It’s Tony from LearnAutoBodyAndPaint. Thank you for watching the video and checking out the blog today. We’re going to be talking about Spraying Automotive Base Coat Paint.
This is a continuation of the Mazda Miata Project. Now, we’re just masking. Remember that the better you do in masking like taking your time in doing it, the better your paint job is going to come out.
The next thing we’re going to do is start mixing up and spraying our base coat. It’s a 50:50 mixture with the reducer. In video, we’re laying our foundation on to put our decals on it. Then, paint our green base coat then remove the decals to give us that two-tone effect.
You sometimes see me air out areas because I want it to dry quicker and give it a second coat to make it darker. It’s called dusting.
Now, I’m spraying gold on our mirrors and gas cap. This is the area with a little bit of biting, so I wet sanded it out with 400-grit and got it smooth and sanded in.
We’re then going to dry it off and then lightly base coat the area, which I’m going to show you in the video.
You don’t want to overlay your paint otherwise, you’ll have to repeat the process. Wait until it’s dry and feather it out again.
We wait for about 30 minutes before we put our decal. I want it the same color as the graphic on the side of the car.
We need to make sure that there’s no dust before we put our decal, so get a tack rag and wipe off the dust. Once we lay our decal on, we’ll spray our green base coat over everything then clear coat it.
We did the same thing to the front. Now, we go over to the side and put our decal. You need to take your time doing this and get it as straight as possible.
I’m using a squeegee to get the air bubbles out. The proper way to do this is go from the middle and push up, then go back to the middle and push down.
We’ll be going over the primer areas first and make it green by putting two coats on it. Then, go over the whole car with two coats. Please watch the way I paint in the video.
We’re getting it all nice and clean now. If you’re confused about the process, be sure to watch the first part of the LearnAutoBodyAndPaint VIP Course.
I show you in detail on how to paint the car, where to start, why you want to start from there and how to go around the car. I may record another video and add that in the series as well.
We’re going panel by panel now and going around the car. I’m not just doing the primer section, but doing the whole car, a panel at a time.
Remember, when spraying base coat like this, you want to do a 50% overlay. As long as it lays on just like you see it in the video, it will be fine. It doesn’t have to be really wet because this is base coat.
This has a little bit of metallic and pearl in it. This metallic is so fine, I didn’t need to crisscross it. However, if I have a thicker metallic, I would also spray sideways.
Make sure to also get your wheel wells. You don’t want to leave it out and see white on your wheel wells.
We’ll then let it dry and peel the decals off. Then, tack it down and get ready for clear coat. We’ll put two heavy coats of clear then we move on to the next process which is color sanding and buffing.
It’s Tony from LearnAutoBodyAndPaint. I hope you enjoyed this short video. Don’t forget to grab your FREE 85-Page Auto Body And Paint Manual.
Join me in my weekly live show every Thursday at 9pm Eastern on my YouTube channel. Please Like, Share and Subscribe to my videos.
Cheers! Talk soon!
Tony
Other Helpful Links:
SEMA 2016 Car Show and DIY Auto Body & Paint News
Wet Sand & Dry Sanding Techniques When Prepping for Base Coat Painting
Can You Add Pearl In Base Coat? – Automotive Bodywork And Paint Tips
Automotive Base Coat Paint Cost – Grades of Base Coat Paint
Secrets To Spraying Silver Basecoat Plus Tacking Tips When Painting
I tried to paint my truck in my pole barn last weekend, and when I was putting on the base coat, it looked like I was spraying grease on it. It was really clear and wanted to run bad. I pulled the truck out into the driveway and painted it outside and it came out perfect.
Why would it make a difference indoors or outdoors. the temp was about the same, a tad warmer indoors 60 vs. 62 degrees I hung plastic in the garage to protect from overspray. Doesn’t make sense to me. I want to do another paint job this winter, but am afraid i’ll have the same problem.
I was using a single stage paint, so just prep, aim and shoot.
any help is appreciated.
Hey Ernie! I am not sure what was going on… It could be a variation of things, had for me to say with what you said to me. I’m glad it worked out for you. 60 is a bit chilly to be painting in, but should be fine. I prefer to paint in at lest the 70’s. Good luck and keep me posted!