wet-sanding

[Garry]

Just shot my bike tank in PPG's DBC Black(basecoat)about 4 coats reduced 1:1 as specified on label. The following evening I noticed a few dust nibs here and there, so I decided to "block" them out w/2000 wet. Then I got a little carried away and Block Sanded the entire tank, to get a nice "flat" surface basecoat.(any imperfections removed)Funny thing is, when this was wet-sanded down, my black "base-coat" took on a gun-metal gray color when squeegeed dry.Spray a little clean water on it, goes back to deep black. Question is, this ever happen to anybody?, is this normal? I've heard in the past you should not wet-sand certain base-coats.If that's the case, how are minor imperfections in the paint removed? I shot another coat of base, that whole "gray-thing" just didn't sit right with me. Any feedback welcome..thanx

 

[TAZ]

Garry,
Yes, it will give you a "gray" look to your paint when you wetsand it. Once you buff it, then polish it, it will turn black again.

Use a good grade polish and compound. I think the "Perfect It" III Extra Cut is the greatest compound made. I use a medium coarse "Foam Pad" for rubbing out my jobs. Then I follow with the foam pad polish with a "waffle pad". I use these on the PPG Global system. Haven't used a wool pad for at lease 4 years now. You will get the *perfect* black paint job doing it with the above.

 

[Garry]

Thanks again Scott, thought I was goin nuts there. Well, I guess an extra coat of base can't hurt anything. I was just a little hesitent on doing my flame layout after seeing that. By the way, I picked up some nice base-color for the flames today, it's DBC 4982, kinda like a deep "Plum-Crazy" with sapphire blue tones in it. Looks prettier in the can than it did in the books, kinda itchin to shoot it. Probably be hittin ya up for some advice once my lay-out is complete. AS always, thanx for your help.

 

[TAZ]

Oops,
My fault, I was thinking that you had already cleared the basecoat and were wetsanding the clear and got the "gray" look. I see that you wetsanded the basecoat to get the nibs out before you where clearing.

Good idea to add another coat of black before clearing. Doesn't take much time and some good insurance to do so. You could have gotten away without doing another coat, but...better safe than sorry.

TIP: If this was a metallic base you shot and you wanted to "nib" it, then most definitely rebase before clearing. Wetsanding a bare metallic basecoat could result in "distorted" metallics and would really show up after clearing.

Anyway, you can use my previous post after you clear and wetsand.

If you are getting ready to add flames, and have never done this before, it might be a good idea to spray clear over the black, then proceed to do your flames. Why do this you ask. If you happen to get a little flame color over the bare black basecoat and you try wiping (or sanding)it off, not only will the flame color come off, the black will to. So the clear will give you protection. Make sure you wetsand the clearcoat, then you can do your flames.

 

[Garry]

Scott, I appreciate the tips, I'm still new at this. Actually, this is about the 3rd time I'm doin my bike, since finding this valuable info on your site.Really, the only problems with the first 2 flame-jobs were inferior paints. Martin Senour Acrylic Enamels, just didn't like em..as far as layin the fine-line, it came kinda natural, really got into it, it's funny..you can "feel" when the flames are layin nice. Havn't had any problems with over-spray,clearing,compounding or buffing.Think it was just the quality in materials.Put it this way..a Quart of Martin Senour Clear..10 bucks..I'll just chalk that up as "practice".
I can see the difference immediately using PPG Brands..lil pricy maybe, but well worth it in the long run.Again, I congratulate ya on a great web-page, it's been most helpful.
Let me get off this thing....gotta lay some blue fine-line...catch up with ya's later..