Hope I haven't messed up!

[HornetPilot]

Hope I haven\'t messed up!

I'm painting my bike for the first time. It's candy apple red and so far it looks real good. Today on the tank I masked off and sprayed a silver metallic accent down the sides of the tank. It came out great, but when I removed the tape, the red was left with some marring from the tape. Can I wet sand this off, like I would orange peel before I shoot the clear, or will the clear conceal it without any sanding?

Also, there is now a ridge where the silver paint meets the red. Should I taper the edge down before I clear, or just shoot the clear with enough coats to let it hide the ridge?

Thanks for the help.

 

[ezrider]

Re: Hope I haven\'t messed up!

Try a grey scotch pad wet and that should clean up all of the marks, if not try 2000 grit wet. as far as knocking down the edges on silver i wouldnt. lay on 4 nice coats of clear let dry sand with 600 grit wet to get rid of your edges reclear sand and buff, the results will be outstanding, trust me

 

[HornetPilot]

Re: Hope I haven\'t messed up!

Thanks ezrider. From what I've read on here, it'll take about 2-3 days for the clear to harden up. I assume you mean for me to wait 2-3 days before I hit the clear with the 600 grit, and then recoat with the clear. Then wait again for another couple of days before I start to buff it out? Just want to make sure I get it right the first time! Thanks again for the help.

 

[rex]

Re: Hope I haven\'t messed up!

You interpreted correct,but what clear are you using?2-3 days sounds like uncatalized enamel.Anything that uses hardner and even lacquer is dry in 24 hours to sand or put into service.The complete drying and hardening does take longer though.It's nothing for urethanes to take 30-60 to finish outgassing solvent and shrinking up,but you should be able to get right back on them the next day.

 

[HornetPilot]

Re: Hope I haven\'t messed up!

It's a laquer clear I'm using. The reason I guessed 2-3 days to be able to sand was based on reading some stuff here...that seemed to be the general trend if you didn't have the tech sheets.

Now's where I have to come clean.

I hadn't planned to paint this bike until next year when I actually had a place and equipment to do so. But I needed a new tank and the paint on the rest of the bike was 11 years old and unmatchable, so I did it all now using rattle cans. I still plan to repaint again next winter, but for now the rattle can job came out as close to perfect as I could have imagined.

So now that you know I'm using laquer clear from the a spray can, does the 24 hour time frame you mention still apply

 

[rex]

Re: Hope I haven\'t messed up!

I'm going to say yes because it is a rattle can.Please say the color is lacquer too.It's probably my posts you recall about the dry time for lacquer.The big thing about lacquer is preventing shrinkage because it air dries and the choice of thinners and reduction ratio are very important from the first coat of primer to the last topcoat.Rattle cans usually aren't awefull and if it didn't blush (get a milky haze in spots) you should be fine.Remember too lacquer is thin,so if you're trying to lose the 2 tone line in 3 coats I'd cut maybe 1/2 the line away and put 3 more on to block it level.Another 2 or 3 on that and scuff n buff it.She might suck in a bit over time but it'll look great till you redo it.Spend the extra for urethane on the redo though,you'll love the cut in maintanance.I have to warn you though,you'll have to strip it for the next job,and lacquer loves to gum up paper or it melts with stripper instead of wrinkling up.You'll really enjoy that part

Let us know how it goes.

 

[HornetPilot]

Re: Hope I haven\'t messed up!

Thanks Rex. I did do everything in lacquer. I had heard conflicting stories about what could be used together, so I searched around to find the stuff to just do it all in lacquer. I haven't started to block it down yet, but it sounds like I could have gone after it this afternoon. I'll do it as you suggest tomorrow.

Also, thanks for the heads up on what to expect next time around. I'll post a pic of it when I get it back together.

 

[rex]

Re: Hope I haven\'t messed up!

Sounds great but I forgot to tell you,after it's buffed and done don't wax it for 60-90 days.Just keep it clean and use a good polish if necessary until you can wax it.Can't wait to see it.