It's flat!

"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228) 09/28/2018 at 16:53 • Filed to: None

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All my filling and sanding wasn’t for nothing :) I have learnt I was mixing the filler too rigarously, introducing bubbles which cause little pinholes, but I'm hoping to fix that with a smidge more filler. Went ok apart from that :)

MM54 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 09/28/2018 at 16:59

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Wow, that looks VERY straight, nice work!

For the pinholes, a glazing putty works pretty nicely (or a careful thin coat of whatever normal filler you used).

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > MM54 09/28/2018 at 17:15

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Thanks man :) yeah I’ve got something like that to fill them in. I call it ‘stopping’ but the guy at the paint shop had no idea what I meant :S

We'll see how that goes anyway :)

duurtlang > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 09/28/2018 at 17:17

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I look forward to seeing this in the flesh. Will be a very awesome car, I’m sure of that! What are you planning on doing next?

CaptDale - is secretly British > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 09/28/2018 at 17:27

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Awesome, congrats

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > duurtlang 09/28/2018 at 18:04

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Yeah I c an’t wait!

Next up is a skim of stopping to fill the pinholes, bit of a sand, then topcoat :) then I can start putting everything together!

Monkey B > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 09/28/2018 at 18:32

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I’m unaware of your knowledge so if you know th is stuff just ignore me!

Take a can of black spray p aint and give it a dust coating, then block sand. It’ll be a guide to know you are done blocking and show you where to skim coat showing you the low spots, pinholes and deep scra tches . Use a catyly zed filler, Evercoat makes multiple fillers intended for skim coats, over an air dry putty. Id reprime all of it after blocking and filling again and have another go at blocking. Hard sanding blocks are your friend, I block primarily in an X motion. Mix filler in a circular motion with a paint paddle then overlap mix= a little with the spreader...might help with the pinholes.

duurtlang > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 09/28/2018 at 18:42

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Nice! How far along is the engine?

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > duurtlang 09/28/2018 at 19:21

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Well, all of the internals are built. Need to build the intake and modify the exhaust so it actually fits (slightly dodgy aftermarket part). Hook up some ancilliaries and it’s all done!

So yeah. Still a fair amount to do...

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Monkey B 09/28/2018 at 21:16

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Yeah everything except the right mixing technique I had sorted. Even used fibreglass-based filler to build up the volume with a skim of regular polyester as a topcoat so it’s more water resistant (part of the reason it took so long is the fibreglass filler is a bitch to sand).

Great advice though :) and there's always bits for me to learn!

davedave1111 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 10/01/2018 at 05:06

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Depending on filler, you will probably have bubbles/pinpricks anyway. Go over it with an ultra-fine filler at the end to get rid of them.

Basically, the high-volume fillers would be too heavy and hard to sand if they were completely solid - maybe not as flexible, too? - so they also make very fine finishing fillers.

davedave1111 > davedave1111 10/01/2018 at 05:13

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Also, that’s impressively flat. Normally giving s tuff a mist coat in white shows up every imperfection, here it all looks completely straig ht.

If you ever want a job as a sander, let me know ;)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > davedave1111 10/01/2018 at 07:55

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Yeah that’s what I’ve gathered. Most people say that even with the proper mixing technique you get the occasional little pinhole. I’ve picked up some stopping/finishing filler and gone over the holes I didn’t think would sand out. Haven’t got any pictures but it worked beautifully (eventually, after yet more sanding).

Also, it’d better bloo dy be flat given the amount of time I’ve spent sanding it ;)

davedave1111 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 10/01/2018 at 10:07

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I think the main thing that’s put me off getting a proper project in the UK is having to do the bodywork - just too much sanding to get it ready for paint, even if I ever finished the mechanicals.

When I live in a country with cheap labour, though... 

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > davedave1111 10/02/2018 at 06:38

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I’ve seen some pretty good work done by cheaper outfits, but it’s a massive risk when you’ve put so much time into everything else. You can pay for quality, but it’d still be a significant chunk of what I’ve spent so far in total :S

I think one of the things people tend to do is sort all the prep work themselves up until painting and then ship it off for the final coats of paint. Seems like a pretty good compromise, especially if you don’t want to invest in the kit to do it yourself.

davedave1111 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 10/05/2018 at 09:15

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I was thinking more of not having to do all that sanding . If I’m living in a country where 20 quid gets you a motivated labourer for a day, there’s no way I’d be doing it myself.

I don’t quite understand why people do the prep themselves and farm the rest out. Maybe they’re scared of painting/spraying , but it’s much the easier part of the job. If you mess up a little bit it’s just some extra sanding and have another g o - but use lots of thin coats and you should be fine . Getting filler properly contoured requires a good eye as well as a lot of work.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > davedave1111 10/05/2018 at 15:57

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I think it’s more that filling and sanding takes so much time so would cost so damn much. Contouring isn’t too tricky, and it’s easy to slap some more filler and have another go.

From personal experience it’s pretty heartbreaking being properly anal about cleaning and still getting dust in your paint...and screwing up and getting runs.

When I next paint a car, I’m definitely seriously considering getting someone else to paint it. Someone with proper dust extraction and who knows how not to get runs but avoid orange peel.

davedave1111 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 10/06/2018 at 17:38

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Dust - use a mister to damp everything down that you can before you start.

Paint is quite easy once you get the hang of it. Start by erring on the light side and work your way up to thicker coats with experience. Use light dusting strokes and build them up slowly. Don’t be tempted to go round corners etc - one stroke for one direction, another for the other bit. Oh, and if you’re quite dextrous you can keep the spray parallel to the workpiece and at exactly the right distance - but if you’re a klutz like me it’s easier if you spray from a bit further back, so the angle doesn’t change as much when you wobble; wastes a bit of paint though.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > davedave1111 10/07/2018 at 19:14

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Now that’s a great idea :) damp down all the dust so it won’t get dislodged by spraying.

Great tips too :) I think a fair amount of the runs I’ve got were caused by trying to be clever getting into hard to reach areas and accidentally blasting a bit I’d already painted at quite close range. For the coat after sanding I’ll try doing the tricky bits first so I can go lightly where I’ve already covered.

davedave1111 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 10/10/2018 at 06:51

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I’m not sure how much of the dust will be overspray that’s dried before it hit the ground - with quick drying paints that can be a problem. Not much you can do about it save damping it down again between coats.

“I think a fair amount of the runs I’ve got were caused by trying to be clever getting into hard to reach areas and accidentally blasting a bit I’d already painted at quite close range.”

Yeah, that’s what I tend to do as well. I work with a freak who just... doesn’t. Useful to have around, if a bit frustrating - he can break every rule and get perfect results. (I’m half convinced his story about being Polish is a cover, just like ‘Clark Kent’.) If you get really stuck with some tricky bits let me know and you can borrow him :)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > davedave1111 10/11/2018 at 04:10

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Well, I think I’ve cracked it :) put some more coats on and if you put it on a smidge dry then look at the reflection with an inspection lamp you can see which areas need a little more until it starts flowing out.

Still got cocky on one bit, but much improved.

I also found where the dust was coming from, but it's not as good news. The poly roll I was using to degrease it was leaving behind little fibres that didn't blow off. Only just discovered what a tack rag is. Arse.

davedave1111 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 10/11/2018 at 06:30

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Does the paint have very tightly controlled solvent ratios? If not, thin it out a little bit more than they recommend and it’ll flow a bit better - only downside is it’ll take a little longer to dry.

“Only just discovered what a tack rag is. Arse.”

Didn’t even think of that - every time I look on Ebay for anything bodywork related it seems to come with a free tack cloth, I assumed you had a whole pile .

At least it’s an easy fix. When I saw the words ‘dust’, ‘fibres’, and ‘not as good news’ I have to admit my mind jumped to asbestos for a minute.