Instant orange peel.

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DeCaff2007

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So, I was painting the front fascia of my Trans Am. It's made of some kind of hard plastic as opposed to metal, but I don't that made a difference here.

The primer laid down fine. The 14 coats (well, maybe 3) of Rustoleum black laid down great. Then, this morning, I sprayed clear and got this, instantly:

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SON OF A B!@#$

What caused this and how do I fix it?

Thanks in advance.
 

RichLo

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If you look on the cans, are they different types of paint? They dont react well together. Enamel, Acrylic, Epoxy, oil-based, Lacquer, etc. Likely if you used Rustoleum base and Dupont clear (for example) they were different types of paint.

Only way to fix it is to sand it down and start over.

This is when I stopped trying multi-layer paint jobs, I save that for the pros now (base, color, clear). I had a beautiful motorcycle gas tank that I spent weeks on with metal flake, pinstriping, everything you could do I did, it was fantastic. Then I sprayed clear on it and it did this right away. I got so pissed I just sprayed flat black over the top of the spider webs and stuck stickers all over it.
 

alignman88

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The solvent in the clear lifted the base coat. As @RichLo stated look to see what type the base is. If it’s what they call “implement paint” and instructions say to thin with mineral spirits I would stay away from it most clears aren't gonna work with it.

We painted a friends new NASCAR All Pro series car on the early 90’s, he wanted base/clear (all his stuff was too nice lol) so we lay down the 3 different base colors then he had the absolute best artist come hand paint all the letters/numbers. We hit it with the clear 2 days later and got just what you did. His paint was thinned with mineral spirits we learned To say everyone was upset is an understatement.
 

Hipster

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Brother, that's not orange peel that's wrinkle finish. It needs stripped/sanded till you get all that crap off.

Rustoleum that takes weeks to completely dry covered by what type of clear? Oil based paint is ok for painting dumpsters and lawn furniture.

What ever clear you used, the solvents bit into the rustoleum and lifted it. There's a lot of bad info on the net about rustoleum paints jobs. Up to and including playing mad chemist by adding other branded hardeners to it. If rustoleum is all you want then that's where you stop. It's a non catalyzed product and it can lift like this weeks later. You can put on another coat of rustoleum over itself a year later and it can lift.

Rustoleum, alkyd enamel, and other oil based products are a protective paint as opposed to to automotive catalyzed Acyclic enamels, and 2K urethane products that are more of an appearance type of product.

Mixing types of paint, and sometimes mixing brands of paint can do this. When you get into higher end paints some can be made with acrylic resins and others can be made from polyester resins. You can have chemical reaction/compatibility issues.
 
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DeCaff2007

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I use Rustoleum only. Nothing else, UNLESS, it's a specific, factory color from a vendor and no one else makes it.

In this case, it's nothing more than rattle can Rustoleum.

Granted, the primer is "15 minute quick dry", because I have ZERO patience for paint. The color is just a simple flat black, but still Rustoleum and still "15 minute quick dry". Then, I ran out of that and used semi-gloss black, not quick dry, but still Rustoleum.

Up to this point, all was well.

Sprayed the clear this morning. Not quick dry, but still Rustoleum. Satin clear. Insta-orange peel.

The only other difference was the humidity in the garage this morning. I could have swam through air it was so high. Last 3 or 4 days it was beyond freezing, but no weather.
 

DeCaff2007

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Here, I used these, in this exact order, from left to right. So basically, if I'm understanding this, I screwed myself by switching up paint types by the same manufacture.

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Spareparts

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I have found when painting with rattle cans you need to fallow the application instructions on the can exactly for how long to wait before applying the next coat or this happens.
 

alignman88

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In this case, it's nothing more than rattle can Rustoleum.

Granted, the primer is "15 minute quick dry", because I have ZERO patience


@DeCaff2007 your just asking for trouble cuz I ran into that a couple months ago. Had a couple real small pieces I had media blasted so instead of mixing up primer and having a gun to clean I hit them with Rustoleum rattle can “professional” primer I had in the paint cabinet. Come time to put paint on them I wiped em down with RK213 prep solvent like everything gets and the primer gummed up and the next swipe started taking it off. Used that prep solvent for decades with no issues.

No more rattle can stuff now. Consider going to local automotive paint store the sell good 2k primer in aerosol cans that have the activator in can, just punch the button on bottom of can and it pops a pill inside releasing activator. Good for 24-36 hours. Works real nice especially on small parts. It’s thin so light coats but it builds up real nice and lays out flat.
 

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RichLo

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I'm sure the cold temps didnt help but I wonder if the flat paints sucked up the clear like a sponge and expanded.
 
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