Flattening Paint Primer

[Ken I]

This tip given to me recently by a professional spray painter and it works.

There's nothing more annoying than imperfections in the final coat that originate in the undercoat / surface but you didn't spot it.

Here's the tip :-

After applying grey primer - give it a light dusting of black (aerosol will do) - when you rub down, any surface imperfections, dings. pukkas etc show up vividly. All the black rubs off very quickly if everything is in order - its not really any extra work.

If the imperfections won't rub out or you reencounter the base material - then more spot putty and primer is required - but that's a lot better than a tragic final gloss coat that needs the same remedy and new topcoat.

Ken

 

[deverett]

Now all I need to know is how to rub down around things like rivets or other small details without getting back to bare metal where I should be just levelling off the subsurface for the next coat.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[Davo J]

Hi,
Good tip, that is called a guide coat and used in panel shops for many years.
Over here in Australia I find GMH black the perfect paint for doing it, it's a flat black and comes ready to spray strait out of the can, the best thing is it's really really cheap, but any colour paint will do as long as it shows up.

You will often see cars or trucks getting around with patches of grey with the dust coat of black over it, or at least here you do. For some reason they think it's OK to drive around like that without a top coat, but all it's doing is acting like a big sponge to suck all the moisture into it, to start rust up all over again.

Dave

 

[Ken I]

Davo J,
Now that you mention it - I've seen that myself for ages and never given it a second thought.

So that's what it is.

Thanks,

Ken