment and try it. sounds totaly viable to me!!

hello.

so i decided to try this method. i did all the body work primed the car wetsanded and preped it for paint.

i mixed it 1:1 with mineral sprits (im using tremclad/rustoleum), when i apply it on the car its really glossy but this mornign when it dried it was flat no shine whatsoever.

should i be taking out as much pant as i can from the roller then apply very thin coats on the car?

thanks