So, I get this Vespa scooter (a 1966 Vespa SS180) from a customer who gives me all the different panels, all different colors, all in variious states of disrepair. He tells me he wants a very very deep white pearl. The body of the scooter is primered, but I'm not sure if it's a urethane, a laquer, or what. So, I strip the body, all the panels, the headset, glovebox, etc to bare metal, do the required straightening, filling, etc, and applied Valspar DTM (direct to metal primer.) fixed all the minor mistakes, I then sealed the paint with Omni (ppg) GP sealer, which I thought was a urethane, but turns out it was a laquer based sealer. I then applied the white Base, and it peeled and shrunk at all the seams, due to the incompatability of the 2 products. While bummed at the extra work I had to do, It was my stupidity that caused the problems, so i bsanded it down again, Applied the correct sealing primer, (2 coats, as directed and shot the 1st base (The Valspar base for the pearl is very thin and doesn't cover very well, so I shot 3-4 coats, then 3-4 costs of the pearl, medium wet, as directed, and then cleared (another 3 coats). (all the produts were Valspar) Now, the problem is that the pearl is no where near the intensity that I expected, and while the over quality of the job is decent, there just isn't enough pearl to the customers satisfaction. (and to me as well, If he's not happy, then neither am I, and he is a friend)
My question is, now that I have all these coats of paint, and have a decent looking product, what can I do to intensify the pearl? He said he wanted the most deep, intense white pearl available. do I block the clear down to the base, and then do it over, with a pearl additive (The pearl now looks like the late model Cadillacs) I did add a little pearl powder to the 2nd base, but it really didn't make much of a difference.
Mind you, this is one of my first custom jobs, I have done BC/CC before, but no pearls, like this
the questions I have are
-Do I add a pearl additive to clear and shoot a few more coats?
-Is there too many layers of paint now, and I need to strip it down be safe?
-Is the House of Kolor stuff compatable with the other Valspar products? it looks like the dry powders are, can I shoot a few more coats of clear with the pearl additive?
-any recommendations as to which House of Kolor or other brands of Pearls to use- I'm looking for something STANDOUT, KNOCKDOWN intense. So what do you all recommend? I'm not so trusting of my Paint supplier anymore, as he told me that this was a very deep pearl, and assured me that I would be impressed.
thank you so much for your time, looking forward to the input!
percy.
My question is, now that I have all these coats of paint, and have a decent looking product, what can I do to intensify the pearl? He said he wanted the most deep, intense white pearl available. do I block the clear down to the base, and then do it over, with a pearl additive (The pearl now looks like the late model Cadillacs) I did add a little pearl powder to the 2nd base, but it really didn't make much of a difference.
Mind you, this is one of my first custom jobs, I have done BC/CC before, but no pearls, like this
the questions I have are
-Do I add a pearl additive to clear and shoot a few more coats?
-Is there too many layers of paint now, and I need to strip it down be safe?
-Is the House of Kolor stuff compatable with the other Valspar products? it looks like the dry powders are, can I shoot a few more coats of clear with the pearl additive?
-any recommendations as to which House of Kolor or other brands of Pearls to use- I'm looking for something STANDOUT, KNOCKDOWN intense. So what do you all recommend? I'm not so trusting of my Paint supplier anymore, as he told me that this was a very deep pearl, and assured me that I would be impressed.
thank you so much for your time, looking forward to the input!
percy.