Never'd sprayed a Tri Coat before. Purchased Matrix Paint. Applied 3 layers of base coat. Applied the Midcoat keeping the gun 15 inches from the bumper. The Midcoat changed the red to a lighter red. Applied another Midcoat, started to change the color to a very Metalica, Peral look. Applied another Midcoat, not even close to the factory color. The base is dark red, in the same family, the Midcoat seems to be my problem. The paint store doesn't see anything wrong with the mix. They are going to re mix on Tuesday
D4 Ford Rapid Red
- Thread starter aje7445
- Start date
chopolds
Member
Even VERY experienced painters can have trouble with Tri-coat paint. Very difficult ( or impossible) to try and match, or blend. Your best bet, is to spray out a test panel with your base. Tape off around 6 sections. unmask one section, spray a coat. Unmask another, spray another coat (now you have a section with one coat, and one with 2). Unmask another, another coat, then another. You should have 6 different colors, from 1 coat to 6, of the mid coat. Now match that to your car, and put on as many coats as it matches.
That's the easy part. First, I think you are spraying too far away, but it also depends on the type of gun you have, the fluid tip size, your air pressure, your reduction ratio, your overlap, and the speed of your passes. With tri-coats, your gun has to be set up perfectly, to spray consistently, and with great atomization. THEN, your spray technique must be perfect, as well. 90* from the surface, consistent distance and speed. Perfect overlap of your passes. Any deviation any cause tiger stripes, or blotches in the color. While factory tri-coats are a bit easier to handle, they are almost as hard to shoot as 'real' candy apple paints. And they can be difficult, to say the least.
That's the easy part. First, I think you are spraying too far away, but it also depends on the type of gun you have, the fluid tip size, your air pressure, your reduction ratio, your overlap, and the speed of your passes. With tri-coats, your gun has to be set up perfectly, to spray consistently, and with great atomization. THEN, your spray technique must be perfect, as well. 90* from the surface, consistent distance and speed. Perfect overlap of your passes. Any deviation any cause tiger stripes, or blotches in the color. While factory tri-coats are a bit easier to handle, they are almost as hard to shoot as 'real' candy apple paints. And they can be difficult, to say the least.