well, got up this morning, and headed towards the van with soapy (used washing up liquid) warm water and some 1000 grade wet and dry paper. Wow - amazing change! I did one area - the rear quarter - just to test how easy and whether worth doing (must admit, thought we had to do it after every coat
) It was - really!!! It went smooth - I am talking same as a car smooth. And it didn't really take too long - we went round the whole van (two of us) and it took less than an hour.Did it take the shine off......thought it had at first.....and wondered what happened with the final coat.....but then as it dried, realised it was covered in white-ish dust....once that was removed....it was fine and dandy again.
So, mixed more paint. using 20% mix or thereabouts thinners. Very scientific.....4 small pots of paint (plastic yoghurt pot dipped in paint pot) followed by one of thinner. Then mix. Folded the paint in rather than vigourous stirring. Note for beginners. If you put the thinner on top of the paint.....it does take quite a while to get it mixed properly.....keep at it...You will know when its ready, as it looks like paint again, rather than a mixture!
Put a new roller on the LONG handle (only coz that's the one poundland had!) and this time spent longer dunking and rolling the roller on the tray before applying to the van. Reduced bubbles this time...but also used LIGHTER pressure. What I did....lots of little strokes to get the paint on, then a very gentle long (length of panel) strokes to even the paint, remove any lines, and reduce bubbles. Press too hard, and you will mark the paint you have put on, and put lines in it.
The second coat has improved the colour.....here's some pictures for you:
Note: this photo makes the door look top class with just two coats!! It lies!!! It is still patchy....but a definite improvement on the first!
You can see the orange peel effect....it will stay like this till next weekend now, to have a full week to get hard.
outside in the sunshine....can see that she is still blotchy but looking better!
And up close so you can see just how bad she still is.....but you can see the potential and the shine!!And one last one.....again, it makes it look better than it is in reality, but it sure is motivational
It has been hard work this weekend...but the worst of it was the prep of the bodywork. Without this, it would have been quite easy.
ohh - just a quick word on the foam brushes. Personally, I am finding these rather awkward. I cannot get on with the flat ones at al.....they just seem to drag the paint. However, i then located one that was mounted like a lolly on a stick, and it was just wide enough to paint the recesed centre line. that worked ok. Got to find another one of them....or use a brush.
Thanks for the kind words CovKid....hope my work is doing the paint justice! I am well chuffed with it.....I walked past it in the garage, and had to do a double take...it looked sooooo different. My best friend thought I bought a new van!
will update with flatting and third coat if the weather allows next weekend. No garage then...so fingers crossed for a nice day!!!
Em
x
