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I just painted the a-pillar on my mx5 today with acrylic gloss black lacquer but for some reason it's come out matte finish. I guess i'm not too worried because it's come out pretty good. But it's just not the colour I was hoping for as I have a gloss black hard top.

The can says "acrylic gloss black lacquer" on it so it's not like I've accidently bought matte or anything. It was primed in white etch primer as well. But I just can't work this out. Should I wait a couple of days and give it a really light cut and polish or should I put a clear on top.

I didn't actually want to put a clear on the paint as my hard top doesn't have one. it's glossy black but no clear. I thought that putting clear on gloss would have been too shiny. But I'm just stunned, there is no shine at all.

I'm going to wait until tomorrow before I make any real decision about it. But Is there anything I can do to fix it? And also why has my paint come out like this?

there is some sorta buff and polish stuff available for diy painting that will bring out the shine.. But im sure normal polish will do the same.

Thanks! I'll have a look around during the week and pick something up

It is very hard to get a glossy finish with acrylic paints due to their fast drying properties. The overspray lands back on the painted surface and is practically dry when it lands giving the dull look. Therefore you need to cut it and polish it to get the shiny finish you are after (removing the overspray).

Good idea to talk to a auto paint specialist who will be able to give you some pointers - they may even check the can "out the back" to see if it is spraying properly- you should get a gloss finish. Ask them if a clear coat is recommended. Another post about faded buttons- very recent- has a very good link to painting techniques.

Thanks heaps guys! I'll see if I can get in touch with my Brother, he's a painter by trade. He sprayed my hard top gloss black. Though I don't see him so much since he has his own place etc so I try to do things myself. But I'll give him a buzz and see if I can get some advice.

For a reference shot, this is the final outcome.



it's looks alright but you can see it's matte

This is the paint I used

Etch primer is normally applied to bare metal (where it etches into the metal to make the top coats adhere better). If you simply sanded the existing painted surface you should have used a normal acrylic primer. I would suggest now that you lightly sand what you have with 600 wet and dry paper and apply another series of top coats. It should be sprayed as 'wet' as possible without runs forming to increase the gloss 'off the can' - practice on something else until you have the technique down if necessary. You will maybe need two or three more coats to ensure a deep enough surface to cut and polish (use a liquid cutting compound and rub by hand then wax for your final shine).

emexv wrote:It is very hard to get a glossy finish with acrylic paints due to their fast drying properties. The overspray lands back on the painted surface and is practically dry when it lands giving the dull look. Therefore you need to cut it and polish it to get the shiny finish you are after (removing the overspray).

about very true.

also comment about 800 sand and no need for etch primer unless bare metal are great.

my recommendation get a thick enough coat of colour on there do a light 1200 wet sand then allow to thoroughly dry then do many coats of clear coat then do another 1200 wet sand. Since its a small area use cutting compound by hand then cause its black a polish / swirl remover to get rid of all the little scratches.

Acrylic need to be sanded and buffed for any extreme shine this is normal, if you were shooting this out of a gun you could use classy thinners IE: premium thinners to help with this.

good start just keep at it though if you havent done any sanding before the first coat of paint i start over.

Gloss paint should be gloss straight from the can without the requirement to cut and polish
There is also the possibility of having a mislabelled can
States Gloss on the label but contains Matte paint!

Try a different brand of paint can!

Then do your mirrors

Seriously guys, thanks so much for all the advice It means a lot. I'm new to painting so it's great to hear feedback and work towards getting better. Granted this is only rattle canning but I'd love to branch out to compressor and gun down the track.

I've set aside Wednesday (depending on weather of course...)to finish off the job and see how it turns out. I'll post up a photo thursday of the finished car.
Once again, depending on weather!!!

Oh and as for mirrors I was actually thinking about that today. But I don't know, I'd love to black them out but I think I'll wait and replace them with round chrome ones or rectangle carbon fiber mirrors with the metal stalks.

If you went back to the store you purchased this product from they will probably have a product called primer filler that you use after the etch primer and you rub smooth with a 1200 wet and dry prior to appling the top colour. Etch primer is designed to create a bond of base paint to the metal. Primer then goes on this to fill out imperfections and the separate the colour top coat from the etch primer. The 3M paint system is very good but its just a case of not enough information.

Before you venture on to the mirrors buy some plastic primer. This is designed to be used on plastics as a primer. Your etch primer will create an even bigger mess if you use it on the mirrors.

Another tip bake your smaller items in the oven on a very low heat say 60 -70 degrees to cure the paint faster.

Guy above is right, I work in a Paint store, as mentioned you need to buff it/cut and polish, to get the proper shine, however acrylic laquer has a tendancy to cloud when its sprayed in cold or wet conditions, you would have to do another coat if this is the problem, otherwise buff it/cut and polish, then put some clear over it if you want it to last for a decent amount of time.

the_darkside wrote:Guy above is right, I work in a Paint store, as mentioned you need to buff it/cut and polish, to get the proper shine, however acrylic laquer has a tendancy to cloud when its sprayed in cold or wet conditions, you would have to do another coat if this is the problem, otherwise buff it/cut and polish, then put some clear over it if you want it to last for a decent amount of time.

Thanks mate! It's a shame, I've been DYING to sand it back and repaint it again all smooth but the weather has been TERRIBLE! I'm going to have to wait until this season is over.
Though since you do work at a paint shop, I was wondering about how I can paint under the windscreen rubbers (ones between glass and pillars) without removing them. Since if I were to take them off the car, the windscreen would have to come out too!
I talked to a guy at a local smash repair place about it while I was having a headlight cover resprayed and he said to get some thin rope and push it under the rubbers to lift them up while spraying then remove them after.
It sounded like a great idea but when I thought about it, I can't help but think that the paint would cover the rope and the pillars together. So if I were to remove it when dry, it would crack the paint. But if I were to remove it while the paint was wet there would be a large chance of smudging all the paint around when sliding it out.
So any tips or was the advice I was given good enough?