how to cover over spray under clear coat

[gtc73]

otherwise known as over spray on the base coat,.,....
Well I think I know what I am gonna do, but wanted to run it by you first.

Problem: customer found a light fogging of black over spray from my airbrush, on his base HOK Molley Orange. And of course it's been cleared, colored sanded and buffed out.

Soultion: or at least what I was thinking of trying, is to mix a small amount of the molley orange, clear and activator in my air brush, lightly scuff the area of concern, and dust it with this combo?

I'm thinking I need just a little amount of the color so the clear is orange enough to cover.....and given the mixture, it would dry to a gloss finish?? then a light color sanding and buffing??

thoughts?? thanks gang!

 

[TAZ]

Where would this problem be...what part?

 

[gtc73]

of all places, the tank Taz!, it's actually on the front of the tank I believe towards the front wheel.....not the top or dead center.....

You'd actually have to give it a good look, as I MISSED it all together......it shows up on the orange as like a shadow.....but well....its there.....waiting to here if my customer wants me to fix it....told him I would do what I have to do at no cost to him.....I want my 1st customer to be 100% happy.....and finding over spray that I didn't catch is not a good start but so far he's very happy with the tins!!!....loves the flames!!!

Where would this problem be...what part?

 

[TAZ]

You could spot it in that way, but orange is normally a pretty transparent color. So you add clear to it, and it will take quite a few coats to get it covered.
If you have a good breaking point (where you can blend to). I would scuff a fairly large area (larger than your spotting area). Then blend the orange, then blend the clear. This way, the orange is protected with the clear. If you mix and spray it the way you mentioned the more you buff, the thinner the orange will get. Then you may end up seeing that black spot through the orange in certain lighting conditions.

BUT, you may have a problem here....the customer will be looking right at that spot when he picks up the tank. You may just want to play it safe and resand the complete tank, blend the orange in, then reclear, wetsand and buff.
If it's close to an edge on the front of the tank, or like I mentioned close to a good breaking point, you should be allright in blending the orange, then blending the clear.
You could always do the spotting and if it doesn't work out, do the tank again.

Good luck, hope it works out for you.

 

[gtc73]

Ya, I'm all about playing it safe.....

So Taz, mind if I pick your brain a little?

- So when you say resand the whole tank, basically you mean either wet sand, or scuff/prep the clear, so that I can blend some small amount of the orange over the over spray area correct?

How should I prep the orange paint to be sprayed. I can honestly say I have never blended before and I know this is a tricky art form.

- i am assuming the only tank surface I will be spraying/blending is the area with the black over spray? and just beyond so i can blend it...
- would I prepare the orange in the same manner, ie, as if I were basing the whole tank, which happens to call for a 2-1 mix ratio? or does blending require additional reducer?

- and finally, I don't want to guess so I would ask for some tips on the actual blending process? would I
? spray lightly, and let if flash, multiple times until the over spray is covered/
? would I then do any sanding at all to the orange blended area? like wet sand wit say 1 or 2k grit?
? or would I just proceed on to the clearing process??

thanks for you help!!! much appreciated.

BTW....I haven't heard back from the customer since we spoke....I assume he is either packing up the tank for shipping, or he is trying to decide if it is really that noticable....more to come...

You could spot it in that way, but orange is normally a pretty transparent color. So you add clear to it, and it will take quite a few coats to get it covered.
If you have a good breaking point (where you can blend to). I would scuff a fairly large area (larger than your spotting area). Then blend the orange, then blend the clear. This way, the orange is protected with the clear. If you mix and spray it the way you mentioned the more you buff, the thinner the orange will get. Then you may end up seeing that black spot through the orange in certain lighting conditions.

BUT, you may have a problem here....the customer will be looking right at that spot when he picks up the tank. You may just want to play it safe and resand the complete tank, blend the orange in, then reclear, wetsand and buff.
If it's close to an edge on the front of the tank, or like I mentioned close to a good breaking point, you should be allright in blending the orange, then blending the clear.
You could always do the spotting and if it doesn't work out, do the tank again.

Good luck, hope it works out for you.

 

[gtc73]

wonder about this process. "My friend Pete" from swrnc seems to really know his stuff. Note how he blends the clear? that very last step....with the reducer/clear residue and as he describes how the reducer will 'blend" the old clear into the new clear?

- however, it sounds like your recommendation is to "blend" the orange, and reclearing....as apposed to blending the clear...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PfJKcrR8w0

 

[TAZ]

Basically you can just wetsand the tank. 1000 grit wet is fine. once you get the complete tank dull, wipe and tack it down. Then just blend the orange. You just need to start small by just covering the black overspray. then you can work your way out. You'll probably end up with about a 5-7" area or so with orange. If you have black flames around it, then of course make your spot smaller. Once you get the orange blend acceptable. Then just reclear the tank as normal. 3 coats should do it.

As far as blending the clear, you would do the base as above. Then when you start doing your clear blend, you can use an over-reduced clear. Start small by at least covering your orange blend. Then work it out from there. Once your almost done, you can reduce the clear even more, possibly 90% reducer, 10% of the clear that you already had in your gun. Go over your spot and 'work it in'. I normally use a color blending reducer or a hot (warm weather) reducer. If done correctly, you will hardly notice your original black overspray spot. You'll also hardly notice your blend.
Lightly buff the area the next day (or 2 days later). You'll also have to work the blend in. too high of speed or done incorrectly, and you'll 'burn the blend'.

The safe way for you is just to blend that orange in, and reclear the tank though.
Hope the customer is still happy with you . May want to contact him just to hear his thoughts. Might make him even happier that you contacted him.

 

[gtc73]

sounds good Taz!, thanks for the tips!, will give it my best. Still waitin to hear back from my customer...

 

[TAZ]

No problem.
If they haven't called by now, you may be 'safe'

 

[bondofreak]

Sorry if I seem to step on toes I sincerely mean no disrespect to any one at all.

I wish I had a pic so I could see and better evaluate the issue. I will say this so take it for what it's worth.

I have to say I disagree on considering a clear blend. Color blend is a whole different thing though. It's not mystical black magic either.
Clear blending is common practice in car lot flipping. Not a good long term solution or proper repair even though the prob area is not in the direct sunlight.

Pete done what he had to do. But It will halo eventually. He prob warned the guy of halo down the road before he started the job. I have seen the video if you are speaking of the vintage car he blended by the windshield.

Back to the tank.
If he (customer) spotted it and you told him you would fix it then call him and ask him where the tank is at. You are expecting it so you can get it all corrected and thank him for telling you about the problem because you want him happy.
Scuff the clear (whole tank) with 1000 mask for overspray in the blend area, blow a little color on to cover it, untape and shoot 3 more coats of clear for cut and buff.

Do it right, be done with it and have the peace of mind and confidence of knowing you have done your best.

 

[TAZ]

If he (customer) spotted it and you told him you would fix it then call him and ask him where it's at. You are expecting it so you can get it all corrected and thank him for telling him about the problem because you want him happy.
Scuff the clear (whole tank) with 1000 mask for overspray in the blend area, blow a little color on to cover it, untape and shoot 3 more coats of clear for cut and buff.

Do it right, be done with it and have the peace of mind and confidence of knowing you have done your best.

I agree with you. I mentioned the same thing.

 

[gtc73]

Thanks man....I wear steel toe shoes brother, no damage here.,...
What you just said is exactly what the plan is. I spoke with my customer, he is sending back to me at no cost to him.....and I planned exactly what you mentioned in terms of scuffing, blowing a little orange over the black mist over spray, then reclearing.....

I fully expect this to go very smoothly!!!

thanks for the input!!!!

 

[gtc73]

so by way of update....

- I scuffed the entire tank with 1500, cause it was either that or 2000, didn't have 1000 in the shop with me.
- masked off the artwork with fine line tape, then masked off the major portion of the artwork with painters tape/news paper....
- using my touch up gun, set at approx, 30psi at the nozzle, I sprayed specifically the areas of concern, trying to spray away from the fine line tape. *** nothing special about the paint setup,,,,ie, no additional reducing, simply what the product called for...
- once covered, I unmasked and of course found a fine line LINE all around the artwork....
- then wet sanded with 2000 all over the fine line LINE edge.....and feathered it out over the newly sprayed area....
HAVE TO BE HONEST, I FEARED IT WAS NOT GONNA MATCH UP IN TERMS OF THAT FINE LINE GOING AWAY...
- tacked, wax/grease remover, tacked and sprayed 1 tack coat and stepped back to look
HAPPY TO SAY, ALL LINE EDGES ARE GONE/INVISIBLE.....COMPLETELY MATCHED UP PERFECTLY....
- 3/4 full wet coats applied so I can wet sand with 2000 and and final buff.

SUCCESS!!!!! i fully expect my customer will be very satisfied.......

 

[TAZ]

Good to hear. I'm sure you will have a happy customer. PLUS you can mentally put this job to rest and feel good about it. :bigokay:

 

[gtc73]

Ah man!, this is almost embarrassing....

So last night I started wet sanding with 2000 and discovered 3 small black dots..... I mean so small they are hard to find with the naked eye. But a black dot on a molley orange piece?? not good. These are like the finest of the finest spit dots I have even seen......I mean a ball point pen is HUGE by comparison.

I asked my wife, as a second pair of eyes to come take a look....took her 5 minutes to find the 1st one....used a magnifying glass to get a better look.
Bottom line is I missed them somehow....

so back to the drawing board tonight....donno if I can scuff the clear, and airbrush over these DOTS and then reclear AGAIN!!!! but I am going to give it a shot....DAM!!!!! I would NOT have been happy to ship these back out to Ohio and have my customer call me and not be happy.....

Good to hear. I'm sure you will have a happy customer. PLUS you can mentally put this job to rest and feel good about it. :bigokay:

 

[TAZ]

Shouldn't be a problem to redo again. Just scuff it up the same as you did. Spot those areas in. Then reclear.

I know it's hard seeing those smaller spots when the surface is sanded. Sometimes I'll check my work by pouring some DX330 cleaner over the surface. This gives it the look as though it was clearcoated.

WARNING...do not use DX440 as this will wash away your work.

 

[gtc73]

So here's what the deal was.....the problem actually exposed itself.

So I was blowing some orange over these small black dots, and wouldn't you know it.....my airbrush (even know it was full of orange paint) SPIT OUT 2-3 SMALL BLACK DOTS..........MY AIRBRUSH WAS IN NEED OF A GOOD CLEANING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

after quickly wiping the black dots off the tank, I clean the gun, then reloaded the orange, and BAM!.....job done.....

all cleared, and ready for color sanding and buffing....should be a done deal at this point....everything seems to be looking really good at this point....MAN!!!! this was a bit stressful!!!!

 

[LudicrousSpeed]

Wow, nothing like a dirty brush to cost you hours of time, on top of hours of time!

 

[TAZ]

Sounds like you got it!
:bigokay: