Today was my first try at some real finish painting. Up to this point it has all been primer, which is pretty hard to mess up. I pulled out the DeVilbiss spray gun, which I have never used before and hoped for the best. First I laid on a coat of DuPont Variprime self etching primer with my economy Lowes gravity feed gun. This is the prescribed primer for Imron on aluminum, and done after the standard scuffing with Scotch Brite and cleaning with Metal Sol. Then came the moment of truth; spraying the Imron. This has to be done within 12 hours of spraying the primer to get the chemical bind that makes this paint so tough. I did exactly as advised in the instructions with a light blush coat that really didn’t cover much and waited 20 minutes for it to pretty mush tack up. Actually it was almost dry to the casual touch. Then I hit it with one full wet coat and walked away. This is really hard to do, but it works. The paint flows out and levels nicely. I am pleased with the results and how well the DeVilbiss HVLP sprayed. There are some dust particles in a few places, but hardly noticeable, and these are baggage and floor panels after all. More painting to come tomorrow with many more parts.
