Blending problem

Jim C said:
The steps i have above was for doing a clear blend. Not for doing the whole panel. If your goi g to blend the color and clear the panel then just 600 grit it, blend your base then clear with whatever clear you used originally
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Got it Jim. Thanks for the clarification.
 
This was one of the posts I was thinking of. Might help you.

Spraying Tri-Coat Paint

I have sprayed SS and BC/CC but never Tri-Coat. Somebody scratched and dented the rear driver's side door on my 2011 Ford Expedition EL. Color is white platinum tri-coat. Questions: What color primer to use? (if it matters) I am thinking gray? After base coat, how do I know what is too...
www.spiuserforum.com
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
This was one of the posts I was thinking of. Might help you.

Spraying Tri-Coat Paint

I have sprayed SS and BC/CC but never Tri-Coat. Somebody scratched and dented the rear driver's side door on my 2011 Ford Expedition EL. Color is white platinum tri-coat. Questions: What color primer to use? (if it matters) I am thinking gray? After base coat, how do I know what is too...
www.spiuserforum.com
Click to expand...
Excellent! Thank you Chris.
 
Given the size of that clear edge I personally would sand that area with 320/400. Put 2 coats of unreduced epoxy to seal off the edge(just spot in on the edge of the melte in clear), block it out and start the paint job over.

Just my opinion, I just have been burned with mapping and once it's cleared and polished you gotta live with it.
 
To add to OJ's great advice, sand the edge till it starts to feather out. If it keeps tearing and not feathering, keep sanding till it does. If you don't it will lift in a very short time. Like OJ said, sand it all thoroughly and start over. I don't like how the clear looks in the pic. All of the cloudy areas are showing that the clear is releasing. It should come off. I'm assuming it's a bedside. Sand it thoroughly, prime and proceed. Clear the whole bedside.

When you blend the key is to spray your coats no more than light-medium. Use a slow reducer (SPI recommended) First coat cover only the repair area. Second coat extend farther out by a couple of inches. Third coat extend the second coat by a couple of inches. It may take 4 or more coats to get everything copacetic. Never spray it wet.

You don't want to have hard stop/start areas. To accomplish this you need to feather the trigger and move the gun at the same time. What I mean by this is when you start a pass (if it's not at an edge) progressively pull the trigger while starting to move the gun. At the end of a pass you do the same only you are releasing the trigger while moving. That is key to not having a hard stop or start area. Practice on some masking paper.

If you are having trouble with the blend you can also use a blender product. SPI Intercoat would work well for this. Take your RTS base and the intercoat (activated or not ) and mix it 1:1. Then spray one to two more coats using the same technique as described above. You only want to do this after you get coverage of the repair area.

You can also put a "wet bed" of intercoat clear over the whole panel, let it flash, then proceed blending your color out. That might be easier for you to do. It helps with getting the metallic to "lay down".

Tack the panel after every coat. That is very important.
 
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This is my take on blending. I use to do a lot of newer cars to take to Manheim Auto Auction so quick add fast. Say a quarter panel ,clean clean and clean the sail panel ( blend aera ) then a rough compound clean again. Spot in color then clear out past color. Second coat of clear reduce a little then dump clear out of cup but leave a touch of clear in bottom and add SPI blelnd solvent and mist over the blend. Most times just a hand rub with med compound. Now this was with SPI Euro clear and I will add this will Fail down the road at some time. So I never blend on a customer car,clear full panel only.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
To add to OJ's great advice, sand the edge till it starts to feather out. If it keeps tearing and not feathering, keep sanding till it does. If you don't it will lift in a very short time. Like OJ said, sand it all thoroughly and start over. I don't like how the clear looks in the pic. All of the cloudy areas are showing that the clear is releasing. It should come off. I'm assuming it's a bedside. Sand it thoroughly, prime and proceed. Clear the whole bedside.

When you blend the key is to spray your coats no more than light-medium. Use a slow reducer (SPI recommended) First coat cover only the repair area. Second coat extend farther out by a couple of inches. Third coat extend the second coat by a couple of inches. It may take 4 or more coats to get everything copacetic. Never spray it wet.

You don't want to have hard stop/start areas. To accomplish this you need to feather the trigger and move the gun at the same time. What I mean by this is when you start a pass (if it's not at an edge) progressively pull the trigger while starting to move the gun. At the end of a pass you do the same only you are releasing the trigger while moving. That is key to not having a hard stop or start area. Practice on some masking paper.

If you are having trouble with the blend you can also use a blender product. SPI Intercoat would work well for this. Take your RTS base and the intercoat (activated or not ) and mix it 1:1. Then spray one to two more coats using the same technique as described above. You only want to do this after you get coverage of the repair area.

You can also put a "wet bed" of intercoat clear over the whole panel, let it flash, then proceed blending your color out. That might be easier for you to do. It helps with getting the metallic to "lay down".

Tack the panel after every coat. That is very important.
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Yes Chris, It is a bedside..Thank you again.
 
Sometimes the info sucks on the repair process, but it all a learning experience! Hate to see you go through it again only to have even worse problems.
 
orangejuiced86 said:
Sometimes the info sucks on the repair process, but it all a learning experience! Hate to see you go through it again only to have even worse problems.
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Yeah I hear you OJ. I don’t mind if I mess it up again, it’s how I have learned what I know so far, I went for this blend with low expectations. It’s nice to have this forum to come to for help as I had know idea as to what was happening.
 
Lizer said:
is a blending solvent required for blending in the base?
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blending solvent is kind of deceptively named. It is used to do what el toro described...cut in clear. You would never use it with base. It used to work well on lacquer and enamel job as the solvent would bite in and actually soften the existing paint to allow it blend and adhere. It doesn't work the same on urethanes. Essentially it will let the sprayed clear flow a bit to soften the edge. Then you would buff the edge to blend it in to the existing clear or SS urethane.
 
Also I want to note that you dont have to use epoxy when priming over that clear edge, but epoxy will be your best bet against an edge showing back up due to its solvent resistance.

You can use a urethane primer, but I would let it cure up for an extended amount of time before prepping and painting again.

I guess maybe this is why 1K water primers are popular for these type of repairs.
 
orangejuiced86 said:
Also I want to note that you dont have to use epoxy when priming over that clear edge, but epoxy will be your best bet against an edge showing back up due to its solvent resistance.

You can use a urethane primer, but I would let it cure up for an extended amount of time before prepping and painting again.

I guess maybe this is why 1K water primers are popular for these type of repairs.
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I just mixed my epoxy primer.
 
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