Paint Your Wagon - with a roller!

[Cruz]

Sander £17.99 @ Lidl from 7th June

http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl ... _11244.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CovKid]

that really IS a 'star' sander Cruz (groan)

[carlmarx]

hi ladies and germs

Thought I would post up a photo of my Rustoleum job (mouse Grey) on 3rd coat getting final coat next week....Van has had a new (JP) stainless exhaust since this photo was taken, will update with more pics soon.

Thanx a million for all the tips...Could'nt have done it without the help of this forum.

peace

[Llamapup]

Just finished rollering today. It was really hot. Needed to use a paint mix with a bit more thinners to give me time to work. Bugs were a little bit of an issue and may need to wait until next spring to put the final coat on.

Ive got three coats on both sides and 2 coats on the front and back . Probably go for one more coat on all sides.

Had a go at using my orbital sander on a slighly damp panel. I used 1200 grit sanding disks just to see what it would do. Quite impressed with the finish this process offers, but will need to get some 800 as 1000 grit disks as 1200 is too find to start with.

Tried the dry brush method with little luck. Paint seemed to be thinned properly so the bubles disapeared anyway. Brush just seemed to get paint in it and then wasn't a dry brush any more. Oh well at least I managed to thin the paint correctly this time.

[CovKid]

Yep, with these temperatures thinner ratio needs to change accordingly. Also don't paint a side thats in full sun.

[alkers]

Hi, planning on painting my van. Want to start with the fibreglass roof and top section first. Any suggestions of how much paint I will require? I am going to use a cream colour ontop of existing cream.

[Llamapup]

You will probably only need one 2.5l tin for the whole van if you are painting cream on cream. I don't think I would bother buying 5ltrs in your case. But you may end up needing to buy an extra one litre if you start to run low for your third coat.

[Cruz]

I've done 2 coats so far and used a full 2.5 ltr tin. I bought 2 last year so I have one more the the 3rd and 4th coat (3rd coat hopefully in september/early october)

[HarryMann]

Bit old post but...

Sounds good, any recommendations on filler brands? There are loads out there and its very confusing!

Only one for me, Dinitrol 6030 Pyrmoplast, Aluminium Metallised filled filer

From Frosts's it's here:

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp? ... 82%20kg%29

Now been slightly renamed I think, but same stuff (still 6030)

[CovKid]

Few more pics as we've just rollered Chickenkoop's. Much brighter white than original colour. Heres rear quarter panels and front. In last pic you can see difference and an area we Vactaned last year which has shrugged of several falls of snow and it was painted on bare metal:

[HarryMann]

Just made a start too, mainly over a white primer, which helps... am using RAL 9010 white, cheap and not tooo hard a white, has a bit of cream colour in there (somewhere)

Made a few mistakes possibly, not reading right through everything in the Wiki first

But think I got the thinning about right (aimed at 15%)..

Bubbles and not enough attention to loading the roller fully and slowly
Maybe didn't spend enough time stirring the white spirit in steadily, but at least realised I needed an airtight container to mix up in to keep what I didn't use (a large clear plastic humous pot with clip sealable lid)

So apart from that I wasn't rollering the paint out enough (after watching Rob CK, stylish and fast technique)
Also, the pick-ups tend to have a lot more difficult angles and reveals than a van and I don't expect to be able to do the dropsides this way (though am thinking that through... sponge brushes + roller where I can?). I may well spray them.

So PLUS points:

Amazing coverage, self-smoothing ability, quick to touch-dry, v.low odour (++), immediate good gloss, mazed how easily edges can be covered and blended in and basically, how many tricky insets you can actually cover with a roller...

MINUS

Missed a few bits (white on white), light wasn't too good, did a fair bit of brushwork around reveals/hinge brackets and roller-no-go areas before rollering, in future will have brush in one hand and roller in other and work together.

Some bubbles remaining, light orange-peel but v.acceptable, no worse than a good spray, a couple of runs

Overall... a convert. And so nice to know the final result is a good hard flexible finish.. even with one coat.

48 hours later I can tell that Ralph CK is right, needs 4~5 days or more before I'd attempt cutting it back even wet

Tip: I really think the grades suggested in many places (e.g. the US rollering website)for initial flat-down are a bit fine... I'm a great fan of 180 and 240 grade. Going a grade coarser can save 3/4 of the time or more... would never start with 400+ on original bare paint, 320 or 240 max.Then wiz over with a 320 or so, this paint can take it unless over-thinned I'm guessing

NB. My limited recent experience with £ shop wet&dry and 80 grade dry papers is that they are dangerous... the grit blocks far too easily (burning paint), and the wet&drys break up rapidly and lose their grit (scratching paintwork and loading the bucket with crap). A good (branded) paper will last ages and basically still be useable days later (a 120 becoming a 150; a 180 turning into a 240).. just keep washing it. A good w&d paper can be left in the bucket overnight without degrading the backing too.
Have a second bucket of water with a sponge and keep spongeing off
Use a second paper to rub against the first to clean it if flatting soft materials such as primers or fillers... or a green scotchbrite is good to clean 80 grade when shaping filler.
Always put a drop of washing up liquid in the water...

Cheers Ralph, almost looking fwd to getting the roller out again, but will have to wait for thos initial coats to harden off... perhaps I should be putting 2 on in the same day?

[CovKid]

Agree with virtually all of that, particularly quality of wet n dry paper. I mention £1 shops as a starting base for those on a very limited budget (myself included at times) but there is no doubt that the more expensive ones can be better. I say 'can' as theres little difference between £1 shop and store brand types but the better makes are invariably better and do last longer.

Chickenkoop and I are working on a concise video which shows prep, rust treatment, paint consistency, how to avoid hard lines, masking etc. Much of the video is in the bag but it now has to be edited etc. We'll also be covering cutting back. Its not specifically for the T25 but the fact the job is based on one may help those starting out. Both Chickenkoop and I are fairly adept at using the roller but one of us needs to film which is why Chickenkoop features so heavily in the videos (plus the fact he's a natural star). The one thing that both of us wish to drum home is that working on your own won't help you spot minor mistakes and we highly recommend that one rollers and a mate follows, checking for runs (easy to sort if caught immediately) and roller lines left for too long - again if caught quickly, you can smooth these out. The video contains many thoughts and observations of our own that extend beyond the scope of the WIKI.

As for bubbles, I think its better to just let the roller sit in the paint for a while (say ten minutes) rather than working it too much. Chickenkoop and I discovered this fairly recently.

I still think its remarkable that Rustoleum themselves have our 80/90 video on the Combicolor page. I do keep adding to my original WIKI article but I think the video would be a boon to some people with little or no experience of body prep and painting. Its much more 'hands on'. Will also include more than one approach to finishing, including flatting, polishing and yes even spraying!

[Cruz]

Looking forward to that video Covkid. For some reason I get no hard lines on any panels except the upper rear drivers side panel (I have no window in it). I think it may be because that is the only large panel area that is chest height and above. Maybe on my 3rd coat in september time (too hot, dusty and too many flies until then imo) I will get it right. I definitely felt I lost some of my technique leaving 12 months between coats.

[Russonly]

Just a thought about soaking the roller!

I haven't tried it but maybe wetting the roller with solvent before soaking will help it absord the paint?

Obviously too much solvent could introduce more problems, but it may be worth a play!

[CovKid]

Yes absolutely. It does work. You need to wring it out a little then work it into the paint.

Oh and as I've said in WIKI, mix should be like evaporated milk in consistency. Too thick and it dries too quickly. You need enough thinners to allow paint to level out on the panels. Longer it stays wet the better really but not so thin its watery and runs. Main panels can be painted with much more on the roller. Almost dry for round windows so it doesn't bleed under masking tape.

Two or three new pics added to WIKI