Adjusting spray gun

Back to trying to get the Legacy painted, after a year of on & off sanding I finally started painting it for the 2nd time yesterday. Brodak dope, Badger 400 touch up gun, using about 25 PSI painting in a warm shop.

I am having a hard time getting a wet enough spray for a smooth finish. Right now the whole airplane feels like sandpaper. I have even tried 75/25 thinner/dope which makes it a little better but it still sprays on too dry.

I am not sure if I have too much air pressure or if I just don't have the gun adjusted right.

Anyone have any ideas on what I should try? Also, will a heavy on the thinner mix help the already sandpaper finish of the first coat or do I need to sand it before trying again.

Thanks,
Bob

Hi I also use a badger 400, and it sounds to me that you are holding too far from the surface. Try getting closer, then the mixture doesnt have time to dry so much before it lands. I always am amazed just how close you must hold. To overcoat will probably not smooth out the rough surface unless you apply a million coats. My solution woukd be to not wet sand, but use some 400 steel wool, (not Bull Dog brand ) its too course. get some from Lee Valley or a furniture finishing supply house. You wont have to wait so many days for the cure first, and it goes very fast, doesnt clog up like wet paper. and lasts a long long time. The furniture finishing kinds have no oil in it, so you dont introduce aniother problem of cleaning it. Good luck . Also go carefully around the edges of your cap strips, thats the favorite place for it toi sand through. One should really round off all the edges of cap strips etc before covering, it helps th prevent sanding through. Keith V

Keith Varley

Bob,
Air pres and such does not sound out of the norm. I'm wondering if your getting enough material coming out of the gun. Can you open up the mixture so you getting more material? If you gun is using a smaller nozzle size you may find that a) moving slower during the passes or b) getting closer to the surface or narrowing down the pattern, helps. With base coats of color/clear mist coats in place a wet coat or two should help reduce the dry rough finish. Retarder will also help reduce the flash/drying rate and allow the material to flow out. I've been using Brodak dope btw. And it dries very quick. Retarder helps. I'm also shooting with a full size automotive HVLP gun. This allows me to open up the material knob and put down a wet coat. With my MAC Tools top loader touch up gun with .7mm nozzle I must open it up wide on the material knob and make very slow passes to get a wet coat. This gun produces a major cloud of over spray so it is rarely used any more. If you try the "more material flow route" try some test passes on another surface, the higher flow rate takes some getting use to. HTH

I have this problem from time to time and I usually end up taking my gun apart and cleaning it and readjusting it. The other way I've fixed it is to add more reducer, but It sounds like you've taken that about as far as you can go with the thinner. I hate painting.

Ya Mitch, if I had been smart and used Monokote with Rust-Oleum this thing would have been finished a year ago.

Thanks for the tips guys, the steel wool works wonderful. Not knowing what I was doing I ordered the medium nozzle with the Badger and am thinking I should have ordered the largest one. I will slow down on the next coat and see if that doesn't help, I have also ordered a larger nozzle.

LAST EDITED ON Nov-30-03 AT 08:19 AM (CST)
 
Bob,

The earlier post pretty much covered your problem - you need to stay close to the surface and make sure the surface is smooth. I use the Badger 400, with a medium tip and shoot at 20 psi. For DC area (Northern Virginia) humidity, I mix Brodak dope at 2 parts paint, 1 part thinner, and 2 parts Reducer. I run the gun so close to the surface I have to be careful not to bump it against a section I've already painted. With 20 psi, I figure I'm about 2 - 3 inches away. Keep the gun moving and you will be happy with the "wet" look you get.

The Legacy is a huge model compared to all the other stunters I've built. I may opt for the larger tip if I continue to build the big planes. let us know how that experiment works out.

Ron King