[JUDGE3]

I would call my painting skill "moderate".

Is a single stage a safer bet for a nice paint job at that skill level? or BC/CC?

I don't want any orange peel at all. my last effort was BC/CC and I did great with the color coat but struggled greatly with the clear. had to wet sand it a ton to get rid of the orange peel. it was nice but not nice enough for me.

I suspect I needed a better spray gun? if it matters, the car will be white. lucky there I guess knowing white shows mistakes a lot less.

[dataway]

Same question here for the gun .... thinking about a mid range Iwata.

[TAKerry]

I dont paint a lot. I bought a mid level Awaita and love it. I think it was $300-$400 range. Not cheap but not pro prices either. I use Home depot guns for putting on primer and they work great, but when you use the awaita for painting its like going from a 67 ford pickup to a Ferrari! I will check on the model later when I go into the shop. I like to buy the best tool for the job that I can afford. I figured I wanted a good spray gun and this one came highly recommended from my paint shop. For the amount I use, it has been great.

[Stan65]

Just a quick disclaimer.... I am not a body man or painter by trade, but I have painted my share of cars. Just finished painting my 71 last week. Also paint guns are like women, different guys like different sizes and speeds.

So here goes.

A nice entry level gun for me is a DeVilbiss Finishline. Comes with 3 tip sizes 1.3, 1.5, and 1.8. I have sprayed both single stage and BC/CC with this gun and it works fine.

I stepped up to an Anest Iawata LPH400. It is a better gun for metallics they say, The biggest difference I have seen so far is the size of the fan pattern.

I would say the correct temperature reducers, catalyst for the paint, air pressures, ambient temperatures, gun pattern setup, and technique are just as much or more important than the gun . The painter adapts to the gun.

A wide pattern setup correctly is your friend.

My biggest learning was, I was trying to put too much material on and not letting the material flow to achieve the finish.

Another thing I learned was not waiting long enough to flash between coats. especially after the second coat of clear to the 3rd.

What paint did you use on the job with the peel?

couple picks of my car I just painted and one of the door cut and buffed.

[nytrainer]

Originally Posted by dataway

Same question here for the gun .... thinking about a mid range Iwata.

Lots of good information from “The Gunman” on YouTube. Here’s an example https://youtu.be/BCgu-ovPwNU. I bought a sweet Italian made detail gun based on his recommendation. ANI 150 IIRC

[dhutton]

Iwata LPH400 is a great gun for a novice/intermediate painter imho.

Don

[dataway]

Originally Posted by nytrainer

Lots of good information from “The Gunman” on YouTube. Here’s an example https://youtu.be/BCgu-ovPwNU. I bought a sweet Italian made detail gun based on his recommendation. ANI 150 IIRC

Yep ... I bought that same gun based on that same video Very happy with it so far.

I'm looking at the Iwata LPH400-144LV or the Iwata LPH-400-134LVX any idea which would be best if I wanted to force them to do double duty as base and clear gun?

[Stan65]

I have the W400LV-134G Gun and am more than happy with it

[dataway]

Are these Iwata guns HVLP guns, or a hi-bred of some kind? To be honest in the past I've had much better luck with conventional guns ... just never seem able to get an HVLP gun setup right. The atomization on the old guns always seemed better to me.

[mrennie]

My first gun was a Finishline 3 with multiple tips. Have sprayed epoxy and urethane primer through it as well as some SS matte black paint. Sprays nice but is slow...at least the way I set it up. Fan size is good.

After a while I bought a Harbor Freight purple gun 1.4 to spray epoxy so I could keep the Finishline 3 setup for paint, and while people rave about it how it sprays for $9, well it is what it is. OK for primer but I wouldn't paint a car with it. Fan size small.

Last fall I bought a Vaper green gun 2.3 for spraying urethane primer, was about $40 but really liked it as a dedicated primer gun as it sprayed nice...so ended up buying the Vaper purple 1.4 gun for spraying epoxy and it sprays much nicer than the HF purple gun. Fan size on these is larger than the HF purple but smaller than the Finishline 3.

I now only use the Finishline 3 for spraying SS paint, or spraying sealer.

Several years ago I bought a Devilbiss GFG-670+ gun for when I finally paint my car, this is a compliant (hybrid) gun. It is still in the box but was supposed to be a real nice gun for SS or clear when I bought it.

[Tim Corcoran]

Has anyone sprayed metallic base with the DeVilbiss FLG5

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by Tim Corcoran

Has anyone sprayed metallic base with the DeVilbiss FLG5

I have , But, metallic comes in many sizes and often silver pearls are substituted in modern formulas.
I like my DeVilbiss GTI pro lite these days for almost all bases. You want a tall pattern for real metallic with 70% overlap.
Keeping distance even and speed and temp at 70 all critical to avoid the zebra ( if silver) .

[MUSLCAH]

All mirror finishes are done by wet sanding…..The Spray gun is only as good …as the guy pulling the trigger.