Spraying car

If you don't know this then you shouldn't be starting...

For spraying out of an aerosol, in general:

if it is metallic or pearl it needs lacquer, solid colours don't.

However you get a much deeper and richer shine if you do.

So are you saying lacquer on solid colours is optional ???

Its actually a metallic silver Kia and a Racing Blue Hyundai Coupe I'm spraying...

Done a bit of the Coupe and it does look very dull and Matt without lacquer.

As for the Kia, I did spray some rubber bumper protector things first silver (it looks OK), and then lacquer on top and it went a bit weird coloured (like green/gold). I've spayed a bit of the bumper (base coat only) and it doesnt look right. I'm a bit scared of using lacquer now in case I get the same effect !!! (although it could just be because of the material sprayed).

How long to leave the base coat to dry before applying lacquer? Should I t-cut/sand before applying lacquer?

BMW for one have used lacquer over solid colours for many years. And it must alter the colour of the base coat if even just slightly under some types of light - as no material is totally transparent.

That didn't stop E34s and E36s in red from fading really badly, though.

If its dull and a metallic basecoat, then it will need lacquering.

Stephen.

Seconded!

Stephen.

On certain models it was standard practice to lacquer, but this was only applied to a matt colour base and never over a gloss finish.

Stephen.

Correct! and if this is done over a quality pigment then no fading will occur, BMW unfortunately did at one time use a poor quality red pigment and was thwarted with fading problems also called colour loss.

Stephen.

The metallic silver will definitely need lacquer, the Racing blue is just a standard blue and according to my paint records doesn't require lacquering so this should dry to a natural shin.

If its dull then give it a polish to see if it shines up.

You are supposed to lacquer the basecoat when its dry, by dry you should be able to rub your hand over it (usually within the hour depending on temperature) and the weird bit you experience3 is probably the metallic mottle being shown because the basecoat was still wet and the lacquer has softened it instead of laying on the top.

The lacquer should be applied on the same day (unless stated otherwise) if left too long (like over night) it won't adhere to the basecoat properly and will flake off at a later date.

Stephen.

OTOH any sane person would phone up the paint supplier and find out if it's base and clear or not, rather than asking us. If it's custom mixed, the big clue will be B/C or similar written on the label.

Custom mixed...

:-)

Ok. Done the Kia now. Looks OK but its very visible where the new paint is....

Will this fade/blend in as it dries or will I need to t-cut to blend it in?

Probably not, you can only polish out the fade line in the lacquer, if there is an obvious colour discrepancy you'll still be able to see it but it will become less noticeable after a good polishing.

Can you provide any pictures?

Stephen.