Hit me up with a PM and I can email you pics of my helmet. That helmet took all of 3 hours to do from start to finish with free handing the airbrush work. Its a cracked out clown with a blind eye and brown teeth on a pearl white background faded to a neon orange in the front of the helmet. It has a lil bit of yellow in the fade and my nickname brushed on the left side. Its truly a wicked helmet. Cost wise, 500 to 1000 depending on how wild you go. I have done helmets for less then that, and I am really not that good with airbrushing. Here in my town I know some bad boy custom guys who can do some crazy airbrushing. IF you wanted something similar to that the guy who taught me (he is amazing) would prolly do one for you for 300, but it all depends on how bada** you want it to be.

 

Sorry not to get to these in order, but that is called LIFTING and clears do have reducers in them. Usually 3 parts clear, 1 part reducer(depending on what the temp is) and 1 part hardner. All paint lines are different as some are just clear and harnder, that is how sikkens auto clear is. Has two flavours fast and slow. Sorry to hear about your problems, but I am glad you brought them up cause it lets people know of the art it takes to paint. The metallics laying all funky is called Modelling. Tell your painter to drop the .4 or .5 tip gun and get a .3, it will better atomizing the base and flake and lay it down smoother. Its a bit slower with a .3 but it makes it look muy better. Hope you get it all squared away and once again I am sorry for your problems but it sounds like you are on your way to getting it fixed. Later bro

Josh

 

Hmm buffing them would not be an option in anyway, because they are so small and thin you would burn the crap out of them and have to replace them. Honestly i guess you could have them repainted but most of the time a shop would tell you no(unless they are hard up for work) because the cost to repaint them would be more then to replace them. If they are so scratched up you can not live with them, I say just go down to mitsu and replace them. I would not advice trying to buff them or paint them due to the cost issue and the screwing them up totally issue. Even myself with years behind a buffer would be afraid to put a buffer on a plastic piece like those, so just scoot down to mitsu and replace them. Good luck and hope this helps later

Josh

 

here are some bigger pics of my avatar/helmet. It could prolly use a new scheme as this one is about 3 or 4 years old, but it still looks pretty good. This was done free handed with an airbrush and it took me about 3 hours to do it start to finish.

 

I have a question for you pro's. i would like to get into the whole painting as a hobby. What kind of equipment would i need as far as the type of compressor(HP & tank size spec), spray guns, etc... In your opinions what would be a good starter kit to get going on spraying small items and learning the trade. I plan on trying t learn as much as i can on prepping and painting but am not sure where to go for information besides a forums, painters, and such. Also, any advice on a place to find this kind of beginner information.

thanks in advance for the information.

 

BTW, excellent idea for a thread!!!!

 

I second that, I build fiberglass dashes, sub boxes etc and up to now have always had to go to an outside source to get them sprayed. I just want a setup where I could spray bodykits, boxes. Maybe an occasional car.

 

Ok well first of all let me start by saying that most people go to a Votech class or something of that nature, but as you will find when you try to get into the industry you just waisted 6 months to a year with school. Its not a totally bad idea, but most shop train from within and want a "helper" that is totally green and has no expierence. I came up with no school whatsoever and I am now a Gold Class I-CAR cert painter, but I had a way in as my older brother is a painter and now has his own custom shop. My advice if you want a career out of it then go apply to be a painters helper at any shop and they will train you from start to finish. It is a bit of a process as it took me about 2 and a half years before I was my on my own as a painter and of course ICAR classes come up and as your skills grow you get more certifications. Now if you would like to just do it as a hobby, well, go get a gun and a compressor and some Votech books and just start spraying lil things, old junk fenders or just whatever you can get your hands on. Hands on is the best tool to learn. Now tools, I use Sata NR series guns, they are a bit pricey but so are all german built things. My favorites are the NR95(came out in 95) with a .4 and .3 tip, as well as my NR2000(came out in 2000) .4 tipped clear gun. They are about 450 bones a pop, but you could get a solid used NR95 for 150 to 200. Also all sata's and most high end guns can be rebuilt and spray good as new, rebuild kits are roughly 100 to 125, also this is how you change the tip size too. Compressors will prolly be your most expensive tool, and you will need a big one, not a 5 hp lil bitty 20 gallon resevior sized tank. That size would just about be only good for spraying helmets, spoilers, speaker boxes etc etc. To do a complete car you would need a big stand up one. Another tool you will need is a good DA sander(dual action) and many many many sanding blocks of all diff sizes and lengths, A good buffer, and of course a tape machine(a lil roll around thing that hold 18inch paper 12 inch paper 6 inch paper and extra rolls of 2 inch and 3.4 inch tape) and sand paper, I use 320 on my DA, and my blocks, and then a finer 600 for wet sanding. 1500 to 2500 is used for buffing and colorsanding. Also scotchbrite pads too and some blend prep. Now the most important thing when it comes to painting is PREP PREP PREP PREP. Spraying is easy, as long as you know what to do when your encounter problems along the way. Sorry for the long answer, but this is the most detailed and solid advice I can give, if you want a more personal answer feel free to PM me. Thanks guys for your support with this thread, Later

Josh

 

Can I get a link or at least some more information on the wet sanding and buffing stages? I have done hands on now with the prep/spray/clear part, but want to learn a little more on the finishing stages prior to trying my own project.

 

Ok believe it or not, buffing is a very critical stage of the process. You can really mess up your paint if you do not know what your doing. But luckily I am here for your support LOL. Ok here is what you do, go down to the paint store and get a 3M foam sanding pad. Its about 1/4 thick and the size of your hand, in a rectangle shape. What this does is, it allows you to color sand properly without FINGERGROOVING your new paint. Also one side of it is a lil stiff and also allows to get that nice flat colorsanding. Use 1500 to start with to knock the edge off of it and to remove and dirt nibs in it, then finish it out in either a 2000 or 2500 grit, all the while doing this WET. When your finish has no more orange peel, or dirt nibs, and is COMPLETELY flat(it will look totally sanded, no shiny whatso ever and no HIGH SPOTS) then break out your buffer. Since you are new to this use a SLOW speed when compounding it. ITS FRESH PAINT AND WILL BURN easily. Slowly buff with a white foam pad(3m white pad) and compound back to a nice shine, and use different angles with different light to make SURE you got all the colorsanding out of it and its shiny(if you did not there will be a slight haze over all it) once you get all the colorsanding marks out of it, then simply switch out your pads on your buffer to the dark polish pad, and then glaze it or polish it, with your polish/glaze. I am at work right now on my puter I use to mix up paint and I am not aware of any good colorsanding links, BUT as soon as I get home I will look on the net and post what I can find. Will be home in a few hours and get back with you, but what I have said so far should get you in the right direction. Talk to you later man

Josh

 

I got a question: I used to have a lexus is300 and pretty much a show car, custom color and body kit all around, now i live and vegas, and vegas is infamous for ROCK CHIPS. I see some people using that clear plastic to cover parts of the car, does that really help? will it mess up the paint over time? after 1 year, my lexus looked really messed up. I don't want the same issue to happen if i ever paint my Evo. Thanks

 

The clear bra's have not shown any damage to the paint and have helped my car. However, I haven'r used mine for a "long" time either. I can tell you that I have heard no complaints. Just my .02 take it for what it's worth.

JOSH:

Any recommendations on the compounds to use. A particular brand or type. A particular buffer that you recommend using. Remember I am doing this as a hobby not a job. However, I will pay for quality as I am a bit of a perfectonist to say the least....

 

Yea just get the 3M rubbing compound in a squirt bottle and also the 3M polish/glaze. Compound is not color specific but the polish is, meaning light or dark colored paint. That is all I have used my whole career and IMO its the best. I bet if you go to the store its available in a combo pack cause if you use one you will NEED the other. Price wise (I am not really sure cause the shop pays for all that), but I am guessing its prolly 20 bucks for each one. Later

Josh

 

Ok IMO, any kind of bra will scuff your paint up over time, now I am not familiar with the clear bras people are using on this site. Now there is alternative to rock chips in the form of a chip guard sprayed on the lower portion of your bumper. I have never really used chip guard on a bumper per say, but on many higher end cars its on the rockers. Now here is the down side, chip guard is not smooth and flat, in fact it looks like cornbread or your rockers are severely orange peeled, but it does resist chips EXTREMELY well. Chip guard does have to be applied when you get your car repainted and it will protect you very well, just as long as you can live with the lower 4 to 6 inches of your paint looking like orange peel. Its not noticable until you are up close for sure and on a lighter colored car I doubt you would notice it all, until you ran your hand over it and felt the thicker texture. Now as far as bras go, the scuffs it will put on your finish are not terribly bad and can be just polished off, and with a good coat of wax before you put it on you could most likely prevent the scuffs from getting there. I will look into the clear bras and get back with you, but, I have never seen any bra not scuff paint over time, and with the proper buffing and polishing(maybe a lil colorsanding but thats only in extreme scenerios) it looks good as new. Hope this helps and I will get back with you after I do a lil research. Later

Josh

 

What do you recommend for a compressor? Just something larger than a 5hp, 20 gallon.

thanks.