Painting help

[Redbeard]

I'm part way through painting the tank and side panels on my z1000 with the parts prepped, primed and the base coat down. So far so good. I have painted before but am always unsure about whether to sand between the base colour coat and clear or not? Lot's of conflicting advice on the web. Also whether to sand between coats of clear. Anyone shed some light on what they think works best? It's a Ford metallic grey and I will be adding some black stripes later. Proper DIY job with Halfrauds paint but I'm all for having a go before I give in and take it to a pro. Any advice is much appreciated, thanks.

[malmojoe]

depends on the finish, some fine wet and dry with water - maybe 1200 grit. if it's dry you should rub it over anyway before doing the next step.
When you are doing lines, most people spray a coat of clear over the base. This allows you to flat that off with wet and dry without rubbing off your base coat, so that you get a nice flat base to lay your tape on. When you take off your tape, give the edges a very light rub to remove any build up along the tape line, then enough clear to sand back without reaching the lines underneath.
take your time.

[Redbeard]

Nice one malmojoe, thanks. That's the plan tomorrow, 1200 grit wet & dry the base coat, a coat of clear, sand, put the lines down and paint them, sand again and then clear. I've done black before which is difficult to get right, grey should be a bit more forgiving. I'm happy so far with the results.

[malmojoe]

tape up your lines and check if you're happy. You can fiddle about until it looks right. Now is the time to move them, too late when it's sprayed and you will kick yourself for being impatient.

oh ,yeah, if you haven't already got some, you should get some panel wipe to make sure there is no grease anywhere before you do a coat. If you haven't got it, leave it until you have.

[Redbeard]

Cheers, I have some wipes already, I used them before primer and base coat. I have spent some time working out the lines and practised on the tank before I painted it. I have the 3M(?) tape which curves easily.

[malmojoe]

it's going to be lovury

[Redbeard]

Hope so, should end up a bit classier than the multitude of matt black shades it has currently. Leaving the fairing black, just doing tank and side panels. Got some J decals for the panels. Probably do clear over them. I will add some pics to my project thread. Cheers malmojoe!

[jimmock]

I would, but with 2000 grade.

Get your lines on before you finish with the clear coat.