Days and Days and Days of Painting!

So as you know I have to get my little trailer painted in time for Hardly Strictly Blue Grass the first weekend of October.  I decided to roll on paint using the $50 dollar paint job method that is very popular for both cars and trailers.  If I had it to do over again I would probably try to spray cause it took so long!

Soni Bergman
 lends a hand

Getting Started--Primer Day 1
After maybe 15 hours of prep work done over the course of a week, my fellow vintage trailer friend Soni came over the lend a hand for the day. We finished up the prep and taping by noon. Followed with self etching primer--2 coats with wet sanding between and after. Then laid down the first top coat with a roller...Ace Rust Stop (basically rustoleum) paint (tinted to Benjamin Moore Mexicali Turquoise) thinned 50% mineral spirits, but no hardener. I'm thinking maybe too thin, and need to go ahead and pop for hardener (Japan Drier is all they have at HD and my local paint store) which I'll never use all of, just so that it dries in a reasonable period of time for more coats. It's been 3 hours and it's still wet. 

with the first coat of color on the bottom , back is still just primer at this point--blech...hope it gets better looking with more coats

note to others who may be using this as a tutorial....START ON THE TOP! It makes things easier, even if it's not as satisfying.

Day 6 progress

I am managing to get 1-2 coats on per day, with wet sanding in between. I think I am up to 6 coats at this point. 

On Monday I decided I had to do a bit more prep and sanded down some edges where I had stripped for the z stripe. I am much happier but it cost me a day.  

I have settled on the following mixture which seems to work pretty well.

1 part paint

1 part mineral spirits

Hardener according to directions

Paint should take 3 full seconds to start making individual drips when a paint stick is pulled out of it.

In California the ONLY hardener that you can purchase is Japan Drier. It's maximum is 4 oz per gallon....so with a quart that's like 3 teaspoons per quart so I am doing about a half teaspoon for a day's paint.

Don't know if you can tell from these pics, but it is building up quite a shine. I may be done with the bottom color at this point (maybe one more coat on the sides). On to the top tomorrow.

DAY 10
Happy Day....all that's left is putting the drip caps back on and painting the stripe on the propane tanks and hitch!


Here's how it ended up
Paint-- ACE Rust Stop Quarts ( used just over a quart of each)
7 coats of BM Mexicali Turquoise
5 coats of Ace Sand Trap

Thinned 50/50 with Mineral spirits and a spritz of japan drier (the only hardener you can buy in Ca)
Rolled on with micro fiber roller, wet sanded with 400 grit between coats.
Primed with self etching and bare metal primer.


Total cost of paint and supplies
2 quarts of each finish color $10 each= $40
6 cans of primer $5 each=  $30
1 gallon mineral spirits- $10
Tape, wet dry sandpaper, plastic, brushes, rollers etc= $40

Total $120!

TIPS
THIN PAINT, think low fat milk
Almost dry roller...all bubbles should pop after a minute or two
Wet sand between coats
Patience


I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It was a lot of work. Probably about 100 in supplies. 8-9 hours prep, and probably about 10 hours of painting. If I did it again which won't be any time soon I can assure you....I might borrow a compressor and HVLP spray gun.

Z stripe is just bare metal after
the tape is off, need to polish
and clear coat

Plan to clear coat after the paint cures. Here are the pics





Read more:http://vintageshasta.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=paint&action=display&thread=6796#ixzz29yguaP00

Finished with 48 hours to spare! Here is a picture of her all painted and headed off the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass!