New guy (all around) from CT,USA

[quadracer92]

Hey all, I'm 16 years old and live in Newtown, CT. I've just gotten into painting within the last couple of months. I have a harbor freight cheapo airbrush and a harbor freight cheapo HVLP gun. A friend of my father's who is an autobody painter (not professional or anything but he is very good) told me if I wanted to start off right, then buy an airbrush gun and practice with it to get the feel for things. I bought the harbor freight HVLP to have a cheap gun to get the feel of a spray gun. Mostly I've done smaller things with rust-oleum paint from home depot. I've got a good feel for the gun and I haven't had too many problems with orange peel/flaking/overspray/underspray yet, so I think my spraying technique isn't too bad. what I've been having problems with is uneven surfaces before I paint. So really I'm asking what's the best way to tell if something is truly even before painting it?

Edit: figured I should put alittle about myself...I am into dirtbikes and ATV's, I own a 2004 klx110 (I've gotten into pitbikes alot recently), I'm always looking for something to learn about cars/trucks, I just finished a 289 mustang fast back restoration in my auto class at school. Other than that I'm into hunting, fishing, sport shooting, etc.
I really want to be an iron worker for a career, my father's side of the family is big time in that field, and it's always interested me.

 

[TAZ]

Hello and welcome.

I'm not for sure what you mean by 'even before painting'. Do you mean the surface is rough? If so, you will always need to start with grit tht cuts the surface. Then you will need to go over that with a finer grit. When it's smooth to the feel, then you should have it ready for paint.

 

[quadracer92]

I guess giving an example would be best...Recently someone gave me their computer side cover to paint. They had already stripped the paint off (I'm guessing with a sandpaper wheel on a grinder) and it felt flat/even to the touch, as well as looked even, but when i painted it there were high and low spots everywhere (I'm guessing from going heavy on the sander).