When I apply a coat, I go in a sweeping motion from left to right, about 3-4 inches away. After it dries, there are these porous holes on the bottom of some parts. When I do another coat to fill in these holes it makes everything uneven. I used two cans and am just frustrated now. How are you guys getting it so smooth?

Did you tilt the grill and apply it or did you do it on a flat surface? how many inches were you away when applying? any tips are appreciated

 

Don't spray it so close. Once it starts to dry, its evens out.

 

^ whs i would say 6" is a good distance.

 

when you dont spray close it comes out in like a 4 inch diameter which gets on other parts of the grille. What technique did you use to apply it, like did you go in a sweeping motion or did you go slow and just do one pass from one side to the other?

 

What parts of the grill do you not want to paint? You can just mask it off then.

 

mask it, spray it from 6-8" away (too close, it will build up unevenly and too far will might have dry particles embedded), wait a week or so and then do it again. The rubber like texture will go away and become hard, so wet sand it with 2000 grid to further even it out.

 

I took the whole thing off, but when I spray from a distance it gets on other parts of the grill, not like each individual ray. Idunno, I guess i'll try it from away and see what happens.

are you guys spraying the grill as it is tilted at an angle or placed on a flat surface?

 

It looks splotchy at first. Wait a few minutes between coats. It will even out once you get more coats on it. Just make sure you dont go too heavy on one spot or it'll run.

 

the back and forth motion should be good and spray about 6 inches away i paint my rc car bodies and thats what i do for them but before i use to stand to close and always had problems and now i stay back about 6-8inches and everything comes out perfect i also use a blow dryer to make the paint dry faster so that your not waiting around to see if there spots etc

 

The stuff is VERY forgiving, unlike spray paint. I'm surprised you're having such a hard time

 

Form what i understand you are not using painters tape to mask off the area that you dont want to paint thus you are wary of spraying from further away.

Just mask off the area you dont want to paint with Blue painters tape and then spray away from a distance of about 6-8" and you should be good to go, plastidip is the easiest spray to apply imo, try other rattle cans they can be a pain at times when you spray a bit too much and they form dripping marks.

 

After having played with PD a lot (including my roof... yeah, i went there ) there are a few things to keep in mind:

- It sprays on "meh", but smooths out as it dries whether you spray it at an angle or perpendicular to the area being PD'd. I applied mine with the grille still on the car.

- Follow the instructions on the can to get an even finish. Like regular paint cans, too fast between coats and you end messing-up the finish. This is not as obvious with small areas like the grill, but it's pretty apparent in larger sections

- Humidity is the key. Too much and the finish suffers the consequences.

- Spray Left to Right, past the grille on each end so there's proper overlap, and back again. If you stop spraying where the grille ends then backtrack, you'll get more material at that turning point.

If you overlap and move as if the entire grille is one solid piece (rather than a few slits), the finish will be even. If you try and spray each slit individually, you'll tend to spray closer and just mess up the whole thing.

Hope these help.

 

When I did mine, I did probably 4 or 5 thin coats, waiting 10 - 15 minutes between each. And you're spraying too close. I think I was about 8" away when doing mine. Side to side sweeps, starting before the grille and ending after. Good luck.

 

Great explanation. That is how a did it. 2-2.5 seconds per pass (One one thousand two one thousand). 3/4 of a can should cover just fine. If you used two, just peal and start over.

 

after wasting 2 cans, I finally got it right on the 3rd the first can I was too close and it ran and the second one I accidentally touched it when wet and it made a nasty indent

I sprayed the emblems on my trunk aswell, looks great! might spray the door chrome and see how it looks

thank you all for the help, will post pics when I get a chance!

hope this thread helps someone else out there who struggled at first as well