painting fiberglass

[500000watts 10+ year member]

i think i pretty much got the fiberglassin down, its really not that hard, i havent done to much of it to find out but what ive done came pretty easy.

now the hard part for me is paint, what do you use?

glossy spray paint, airbrush paint, mixes of types of paint?

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[thatkidbob 10+ year member]

ANy paint can look good... you can get a pro quality finish out of regular ol rattlecan paint...

the main things are prep work and spraying technique...

you'll want to use a good filler like evercoat rage, and work it with 100 grit until you've got the shape you want... at this point it should fell decently smooth. Move up to 330 until you've done all you can. Then apply a glaze like evercoat metal glaze or an icing (filler mixed with fiberglass resin), and sand the crap out of it with that 330. Once you've got a nice cmooth surface, you'll want to prime it with 2 or 3 coats of high build primer. This will need light sanding. your surface has to be absolutely clean before spraying... i like to use acetone and then wash with soap and water... Then spray a gloss black guide coat to see if there are any imperfections... go back and address these. Then prime again, spray your color, then spray your clear... use multiple coats of clear, then go back and wetsand (800, 1000, 2000)to get a nice glossy finish.

Remember light coats are always going to be better than heavy coats... and improvise a spray booth if possible... a good sized cardboard box can do the trick...

and thats about all i can tell ya... good luck.

 

[500000watts 10+ year member]

sounds good, ill try it.

now what are some of the types of fiberglassing? and what methods and materials do the pro installers use?

 

[orphe 10+ year member]

sounds good, ill try it. now what are some of the types of fiberglassing? and what methods and materials do the pro installers use?

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1880833#post1880833

and

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36873

 

[Dtrickz 10+ year member]

ANy paint can look good... you can get a pro quality finish out of regular ol rattlecan paint...
the main things are prep work and spraying technique...

you'll want to use a good filler like evercoat rage, and work it with 100 grit until you've got the shape you want... at this point it should fell decently smooth. Move up to 330 until you've done all you can. Then apply a glaze like evercoat metal glaze or an icing (filler mixed with fiberglass resin), and sand the crap out of it with that 330. Once you've got a nice cmooth surface, you'll want to prime it with 2 or 3 coats of high build primer. This will need light sanding. your surface has to be absolutely clean before spraying... i like to use acetone and then wash with soap and water... Then spray a gloss black guide coat to see if there are any imperfections... go back and address these. Then prime again, spray your color, then spray your clear... use multiple coats of clear, then go back and wetsand (800, 1000, 2000)to get a nice glossy finish.

Remember light coats are always going to be better than heavy coats... and improvise a spray booth if possible... a good sized cardboard box can do the trick...

and thats about all i can tell ya... good luck.

Well i guide coat after i primer the first time and sand it all down til the blacks gone..guide coat is just misting spray paint over the primer so it shows scratches, low spots, pin holes, etc...then wash it and wipe it off with acetone or some kind of prep then follow with a tack cloth...also after u paint and clear, sand with 1500 or 2000 anything lower will make scratches hard to get out on darker colors...but dont sand unless u wanna buff it...hes right with the more light coats is better than heavy coats

 

[Ctminime 10+ year member]

after u paint and clear, sand with 1500 or 2000 anything lower will make scratches hard to get out on darker colors...but dont sand unless u wanna buff it...hes right with the more light coats is better than heavy coats

even sanding with that high grit sand paper its a good idea to wet sand.... then buff after that.... i like to clean surfaces with peroxide.... it dries everything out nice and cleans good... not to mention that its cheap as hell haha

 

[500000watts 10+ year member]

ok i have a question, when they get the mold, they then put in the mdf rings and supoort it up with wooden dowels, when they rap it in felt wouldint that make the middle of the model different, i mean where the end of the mold stops and where the begging of the felt starts, wouldint it make big seem?

 

[500000watts 10+ year member]

will this get me that nice wet paint look but feels like a nice waxed car, cuz i know spray paint even when dry has a the feel of sticky rough paint

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

If your wanting glossy glass "wet" looking paint . The idea is pretty much the same regardless of the substrate or kind of paint be it rattle cans or auto paint . Sand substrate smooth as a babies arse . couple coats of primer . Sand baby arse smooth again . I tend to use 1-2 coats of primer sealer before I paint. Then several light coats of color. ALWAYS wet sand the color. Don't sand through the color , or your gonna have to shoot color again . Once your color is baby arse smooth . Hit it with a couple coats of clear coat . Once the clear is dried completely , wet sand lightly with 2500 grit to get any orange peel . Then buff it with some rubbing compound. When your painting make always make sure you clean the surface thoroughly , and tack it before your next coat . //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[yne721 10+ year member]

Well i guide coat after i primer the first time and sand it all down til the blacks gone..guide coat is just misting spray paint over the primer so it shows scratches, low spots, pin holes, etc...then wash it and wipe it off with acetone or some kind of prep then follow with a tack cloth...also after u paint and clear, sand with 1500 or 2000 anything lower will make scratches hard to get out on darker colors...but dont sand unless u wanna buff it...hes right with the more light coats is better than heavy coats

guide coat is pretty much useless unless you're doing something really flat, like a body panel or something. but to each his own. it would just be a waste of time IMO.

but that's coming from a trained eye that can see all that stuff without guide coat.

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

Paint as a guide coat is more trouble than it's worth imo . If and when I use a guide coat . I use black marking powder from lowes , and a big cosmetic pad to dab it on //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[yne721 10+ year member]

will this get me that nice wet paint look but feels like a nice waxed car, cuz i know spray paint even when dry has a the feel of sticky rough paint

wetsand it if you want a smooth feel to it.

you'll also need to buff it

 

[yne721 10+ year member]

Paint as a guide coat is more trouble than it's worth imo . If and when I use a guide coat . I use black marking powder from lowes , and a big cosmetic pad to dab it on //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

finally someone that knows.

this shop i used to work at had some really nice guide coat. it was in an aerosol can, but it was pretty much just black powder that was kind of sticky. not paint though. it was nice, i wish i knew the name of it so i could buy a couple cans. that would come in handy doing the cars in my garage

 

[500000watts 10+ year member]

what do you mean ( tac it ) before your next coat, are you talking about that stuff they use on wood, its like brown cloth thats sticky and they wipe would with it before staining?

also when you say to clean the surface with aceatone, wouldint that strip the paint and filler and all that right off?

 

[500000watts 10+ year member]

and with the evercoat metal glaze, they didint have that at the store i went to but they had this other type of like bondo glaze or something, its a red paste so i used that, i also got bondo body filler cuz they didint have evercoat anything there,

when you said i could mix the body filler with fiberglass resin to get my glaze do i use hardener with that mix, and if i do use hardener do i use body fill hardener or resin hardener