My most ambitious project to date

Lawdy Lawdy !!!!!!!.............You GO Pete  

Primer-Sealer applied:

Only two of the four will have color coat and clear today.  Don't have the paint for the other two. 🙁

VERY INTERESTING !!!!  Can't wait to see the next stages.

@jack-dodds 

Your wish is my command Jack!  Water-base color applied to front clip of first car.  Heater to speed the drying time.

Painting doesn't really take that much time.  It's cleaning the gun that's time-consuming!

Car #2 is next...

Wonderful work area. Can’t wait to see the final result.

@pete-rovero Oh man....I hope this is the half that mates up with the coral you have denoted; I love that combo!

 @jack-dodds 

😉

wow if this was a video it would qualify for an Emmy! What a project, what a workspace!

@pete-rovero Ooooooh yeeeeeaaaah!

Coat #1

Coat #2 and #3.  Waiting for it to dry to apply clear to both cars.  Paint will have a satin finish when dry.

Meanwhile, time to clean the gun again!

@david-green 

I have a 3 car garage so I just move everything the cars and truck outside so as not to get overspray them. Here's my paint mix station.

Paint almost dry on car #2 so I'm going to mix up some clear now.  This is the part I like the least but gives the best results.  3-part clear, with reducer and a catalyst.  You MUST wear a respirator when spraying this stuff.  Light tac coat first to prevent runs and then two medium coats and done.

@pete-rovero How long does light tac coat dry before applying the 2 medium coats? And did you say 'water-based' as opposed to cellulose or acrylic?

@charles-rockett 

Hi Charles.  The primer-sealer is a catalyzed solvent-based paint and the color coat is water base.  I love spraying it and the gun cleans up easily with soap and water.  The clear coat is a solvent-based paint.  Here in Los Angeles, the Air Quality Management District would love it to be water-based, but a solvent-based topcoat is required to seal and protect the water-based color coat underneath.  In answer to your question, the light tac coat takes about 5 minutes to get tacky, you know, sticky but not wet.  Once it gets like that, a subsequent heavier coat of clear is less likely to run or sag.

@pete-rovero Thank-you Pete.  There's no way I am going to embark on any major projects, but occasionally need to carry out first aid on a broken model and some expert knowledge is good to have: to think about correct processes.