Drop Coat Question
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 19,294
Likes: 2,753
From: Charlotte NC
For what it is worth:....And this is not directed at anyone specific....so when I writeyou it is being used in the text and I am hoping you might be able to relate to it. Because honestly...I have already done it many times.
Each paint manufacturer may have a specific way of using/employing a "drop coat" to even out your metallic streaks. It is subjective and often times the procedure can be altered from any suggested "guideline".
Often times really bad metallic streaks are due to your gun not being set-up correctly (fan-pattern, air pressure, reduction viscosity, distance and the angle of the head to the surface)...along with your painting technique...(over-lap).
In my system...when I get the final coat applied to achieve a true color...I keep my gun the same and do not touch anything and just raise it off the surface some more and change my pattern of how I applied the paint and move it across the panel slower than normal.
I do not like dropping the air pressure...due to if I did...I would be throwing droplets of paint at the panel instead of an atomized paint...like I had applied in the earlier coats. On some colors...dropping pressure can give it a "pebbly/textured" look...when you get down and really look at the metallics.
Like I have written many times.......IF you have not tested what you are planning on shooting on your car on something large so you can work out the "kinks" ...if any.....you are going in completely BLIND. I know this is a very good question.....but TEST, TEST, TEST and TEST until you have GOT IT DOWN PAT! . DO NOT be CHEAP and not spend some time and material to test your paint.....BECAUSE...going in BLIND...and not knowing what can happen when you have already spent all that time on the body getting it RIGHT....seems to me to be quite INSANE!!!!!!!
You are more than likely saving thousands of dollars on doing it yourself...and spending some on the "learning curve" will be worth your effort. Because going in and painting it "thinking" you know what to do...and NOT TESTING and actually purposely screwing up a test panel so you can fix it and REALLY UNDERSTAND what you have to do are TWO totally different things. I have gone in while some of my guys are testing something they were wanting to get RIGHT...and either scrape the panel with my finger while it is still wet...or throw water droplets on it..take some of the mixed paint and fling drops on it....and even throw sand on the panel and have them fix that. Because any experienced painter can tell you...you can have sweat drip on the panel, accidentally scrape the panel with your paint suit or "whatever"...have a paint gun drip...and even have trash blow out of a seam that you had blown out numerous times under high air pressure but under air pressure used for painting...the trash can find its way out. It has happened to the BEST of us. If you can do that...and fix those scenarios...then you should not have a anxiety attack if something goes wrong.
DUB
Each paint manufacturer may have a specific way of using/employing a "drop coat" to even out your metallic streaks. It is subjective and often times the procedure can be altered from any suggested "guideline".
Often times really bad metallic streaks are due to your gun not being set-up correctly (fan-pattern, air pressure, reduction viscosity, distance and the angle of the head to the surface)...along with your painting technique...(over-lap).
In my system...when I get the final coat applied to achieve a true color...I keep my gun the same and do not touch anything and just raise it off the surface some more and change my pattern of how I applied the paint and move it across the panel slower than normal.
I do not like dropping the air pressure...due to if I did...I would be throwing droplets of paint at the panel instead of an atomized paint...like I had applied in the earlier coats. On some colors...dropping pressure can give it a "pebbly/textured" look...when you get down and really look at the metallics.
Like I have written many times.......IF you have not tested what you are planning on shooting on your car on something large so you can work out the "kinks" ...if any.....you are going in completely BLIND. I know this is a very good question.....but TEST, TEST, TEST and TEST until you have GOT IT DOWN PAT! . DO NOT be CHEAP and not spend some time and material to test your paint.....BECAUSE...going in BLIND...and not knowing what can happen when you have already spent all that time on the body getting it RIGHT....seems to me to be quite INSANE!!!!!!!
You are more than likely saving thousands of dollars on doing it yourself...and spending some on the "learning curve" will be worth your effort. Because going in and painting it "thinking" you know what to do...and NOT TESTING and actually purposely screwing up a test panel so you can fix it and REALLY UNDERSTAND what you have to do are TWO totally different things. I have gone in while some of my guys are testing something they were wanting to get RIGHT...and either scrape the panel with my finger while it is still wet...or throw water droplets on it..take some of the mixed paint and fling drops on it....and even throw sand on the panel and have them fix that. Because any experienced painter can tell you...you can have sweat drip on the panel, accidentally scrape the panel with your paint suit or "whatever"...have a paint gun drip...and even have trash blow out of a seam that you had blown out numerous times under high air pressure but under air pressure used for painting...the trash can find its way out. It has happened to the BEST of us. If you can do that...and fix those scenarios...then you should not have a anxiety attack if something goes wrong.
DUB
