Technical Novice painter questions

I have just begun learning how-to lay down paint. My first question, ive bought into the PPG shopline brand of paints. Are they of good quality, and are there any equals for less money. I don't mind paying for quality, but if I'm just buying the name, I'll pass. So far ive put down my epoxy primer and then the 2k filler, and will be preparing for the single stage paint this weekend. All this done on small practice parts that will be under the hood. Paint was about 35 a pint for black. With all the additional reducers and harders and etc im in alot deeper than i expected, but i am also enjoying the results and having fun.


Sent from my LG-LS993 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

All I can tell you is it's cheaper by the gallon.

 

WAY cheaper by the gallon. Look on eBay for PPG paint. Someone sell PPG gallons that were mixed a little off, way cheap. Works for practice and parts that do not have to match anything else.

 

If you're worried about cost, don't plan on painting anything red!

 

When I went to buy painted for my truck I was set on buying the top tier PPG single stage paint , shop manager that I have known for 25+years suggested I use the" Shop Line " as it had superior gloss unless I want to shoot clear over it and I did not want to clear ,if that was the case I would have went with base coat/clear coat, been happy with results, I get asked how many coats of clear is on the paint "0" they have that puzzled look there is a little clear on the airbrushing and only the tops of the fender have been wet sanded and buffed paint it 6yrs old now

 

just to let us know for sure what you are doing, did you get the Acrylic Enamel or Urethane topcoat?

Our local paint shop sells the Axalta (formerly DuPont) brand paints, I used their second line acrylic enamel for the last couple I did, and the paint quality is definitely good enough for the kind of work I do.

Having fun, is good. Be careful about your health, the hardeners are trying to kill you.

 

AGREED! Bruce.

 

Squirrel.I still use the acrylic Enamel with the hardner.Cheaper and lays out nice.Bruce.

 

Check out Kirker brand paint products...good products that work well...are reasonably novice friendly...and are priced right. But they are polyurethane so safety equipment is paramount.

 

"Cheaper by the Gallon" If those words are your paint supplier's favorite saying...find a different vendor.
If you are painting a small car that you think might need 2 quarts (or a little more of paint) and you tell your paint jobber you need 3/4ths of a gallon. He will pull up the formula for 3/4ths gallon and if he is
an honest-ethical paint store, he will charge you .75 of / a gallon for price. If he charges you the price for
3-quarts of paint he is taking advantage of you ....by charging as if he used 3 cans...and mixes 3 times.
Some paint stores need to remember: "They can shear a sheep a hundred times...but only skin him once."
Somebody "just learning to paint" is dangerous to himself-his wallet and his sanity. Take a CRASH
COURSE in paint. Find out by asking where is a body shop that just does work for used car dealers
(not the public) Explain to owner you do not want to open a body shop...but want to paint YOUR OWN hot rods.Volunteer to work for him FREE by washing cars...prepping cars...masking cars...and OBSERVING If the shop is a high speed "DOG-TRACK" you will learn as much in 5 days ...as 5 years of trial and error at home.
"I also like GoodGuys...and naughty women."

 

Thanks for all the input. I am painting acrylic urathane. My plan is to paint up all the interior metal parts before i get the car back on the road. The exterior is somthing im going to have to build up the courage for, cause not yet excited by the body work part.

Thanks for the safety reminder also. I use a half mask 3m unit with the organic vapor cartridges.

 

I did use PPG Reducer and Top Coat Hardener for Urethane

 

I've used both lines of PPG on several cars with good results. I used Shop Line on my 30 pickup in 1999 and it sits outside, the paint is oxidized and starting to fail but that's to be expected after 18 years. Getting ready to paint my V8 A and will use Shop Line on it and then plan to repaint the pickup with Shop Line.

 

There are a lot of products out there much cheaper then PPG. I was always a PPG for many years guy but switched over to Matrix when it came out. Matrix was started by former PPG engineers and formulated the same for the most part, much cheaper. I use Metalux for single stage urethane, their high solids work great and reasonable cost. If you don't have a lot of choices of jobbers near you TCI Global is a good source for mail order, they are a big PPG jobber and they sell a "house" brand which I think is probably relabeled PPG. They also have a way of matching color for older cars, I'm painting a 32 in original "Brewster Green" they made up for me.
The only PPG product I use now is their DP epoxy primers, still can't find anything I like better over bare metal then DP40LF.

 

the problem with Kirker is they don't have consistency from batch to batch and their clear is not good.
Tried them .cost me 1500 bucks to paint a truck over again that did not match . Will not use them again.
I have had good luck with Nason and much cheaper than PPG.

 

Here's my results with the shopline single stage. I am happy for first attempt. No runs, but i think it could lay flatter.

 

Good results on the dash.
Practicing on small parts is a good idea and spraying highly shaped parts teaches good gun handling.
You will notice that the paint should be sprayed perpendicular to every square inch of the surface to guarantee hiding and maximum flow.

 

Positive air supply to your mask is worth doing, with catalyzed or urethanes.

 

I like the Limco single stage urethane (Division of BASF ?). For me, a definite amateur, it's easy to shoot and I get the results I was hoping for. Price is way better than the PPG I previously used.

 

Tcpglobal has a restoration line in many colors, Ive shot their enamel and urethane and really like the results and price.

Stick with solid colors, single stage while youre learning, you can sand out a lot of sins and cutting back in if you screw up badly is pretty simple.

If you just want some paint to mess with, paint for cars . com has enamel gallon kits very cheap, its not the greatest paint but i would not be afraid to use it on a budget project or for frames and equipment.

Hell, you can reduce and shoot rustoleum just to get some gun time on an old fender. It makes a difference getting used to your gun, how much overlap, and travel speed.

Buy a good respirator and a stack of filters, change the filters often, if you can taste anything while yoire shooting youre screwed. Swap filters immediately.

 

Good job on the dash. Every once in a while itll go just exactly right, lays down like glass, no nubs. The rest of the time you get close and it can drive ya nuts. Thats the fun.

 

I have been preaching the same idea for years. Nobody listens or cares. That isocynate hardener/catalyst is a slow death. Very toxic and a regular mask will not do a thing. Goes right through as well as thru your eyes and into the bloodstream!


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I got my last paint ( acrylic urethane ) from the Paint Guru on here - super nice guy - gives great paint along with great advice. My keeper source


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

I'm a big fan of LIMCO as well !!! Good stuff, reasonably priced.

 

Single stage urathane one lite coat,2 heavy lay it to it,wet sand 2000 then 3000 and polish pad Finess it