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Tried a new blending technique on a metallic silver today, totally botched it at first
I was working on a 2018 Honda Accord rear quarter panel, silver metallic flake. I thought I had my gun set right, 20 psi, 1.3 tip, but the blend line came out super dark and cloudy. Turns out I was spraying too dry, the flake wasn't laying flat. I backed off the air pressure to 18 psi and slowed my passes down, and the second blend melted right in. I learned you really gotta feather that last coat on metallics or it'll look like a patch job. Anyone else struggle with silver metallic blends or have a go-to technique that works?
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river_allen17d ago
And that whole "back off the pressure and slow down" thing is huge, especially with silver metallic. I've had the same exact problem where you're chasing that perfect blend and it just looks dusty and uneven because you're rushing it. What really helped me was switching to a 1.2 tip for metallics (just a little more control) and keeping the gun at a consistent 6-8 inches from the panel. The key is to really watch that last coat go on wet but not too heavy, so the flake has a chance to settle and orient itself the same way as the base. A lot of guys I know swear by doing one light dust coat first, then a heavier wet coat, then a final light tack coat to lock it all in. Honestly, silver just punishes you if you try to get it done in two passes, it needs that extra finesse or it's game over.
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price.gavin3d ago
A buddy of mine had the exact same nightmare with silver on a classic Mustang (tried to rush it in two passes and it came out looking like a bad case of measles). He swears by what you said, @river_allen, does the three coat dance every time now and his metallics lay down like glass.
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murphy.abby3d ago
my buddy tried that on his nova, still ended up orange peeled and sad.
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