im laying down some paint as soon as the weather is right for my reducer, 70-80

i have a few guestions if anyone has any time to answer,

1/ when do i add the flex additive, during the sealer process, or base coat
2/ how does everyone have there gun/air hose set up, i have a air filter, do i need a dyer to ?and then do i need another dispoal air filter right before the gun ? im using a hvlp gun
3/what psi should i run the gun at around 6-8psi ?
4/so i have to strain the paint before it goes in the gun ?

thats all the guestions i can think of right now, i plan on going back with black, orginaly car color, so the engien bay and door jambs im going to use enamal spary cans, as far as the car i plan on laying the sealer , then base , then one coat of clear, becuase im allso going to try flames, then put the second coat of clear on over the flames, this will be my frist time for everything, i can draw decent, but have nerver used a airbrush so it will be a learning curve. any advice , guestions, comments, on this whole process, yes i have done shearches and read allmost every article i could , just thought i ask , here is a picture of a dragon i drew awhile back, if i can just get the airbrush like a pen, i think i will be ok , ? i plan on going with just regualar yellow, orange, red flames,

here is a picture, of a dragon i drew,

1) Depends on the paint, but usually fex agent is added to the clear and sometimes the primer, but not base. Every paint system is a little different, though...get the appropriate info sheets or technical guide from your paint supplier

2) A drier of some sort would be a good idea, or at least a water trap in the line. Change the disposable filters going to the gun fairly often, they will break down and wind up in your paint.

3) I usually have about 60 psi at the gun, which drops to 40 when spraying. Thats with an Iwata HVLP gun.

4) YES! Strain the paint, preferably with a nylon or steel mesh strainer.

Iwata makes some nice airbrushes (as well as paint guns). If you want to learn airbrushing on cars, get Craig Fraser's book, I think the title is "Automotive Cheap tricks and Special Effects. Barnes and Noble carries it, or can order it for you.

Nice dragon btw!

great ,thanks for the info , i have a devilbliss hvlp gun, about 170 dollar gun, my airbrush isnt to good but i think it will do the job, both of them i orded through eastwood,

i think i will use the flex agent with the sealer,

1 If you are painting the bumbers on the car you will not need the flex additive for the paint. That is used mostly when the bumpers will be moved around and installed.

2 drain your tank's water tap before you start. You will also need a water catch.

3 For a HVLP gun you need 10lb at the cap so you will need 30 to 35lb of pressure on the inlet of the gun. I would think with the average compressor that would be about 40lb at the tank. IF you a non HVLP gun you will want the 50 lb at the cap gun.

If you use a good epoxy primer you will not need a sealer. I just finished painting my IROC I got a huge wealth of info from www.autobodystore.com message board those guys are pros and really taught me so much. You can visit my page under the IROC link and see what I have done and let me know if I can be of anymore help.

Brian Felts

thanks for the info, you guys are great, yeah i allready checked out that site, some,

my air compressor is about a 60 gallon .

as far as the sealer i allready bought some, was only 27 bucks, so no biggie, the car is half primed then sanded again,

so i will add the flex additive with the clear , got it, looks like i will have more time to do reshearch, since the wearther has went bad on me, so probally wont be till next weekend,

this is a profession i allways wanted to get into, and its hard to get exp in auto painting since most body shops want exp people, so looks like im learning on my own