I picked up a hvlp paint gun from harbor freight today for 16 bucks I figured might as well use it to practice with it. I have an old mini van out back to practice with and I want to get the hang of how to spray the paint out through the gun. Could I use rustoleum and thin it out with mineral spirits? I'm going to be spraying my car with acrylic urethane when I get ready to paint it and don't want to make it look like crap being it's my first time doing it.

 

i wouldn't. i learned by filling up the cup with water and spraying paper to figure out spray patterns, gun handling and overlap. you could substitute lacquer thinner instead of water. after i got the hang of it i used primer thinned correctly on a hood, then sent to paint, then to clear. basically the same way you would paint a car. reason i used a hood was it could be laid flat so there is less of a chance of runs or sags. but i had a $400 sata hvlp gun, and that was back in 2002.

 

you probably can. Here is a good article on what may be your gun and painting.

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sum...Pspraygun.html

 

as long as the material is reduced correctly...you can spray anything you want through it