I did a search, but didn't find anything useful. Most of the threads that came up weren't even about painting... Anyway, how can I get a smooth finish with spray paint? I just got my car back from paint and I tried to paint my wing matte black to contrast the car, but no matter what I do, the finish just looks poor. The pedestals came out ridiculously smooth but the wing has a very large flat plane that just won't look smooth for the life of me. It was primed and wet sanded and I've applied quite a few coats of black and wet sanded them all to no avail. Now I just threw a coat on to cover the dull scratchy surface left from wet sanding, but it looks bad up close. Can anyone give me a good step by step on how to get spray paint to look good on a large surface, including exactly what kind of products I should get?

Aren't you supposed to buff the paint after wet sanding it?

Is that it? I always thought you buff only the clear coat after wet sanding it? I thought there was a different way to get a smooth layer of color to apply clear too.

Any professionals around here?

Why would you buff a flat black? Buffing is for getting a shine, which isn't gonna happen in flat black.

I think the quality of the prep....Quality of the product used...And HOW it is applied, are the main issues. Mostly application.

I had to spray a patch panel (which is never even be seen) flat black spray & was amazed at the look. Holding it in my hand, I woulda thought it was powder coated, had I not known. Krylon Indoor/Outdoor.

I'm gonna be playing with larger, spare panels I have & let you know how those turn out.

You dont wetsand basecoat. It will ruin the finish. You can only wetsand the clearcoat and since you are using flat black you cant wetsand it at all or its gonna look like crap.

me an my buddy did his ENTIRE buick regal with cans of krylon flat black, and it looked friggin great just make slow even strokes JUST like if you are painting for real

Got any pics of it?

lol, the reason why we did that was because it was an 88 regal, not the grand national body style, the old people body style. and the motor we suspected to have blown hedgaskets. at least one, but it still ran good, just ate coolant like HELL and it did NOT end up on the ground lol. but the paint looked like total HELL so we sanded and rattle canned her black with krylon, i SWEAR by krylon, their paint cans have a nozle with an adjustable spray pattern and the paint sticks REALLY well. but yea back to story, we did that basically so we could sell the thing for 500 bucks lol, cuz the old paint was just HORRid, car looked like cancer on wheels. and we did not want to take pics of it, dont even want to remember that car.. i was done with that thing when the friggin passenger door fell off. yes LITTERALLY fell off, i opened it and thank god i was wearing steel toe boots. (there was a recal on the door hinges, they would seize up and they were real thin so you would one day upend the door and shear em.)
bottom line? no pics. and if there wer some? i would print them, shearly to have the pleasure of burning them....

Ironically enough I went and bought a can of Krylon flat black before coming home to check the replies here. Time to yank off the wing, sand down the Duplicolor garbage and see how the Krylon turns out.

Krylon is owned by duplicolor...but the Krylon has a adhesion promotor in it (the Fusion stuff). you need to put down 6 or 7 very light coats....make sure you rattle that can for 2 minutes literally...dont arc your arm...think robot and keep the can as far away as they say youre supposed to. if you follow their direction explicitly...it'll work. you'll have some orange peel probably, but thats normal for ANY paintjob. I had a friend that worked for duplicolor ages ago, and he could turn out some amazing stuff with rattlecans...read and follow the directions exactly will help a lot. Make sure you wipe that spoiler down with a rag and some alcohol, and then a thing called a tack cloth...its a rag with contact cement like stuff on it. you wipe the surface VERY lightly with that after the alcohol wipedown...this will seriously help your finish

But in short, there is no way to get an amazing, smooth result from a can on a matte paint?

Use a flat clear coat as well. Home Depot and other like stores sell it. I think it is also made by Krylon. Maybe Rustoleum. Either way the flat clear will help even it all out.

Practice helps a lot. I usually practice on a chunk of cardboard the first time I pick up a rattlecan and see how heavy and fast the paint comes out, so I can get my timing down.

spray 1 light pass, move down 1/3rd and spray another light pass, repeat as necessary, wait 10-15mins and repeat, 10-15 mins repeat. Keep the can 8" - 12" away from your work. Several light coats instead of 2 medium ones.

My dad can just grab one off the shelf and make it look like a guy did it in a paint booth with a gun...but hes been doing paint for 45yrs

I think Stephen hit the nail on the head, along with the fact that matte is one of the hardest paints to spray, and here is why: Matte paint must... MUST be applied evenly, because when you don't it isn't smooth, and you will have areas that are glossier and areas that are duller. What I just said applies to people who use paint booths and $400 spray guns, you're trying to get away with a cheaper kryolon paint, nothing wrong with it, I use krylon myself, but just know that the fan spray of a paint gun not only is much more consistent than that of a spray can, along with the fact that it is much wider, so it is alot easier to lay a good even pass down, and proffesionals still have trouble. With a spray can you have inconsistent small passes that are sure to lead to trouble for most people. You may say to yourself well, primer is easy to spray and it's matte, which is tru, but matte not only has to be matte, but also has to have UV protection, and other things that protect the paint, so it's like combining clear with matte and trying to make it matte. You can do it, and don't let me discourage you, just thought I'd let you know about the odds you're going up against. And hopefully this will help you understand just how important even passes are for you to make. Like Nates said, his dad with 45 years of experience can do it easy, and so can you with time and patience. It's just going to take a while.

Good Luck, DacMan

Well thanks guys. Perhaps I can mess with it some more tomorrow and get some pictures of my car up as it sits. Still have some decals to apply, but once I get this wing done and my window frame, it'll be mostly done.