Okay so the last owner of my Z thought it would be a good idea to rattle can the rear strutbar cover with gloss black paint. He did a shitty job and there were bubbles everywhere.

I finallly decided to sand it all off, and repaint it. I sanded with 200 grit, 400 grit, then wet sanded down to 600 grit. I want to paint it flat black. I sprayed 1 coat of this hobby/model/craft laquer by "Model Master."

This is the result so far:

Sorry for the crappy pic quality, I had to use my camera phone up close. But you can see the areas where the paint is lighter.

There are some spiderweb like lines showing up everywhere.

Should I:
A) spray on another 2 light coats of this flat black.
B) spray on a coat of primer, wet sand to 600 and then apply another 2 light coats of this flat black

I'm really not experienced at painting so any help will be appreciated.

 

PS where can I buy just the Z emblem that goes on the cover. I was going to repaint it in silver, but might just buy a new one if possible.

 

I have no idea what you are doing wrong, but here's what i did and it came out perfect...

Wash it really good in the sink with Dawn dish soap to get rid of any armor-all or what not. Dry thouroughly.

Snip away the plastic weld on the underside of the "Z" emblem to remove it. Be carefull not to bent the Z emblem. It has like a metal coating that will leave wrinkles in it if you bend it.

Lightly sand down the cover (Without the Z on it), remove ALL the dust from sanding with a microfiber towel. DO NOT wash off the dust. The moisture will stay in the scratches where you sanded!!

Apply a few coats of high temp engine primer (remember this is gonna be sitting in the sun). I used a hair dryer to dry the coats in between 'cause i don't like to wait. lol

For a top coat i used paint matched spray paint. But if you don't use that, try to use a high temp paint if you can find it in the color you like. That way it wont fade or peel over time.

Apply color coat like the primer. Then follow up with a bazillion coats of high temp clear coat.

Let is sit for at least a day before you re-install it. Otherwise the paint will still be really soft from all the coats, and it will mark up easily when you snap the trim pieces around it.

I'll see if i can dig up a pic of mine.

BTW paint the Z emblem the same way. I chose to paint mine flat black to contrast. You probably aren't gonna find just a Z emblem, so reuse yours if possible.

Good luck!

 

he probably painted it with an enamel and the vapors are still in the plastic and you painted it with a lacquer. i would go get an enamel from the auto parts store if all you are looking for is flat black.

 

Okay, I'm going to go get an enamel paint today. Since I already have one coat of laquer on should I wet sand it at all or just spray some primer over it. Then should I wet sand the primer before spraying on the enamel paint? And how long should I wait to let things dry before wet sanding them?

 

If you do it the way i did, you should be fine. Just leave out the washing part.

Also. I've found clear laquer, gives a better gloss, then clear enamel, when/if you put a clear coat on it.

Here's how mine turned out, it's kinda a bad angle.

 

with plastics i would let it dry completly for a couple of hours to be safe. when painting plastics the vapors dont always absorb as fast like they do on metal surfaces so just take your time. youll be much happier with the results

 

Nice work.

Okay so I did a quicker sanding job this time, and went 200-400grit. Then just primed it for painting with some shellac-base primer called BIN by Zinsser. Here are the results from priming:

There are a couple bits of dust that landed on it while it was drying, but I'm sure that will come out when I sand the primer with some 600 grit paper. After I lightly sand the primer I plan on spraying 2-3 layers or flat black paint.

Do you guys think I should change from this lacquer paint I'm using to an enamel paint? Since enamel is thicker? Or will I be fine with this flat black lacquer paint (meant for car models)?

 

i would suggest to continue to use enamel if thats what you started with

 

I used the auto match paint that you can get at any autozone. Sanded w/ 400, washed, primed, sanded, painted. Came out pretty well I think, didn't care for the gloss so I left it at the last coat.