On Mar 4, 11:48 pm, wrote:
On 4 Mar, 22:37, "Steve Walker" wrote:





Martin wrote:
Steve Walker wrote:
I masked off the area (approx playing card sized), and applied about
6-8 light sprays (with 10min intervals to allow it to go tacky).
Left this for a week to harden off, and you could easily see
boundaries where one spray run had overlapped another etc. Got the
metallic T-Cut out to blend it yesterday, only to find that this
removed the colour layer! I was just left with a really weird
silvery / undercoaty patch.

Tried to spray again today, but I can't apply it softly enough to
avoid obvious layers. I assume that this will mean polishing again,
which will remove the colour again. The area needing respray is now
an inch wider on all sides, and it's going to grow each time I get it
wrong.

You need to check this, but I've only come across 2-pack metallic
finishes: the metallic paint and a clear laquer finish. I don't
know if modern finishes are similarly 2-pack or if there is any
laquer in the aerosol you were given, but from the sound of it, you
haven't been told to finish off with a spray coat from a can of clear
laquer. You should be able to get the laquer from the same
supplier as the base coat to ensure compatibility. Then, by all
means, use T-Cut to blend/polish the laquer.

Does this make sense?

Yeah, it does - thanks for this Martin.

I've seen the clear lacquer coat referred to, but assumed I didn't need it.
The aerosol gives a lovely finish without it - I checked a piece of the
oversprayed masking paper against the car body and the match was perfect.
But now I'm wondering if the lacquer would help - gotta be worth a try for a
fiver.

metallic paint must have a clear lacquer topcoat, otherwise it
a) doesnt look gloss
b) is weak and scratches readily
c) the ali flakes oxidise, making it look an eyesore after a while.

But basically youve found out the hard way that patching metallic will
never work well. Either go with a straight hard edge, dont sand it,
and accept it, or respray the whole panel for a quality result. Theres
no way youre going to feather the stuff successfully.



Sometimes a thick or wet enough layer will dry smooth and glossy and
if you mask the area with the edges of the tape lifted up you can
sometimes confine the spray to the area without a hard edge line.

Alternatively put a contrasting stripe down the length of the roof or
a contrasting round dot so it looks like it's supposed to be there.