What's the best way to paint metal effectively? (Ghost S1)

Mbowen · February 7, 2020

I've been painting and sanding panels for a little while now, (going between 400 and 1000 grit), and it feels like I'm just "waxing on, waxing off" all of my work. Should I put on more coats between sanding? (Giving me a thicker layer to work with)

I would love some advice as this is my first real "mod".

Stu_Bear · February 7, 2020

what kind of paint you using ? can you post of a pic of what you are working on ? those are coarse grits...very good at removing paint...maybe you should be using a finer grit ?

Beerzerker · February 7, 2020

Let me ask a question by starting right at the beginning of the project.

What did you do for prepping the panels to be painted?

I'm asking because I've never heard of sanding something already with paint on it aside from wet sanding to smooth it.

If you didn't prep the panel's surface properly BEFORE starting it will look rough because that's the foundation of all else you brush, spray, roll or however else you get the paint on it.

You could use at first a primer for metal that's sandable - That you CAN spray on, sand it smooth and then paint without doing alot of the basic surface prep, plus it can help hide small imperfections in the metal itself.

EDIT:

BTW to get a really good finish you'd need sandpaper of an even finer grit if you can get it, you can go with what many use for lapping a CPU to get a really fine surface, enamel paint works best for painting metal. Check what many have used for lapping CPU's with and you'll see what you can get for smoothing out the surface once painted and the coat has time to "Set"/harden.

Edited February 7, 2020 by Beerzerker

W-L · February 8, 2020

13 hours ago, Mbowen said:

I've been painting and sanding panels for a little while now, (going between 400 and 1000 grit), and it feels like I'm just "waxing on, waxing off" all of my work. Should I put on more coats between sanding? (Giving me a thicker layer to work with)

I would love some advice as this is my first real "mod".

You don't have to sand every coat but in general you want to prep the panels by sanding or scuff them before applying a self etching primer if it's bare steel or aluminum. Sanding after the primer before applying top coat is not a bad idea to get smooth finishes but if you are looking for a flat or piano type finish you will need to cut back your top or ideally clear coat to get that flat glass look.