Painting with Spray Gun - Help Needed Please - Fiberglass RV
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Old 08-30-2013, 06:12 PM   #1
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Name: Slavomir
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Painting with Spray Gun - Help Needed Please

We are approaching the day of painting the outside of our 1978 Boler and I have a few questions about painting with a spray gun. Originally I thought of doing the roll and tip method, but thinking further about doing 2-3 coats of primer and 2-3 coats of paint, this sounds like a tremendous amount of work I would prefer to spare myself from.

So, considering there is a budget involved, I'm wondering how feasible spray painting is with the supplies available from Harbor Freight.

Discussing some of the options with my friend GMikeA, we thought that a low pressure spray gun, like this one, pictured below, could do the job:



Due to the lower pressure requirement, I understand that this would allow me to use a smaller compressor, such as this one:



I would greatly appreciate thoughts on all this, especially from those of you who have spray painted with your own equipment. THANKS!!!

Slav
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Old 08-30-2013, 08:48 PM   #2
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Painting Boler

The low pressure high volume will do the trick but will have a more orange peel look to it. To eliminate some of the work forget multiple coats of primer and give it just 1 coat, 2 coats of a quality top coat should be fine. we used the low pressure on remodeling kitchens and baths for painting the counter tops. The LPHV does prevent a whole lot of over spray.
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Old 08-30-2013, 09:23 PM   #3
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I've done both ways and considering expense, clean-up time, masking and concerns about overspray, I'd almost guess that a roll and tip job would be a lot cheaper & maybe even faster. With two peeps working, one rolling and one tipping, it's less than 2 hours per coat.

I did my Hunter Compact-II last year and my compressor and spray gun never saw the light of day.



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Old 08-31-2013, 01:30 AM   #4
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Hey Slav,I have spray painted my Boler at home as well as several cars and just finished helping a buddy paint his car.
If you spray your trailer be ready for a ton of work in preparation, also the fact your garage wont be the same after spraying your trailer in it. In fact if your garage is attached to the house I would be against it.
Plus along with the spray equipment you need a fair amount of supplies beside the paint such as reducer,depending on paint a hardner, gun wash, tape, paper,as well as safety (minimum a charcoal mask) equipment. Results can far exceed roll and tip but can also be a disaster without a little experience and great care.
In your case I suggust you pick up a small can of the roll and tip paint and try it on something to decide if it is aviable option for you.
Also check around, you may find a fellow like me that would paint your trailer for 3-4 hundred dollars plus materials,,really your best deal,,,IMO
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Old 08-31-2013, 01:34 AM   #5
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Thanks for the input so far. Logically it seemed that spray painting would atomize the paint and would therefore require less product". We have been going back and forth on the best and cheapest technique and this is why Slav and I said "lets reach out to the other members". I dont think I have ever heard of a car or vehicle being painted by hand and not sure about others. Even Gelcoat is sprayed. Another issue concerns the actual quality of the sprayer AND the air supply capacity of the above or similar tank. We noted that several Eggs have been spray painted. Hopefully at the end of the day we will have 10 pages of comments and suggestions to sort through.
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Old 08-31-2013, 06:26 AM   #6
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I would be concerned the compressor you picture is not large enough. HVLP as said is Low Pressure but High Volume. A smaller compressor will never keep up with the volume of air required. I have sprayed quite a bit, I use a Sharpe HVLP with a 11.5 CFM @ 120 psi compressor with a 60 gallon tank. When spraying the compressor will run continuously but keep up for continuous spraying.

The compressor you show produces 5.5 cfm @ 40 psi, the gun consumes 6 cfm @ 40 psi (both ideal conditions) even if these specification are accurate the compressor will be running full and the 8 gallon tank (which convers to around 1 cu/ft) on the compressor will only provide 2 minutes of spaying before you need to stop and let the compressor build up pressure again. Also small compressors are very prone to high levels of water in the lines because the tank is not large enough to help separate it so a very good desiccant water drying system would be needed to prevent spoiling the paint job from contaminated air supply.
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Old 08-31-2013, 06:37 AM   #7
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My Vette is FG , haven't seen any brush painted.
I spray painted my Bigfoot myself, turned out great.
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Old 08-31-2013, 06:48 AM   #8
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Good day... Some good info so far.

Back in the day "80's, LOL", I made a hobby of spray painting cars. This glass 34 Ford below was one of them.

The results if done without mistakes would be better than a roll job. Many of the posts above do talk about the pit falls and things to be concerned about. A first timer will usually get runs. Best to have someone with experience use the gun. If the compressor is too small you may have to take short breaks in the middle of the spray job to let the pressure build up in the compressor tank.

Doing your own spray paint job can be very gratifying.
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Old 08-31-2013, 06:57 AM   #9
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nice car....
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Old 08-31-2013, 07:21 AM   #10
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Mike Zabo what did you spray paint your Bigfoot with? And Ian THANKS for that information too. All good data. Slav and I are trying to identify what specifics were used if spraying. Per Ian I can see the condensation issue. I knew about water but not to that extent.
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Old 08-31-2013, 07:23 AM   #11
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Roll & Tip painting is such a norm in the fiberglass boating business that there are paints specifically designed for the technique such as Interlux Briteside.

There is no question that a skilled craftsman doing a spray paint job would get better results than a newbee doing roll & tip painting. But, based on the level of the questions being asked I don't think that is the case here.

The skill level required for a good roll & tip paint job is much lower than that required for spray painting and the opportunity to make a real mess is much greater when spraying.

I suggest looking up Roll & Tip painting on Google and view any number of youtube videos available.

BTW: Unless one values their labor at $.50 an hour, the material costs in painting are not the biggie, it all about labor. Prep is usually 90% of the job, actual painting is only about 10%.



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Old 08-31-2013, 07:32 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Miller View Post
Prep is usually 90% of the job, actual painting is only about 10%.
Sooooo true Bob.

I once looked at as Airstream Argosy that was painted with a roller. He did a poor job and we walked away from the thought of buying it.

Another thought is resale value. The extra quality and cost of spraying may come back to the owner when it's time to sell.

Things to consider. I just tend to ponder the side of quality.
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Old 08-31-2013, 08:01 AM   #13
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I agree, quality is what it's all about, and shooting a quality spray job requires a lot more skill and experience than laying down a quality roll & tip job.

The most common question I get about the roll & tip paint job on my Hunter Compact-II is "WOW... Who sprayed it for you?"

And a "Roller Job" on an Argosy is a lot different than a Roll & Tip job on an FGRV using materials designed for that technique.



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Old 08-31-2013, 01:19 PM   #14
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Wow, thanks EVERYONE for your contributing thoughts! This is a great set of ideas and I really appreciate it. I am almost convinced to go back to my original plan of roll & tip. I already have the paint for the bottom half which is a roll & tip paint and wouldn't want to waste it.

Based on the comments, a complete newbie like myself may make a complete disaster out of spray painting! We live in a condo with the garage being under our living space, and it may not be a good idea to spray in there, even with a temporary plastic booth set up.

I haven't been afraid of learning new things thus far, and with the amount of work invested already I definitely don't want the paint job to end up crappy.

Thanks again for the help! And all additional help will be very appreciated!

Slav
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