Electric HVLP paint spraying.

[M'coli]

that gun looks like an all-in-one version of the Earlex gun I sprayed the Avenger with

Mr Coli - isn't the new colour metallic (gold)? It coped well? I only ask as my old R30 (metallic brown) is going to need some paint one of these days and there's no way I can afford to pay for a pro job.

The new colour is the original colour - Honeygold metallic. I've never sprayed before - apart from the odd rattle can - so this is a skill that I've had to learn, however I've not had to un-learn spraying with a compressor and a Devilbiss, for example.The finish is better in some places than others; some areas have more paint than others, so this is my fault. The visco cup is a bit dinky, about 1/4 of the size of other ones I've seen, but it's been worked out to be proportional. Helpfully it fits inside the gun cup, so measurements can be made on-the-hoof.The recommendation is for the cup to empty in about 20 seconds, IIRC; a security guard at work used to spray professionally(not cars - transformers etc.) and said that rattle cans go through a cup in about 10. I'd used 20 for the primer coats and found it peely, so thinned it down to 15 for the last ones. This was much better, but as Mr B found out with his B & D, the gun on the Earlex needs turning right down for the paint to be sprayed fine enough to not be too peely. The problem here is that it's all too easy to leave it pock marked from not enough, or to have runs when there's too much. (Certainly for me, anyway.)The paint will probably need flatting back before clear-coating. I'll post up some close up photies of the good bits - it needs more paint on the bits I made an arse of, these are the bits I thought I got just right, and the good bits are the bits that I thought @%£$! as I was spraying it! - but the sprayer did alright, I just rushed things too much.I was fortunate enough to get some genuine 70s cellulose at an autojumble, so don't need to worry about topcoat.

[mouseflakes]

Thanks for the info! Sounds like you need a to be lucky sourcing the paint and patient when applying it. I'd just like it if one day my 30 looked okay from a distance.If I ever get around to it, I was thinking of doing it inside one of those cheap wedding marquees off ebay as I've got off-road parking but no cover.

[M'coli]

Sourcing the paint, hmm... The day before I bought this stuff at the ASOC national weekend autojumble, I'd paid over a ton to get 2 litres of celly mixed up to match the original colour and a full tin of 1k clear coat. My viewpoint was better bugger it up with £10 of autojumble paint that with £100-odd of new stuff...

[ashmicro]

I don't know if it can still be got, but I used a similar device (Earlex IIRC) to spray my Metro with what was known as "coach paint". I'm more of a spanner monkey than a spraypaint artiste, but the car looked excellent.I mixed it with cellulose thinner on a trial-and-error basis, and tested it on an old bonnet. The result was a finish that looked "wet" and uber shiny.

[pompei]

Is it still possible to get brush paint for cars? I think it might be enamel based. Years ago someone suggested I should try this method - the finish apparently is as good as a spray job if done skilfully (which ruled me out)

[Mr Lobster]

Yeh, you can still get brushable paint for cars. I knew someone who did one a few years back. Spent ages prepping it, did the whole car and everything.It looked great from a distance (although it would have to be quite a big distance). Close up it looked fucking awful.