I need some painting help (tech Q's)

[s14unimog]

I recently had a disagreement with a pole and have been forced to replace/repaint the front bumper and passenger fender. Luckily I had both a spare passenger fender & Navan bumper thats been patiently waiting for me to paint. I have done this a couple times (valances, spoiler, rear bumper, etc..) all of which have turned out perfect and have not had this issue before. I am using a 2 stage PPG base and clear. The paint was mixed by a PPG distributor as it was before; BP3. Unfortunately this time I have an absence of metal flake. As some of you guys know this stuff is pretty simple to mix, 4:1 ratio with a reducer and you're ready to spray. My questions are basically directed towards someones experience. Is there a certain way to mix metal flake that I am unaware of or something I could have done differently this time. Are there side effects, like these, that could be a product of too much clear coat?

Basically WTF did I do wrong, lol! Was it my fault or maybe a poorly mixed batch of paint?

Any suggestions are helpful.

And yes I cut the cross out of a Navan bumper, I think it looks better without it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/s14unimog/FenderandNavanpaint013.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/s14unimog/FenderandNavanpaint007.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/s14unimog/FenderandNavanpaint034.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/s14unimog/FenderandNavanpaint033.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/s14unimog/FenderandNavanpaint042.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/s14unimog/FenderandNavanpaint038.jpg
Passenger side fender
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/s14unimog/flakenoflake002.jpg
this is a close up image of the fender and hood
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/s14unimog/flakenoflake001.jpg

[silpena]

u didnt by chance forget to stir the paint real good did you? also sometimes u need to play with air pressure and fan pattern to match ur current paint.

[Addicted2Kouki]

u didnt by chance forget to stir the paint real good did you? also sometimes u need to play with air pressure and fan pattern to match ur current paint.
true.

another issue could be the color of the primer underneath.
if they werent the same.... they might not match.

you can try covering it with a couple more coats of base... to see if that will help match better.



if you know how to blend into the other panels... you can do that too.

[slw240sx]

was the gun properly cleaned after the last use, and cleaned before using it again? possibly it was slightly clogged causing the metallics to not pass onto the surface.

was it as metallic in the can? possibly they mixed it with less then before. I know i have had the same paint mixed on two different days and had less metallic in one can then the other.

[silpena]

usally if u shake it and stir it every time u use it, it should come out the same. Primer could also be an issue but with enough coats it shouldnt bleed through. Clear coat has nothing to do with it and niether does a clogged gun. A clogged gun would give have given him a screwed up pattern leading to runs, sags, streaks, hella bad orange peel. I'm leaning onto not stirring the paint right, maybe primer, or gun pressure and fan pattern. You should next time get a blank piece of steel or something and give it a quick shot and compare it to ur current panel to see if it matches(which it should) or try putting less material(lighter coats at bigger fan pattern and slightly less gun pressure at the tip)...see if that works. Also u could have probley over reduced. idk if i got this but is it the same can with the same paint you bough before and is left overs? or is it a new mixed paint(probley a pint)? they could have screwed up at the store since mixing paint in small batches is harder to make. Making ur own paint is tricky and making to the exact ratio in colors, pearls, hues to match the amount u had before is hard.

[boosted98gst]

I paint for a living and one thing you never paint metalic paint in sections thats a no no , any good painter would of blended the whole front of the car, its alot more work and no an issue for people but to me it is. I doubt its the primer either darker colors use darker primers and are less efected as lighter cars are with primers. its almost impossible to try to match few year old paint with fresh paint, blending gives the untrained eye of a perfect painted car, ppg , dupont are really good paints. metalic is weighted into paint so its the bleding paints, you have to make sure the bottom of the can is scraped over and over and over before mixing with reducer ect, others shake the whole can ect, It is def not your clear because clear has nothing to do with anyting but clear. every batch of paint is different no matter what anyone says, is this the same batch of paint from the other paint jobs you have done? if you ever watch them mix the paint its either by hand or machine, doing it by hand you have to weight everything out and doing so leads to nothing is perfect, thats why its always good to buy extra paint and use from teh same stuff.

[s14unimog]

Thanks for all the constructive input. I know for a fact that it isn't the gun; I made sure to completely disassemble it this time and thoroughly clean it out. Secondly It might have something to do with the white base underneath it. I spent a little time with some high fill primer in some areas as well as a little body filer on some deep scratches, but never completely covered it. Do you think it being white may be the culprit? In response to painting metallics on a piece by piece basis I have not had this trouble in the past. As I stated above I did my wing and rear bumper at one time, matching almost completely (enough that its really hard to notice, if you can.) Then I did the rear valances and coil pack cover; again a perfect match. It just seems this time, even though the color looks right the metal flake is not as apparent. the more and more I beat my head against the wall the more and more I think it may have been the mix. I make sure to shake the fu*k out of the can and stir every chance I get. Plus I don't remember this mixture looking less metallic'y

[silpena]

so this is a new batch? and not extra from ur last spray? thats probley why it looks different.

[s14unimog]

It's from a new batch but I started to run out so I drained what I had left over from the last job. I wounldn't think thats it b/c the rep from PPG assured me that mixing wouldn't matter b/c their shelf life, even mixed with a reducer, is pretty long.

[silpena]

well then i think u need adjust ur air pressure when u paint to mess with the mettalic.