Michael Dobony wrote:
On Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:21:45 -0500, dadiOH wrote:

Michael Dobony wrote:
We are trying to paint some pinewood derby cars with Kryon paint. If
we let the paint set for over 24 hours we get an alligator finish on
the cars. Any idea what is happening here?

Mike D.
Alligatoring - AKA reticulation - occurs when a new coat is put on one that
is not yet dry...the surface of the new coat dries rapidly but the coat
under it continues to dry over time and as it does so the newer top coat
shrinks and crinkles. The first coat may *seem* dry but is not.

I never used to have this problem with spray paints but sometimes do now.
Seems to vary by brand too. I don't know what changes have been made in the
formulation to cause the problem but - perhaps - the type/amount of solvent.
Perhaps the solvent nowadays softens - thus expanding- the first coat.

The only solution I have found is to spary ALL coats in the first couple of
hours OR wait several days before re-spraying.

One of the cars in question was not painted for a whole week. When sprayed
within an hour or so it is fine. Spraying over the primer is fine. A
second or third color coat after 24 hours is the problem. I ended up
sanding back down to bare wood before redoing my car, but we are having
trouble with other cars that need another coat of paint. The yellow is
especially troublesome as it does not cover well and needs 24 hours to dry
between coats to get it to cover properly.

If you have more painting to do, you might want to buy cans of enamel
and use Preval sprayers. Need thinner (Penetrol?) for oil-based paint,
a different one for latex. Preval sprayers go on nicely when thinned
properly and have a smaller spray pattern.