How bad I screw up

So I'm not sure what happened or where I went wrong. Had my duplicolor color match base down. Had it decently smooth good flake distribution for a rattle can decent amount of color/shine. Let it dry/flash so I could clear. Gave it a light scuff with 800 wiped it off with wax remover and used a tack cloth. Looked good. Now after clear it looks like I had a dry spot or missed the middle of the panel with base.

I'm guessing only option sand the the down start over or just spend the money and have a pro do it. Obviously I screwed up somewhere.

 

Have you done this before on your truck? Typically metal flake paints are the hardest to match.

 

Typically you can never blend into a hard body line such as a door edge or something like that. That said you will never get near a factory finish with a rattle can. A for effort though.

Also depending on how many coats of clear you used you might have actually sanded it all off with the 800. Most vehicles I have wet sanded started with at least 5 coats of clear so you could pretty much sand off the first 3 coats. Try wet sanding before you clear also. Remember when you are going to sand you add a coat for each step you are going to sand so it is thick enough to support the material you will remove in that process. Don't get carried away with putting it on to thick in one shot though. Good luck.

 

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I sanded the base with 800 before the clear coat. Only hit the clear with 1500 2000 2500. I know I won't get the "mirror" rattle canning it but the dull/dead spot has me puzzled.

 

Not sure bud. I would say if it looked okay before you sanded you burned that clear off and maybe some of the base before that. If you have access to it I think you would be much happier with the result if you invested $75 bucks in pint of paint to match the color code and a pint of clear from a auto paint supplier and got yourself a $50 gun.

 

Yup that's what I'm afraid of. Gonna scuff it down and respray base and try again. If I fail again it's done lol .

 

Good plan dude, at least you are taking it well and seem to have realistic expectations of what you are trying to accomplish. Good on ya for trying to make the best of what you are working with and having a good attitude. Best of luck!

 

I’ve used duplicolor multiple times. It nearly always comes out looking like that. The last time I did it I was able to get it very glossy and shiny. The key was using lots of clear, wet sanding with 2000 grit and then Polishing

 

I may let it cure a few days and try to bring it up with a sand and polishing. I'm thinking even it comes up I'm still gonna have that "dry" spot/look.

Ace I'm a first time rattle canner but spent some time around body shops with my pops in my younger years. Makes me know just enough to be dangerous

 

though was damaged lol

 

Huh?

 

That's the problem lol. There's 3-4 good coats. Only thing I can think is I didn't wait long enough (impatient) between coats for the clear to do it's magic. I did a good tack coat of clear let it sit about 10 minutes. Did my next coat slightly heavier but not crazy. Gave it about 10 to set up .next coat a bit heavier yet matter of fact got small run. Probably did 3 or 4 all told .

Did a wet sand from 1500 up to 2500 and what ya see is what I got. A shineless mess .

 

It’s rattle can. It’s not going to look factory.

 

op no need to sand base coat especially metallic. I had pretty good results using Dupont door jam clear over duplicolor base coat . They also sell a spray can blender if blending in so don't have dry spray when blending in .
Also after color sanding did you hand or machine buffed .My experience is need to machine buff.
Good luck

 

There's a big difference between painting any part in a horizontal position and the same part in a vertical position. In a horizontal position, you can lay the paint on fairly thick and it will level itself out and look great. Try that on a vertical surface and you'll sag / run the hell out of it.

Another difference is that the OP used a rattle can and you used a gun. There's a huge difference in how well you can lay the paint down and how well you can feather it out with the rattle can losing every time. Your tailgate does look great though!

 

Ok folks op chiming in. I thought this discussion died but its still here. I took on this project as a labor of love. If anyone of you saw my first/earliest posts you'd see I got this truck when my father passed. He was your typical guy of that generation. Nothing he couldn't fix with just a hammer and duct tape. When he got this truck it had a nasty rust scab which I know he never would have allowed to exist if he'd been in better health and I knew it bothered him from wherever we all go one day.

First wash I took it for the piece of paint that was barely holding on for life fell off. I took that as him saying hey dumbass I left ya this thing the least ya could do is fix it. So in old man style I did it the had way by hand. 80 grit by hand down to bare metal. Mix up the filler. Sand shape repeat glaze etc No air tools no das nothing but a dude some mixing sticks and a labor of love.

Got the body work to a state I'm ok with. Said ok let's paint it. Went through and said maybe I'll blend it maybe I'll have someone do the thing "right". Then said nope it's my project I'll do the rest the "hard way". Got more and more into it and had a whole panel scuffed and primed and well damn it looked decent primed. So the project grew and I got some cans of paint and some clear and a can gun and went to town.

Now I could say well it was humidity it was this it was that but ya know what at the end it doesn't matter. Am I happy with the finish hell no. But I can go back rework and scuff and shoot it using proper products and techniques someday and say hey pops how's it look now. He'll still say it looks dry and ya missed this or that and I'll know it's my tribute to him.

 

Looks 100 times better than what you started with . I screwed up so many times myself because Im to impatient.
Could sand and spray some duplicolor black primmer sealer until ready to redo . Or could leave as is . Main thing is you did it for your dad .