mixing paint

[x3jj3x]

can anyone tell me how to mix paint, i heard you have to mix it with like thinner to get it to be the right consistency, correct me if im wrong.
or
do i just buy the paint and then put it on my spray gun and start painting, just a newbie trying to experiment, and learning from his mistakes.
any other ideas and comments would be great thank you.

 

[hystericfox]

You're going to need to get reducer. Mix it at 1:1.5. Go to your local auto paint supply store and get mixing cups, strainers and sticks and talk to the guys who work there. They usually know what they're doing. I don't know if you're just spraying part of the car or just a panel, but you're going to need to scuff the car first or the paint won't stick. Sand it down with 400 grit wet if you don't have access to a DA sander. If you do have access to a DA, you're going to have to wetsand it anyway. If you're painting the car black, I recommend using 600 grit for final sanding, because black shows everything, even 400 scratches. On my hatch I just found 600 scratches the other day, and that was almost perfectly smooth before the clear went on. You're going to also need to get clear coat and hardener if you want that paint to last, because it needs to be sealed. Mix the clear at 2:1. Be careful when spraying, or you're going to wind up running it.

 

[talonTSIDriver]

This all depends on what brand of paint being used. I usually use the Martin Senior Paints, Crossfire system at NAPA. Just go whereever you are getting the paint from and get a mixing chart. That will tell you what to mix. You DO NOT mix paint with thinner. The stuff i use i have to mix the primer with some primer hardener (8primer to 1 hardener), base coat i mix with reducer (2 part base paint to 1 part reducer) and clear i mix with 8 part clear, 4 part reducer, 1 part hardener. As far as sanding, that all depends on the quality of the gun and how experienced you are at painting. I usually sand the primer down to around 600 grit. I don't like to use a DA Sander, sometimes it will sand to quickly. I myself do not sand the base coat ever, and i sand the clear coat if needed with 2000 grit wetsanding. Also before painting i would read up more until you have a good understanding of what your doing. Its not the easiest thing in the world and its certainly not cheap.

 

[tsidrift1]

You cant tell what the paint ratio will be until you get the paint. It will be on the can, or you can have the paint store print off tech sheets of everything you are using. I would recamend those. They will tell you mixing ratios, and tell you drying times, sanding times and everything you need to know.