Single stage. I mixed the epoxy with the max allowable amount of reducer, and had the air gun regulator set at 21 psi as recommended. Maybe I need to play with it a bit? Maybe I'm moving the gun too fast and just dusting the surface instead of putting down a proper coat?

 

New pics after drying for an hour or so. Tons of orange peel and dust.

 

That is possible as well. Diff guns spray differently. Fan/spray width and such. Being that it is single stage if there is a area that you do not like, knock it down again with some 600 or so, then shoot it in color again. Make sure you lay a good bit of color down that way you can wet sand it, buff it to a mirror. I think you will be fine. I have often thought of doing my truck again in single stage black.

 

Looks like you may be working the gun to fast. Also being single stage if you run it, it isn't the end of the world, very forgiving and easy to recover. It can be sanded out easy with a flat edge.

 

Problem with the matte finish stuff is I can't sand the final coat, or else it gets glossy. I ran the gun quite a bit slower on the black than I did the primer, and it looked like it was quite a bit smoother. Unfortunately, the primer I had just sprayed underneath wasn't smooth, that's the part I think I did too quickly. I'll have to do some searching on how to adjust the gun and adjust my technique. Should the primer be smooth after spraying, before sanding? Or does it go on with a lot of texture?

 

Acetone will dry too fast. You have to use there reducer.

I have never used the shop line products, only the DP90LF epoxy primer.

You have to apply a medium wet coat.

Gun pressure is subject to the gun. You have to do spray outs at different pressures and needle adjustments till you find the right combo. You will probably find that you want to be closer to 30 psi depending on the gun and the tip and needle size you are using and how fast your going.

 

I always wet sand the primer prior to shooting. If it is not smooth then the final paint will reflect it.. Also it appears you were dry spraying meaning you moved to fast or you were tooo far away or the air coming out of the compressor was too hot.

 

I bought some crap to build a makeshift paint booth in my garage. Taking tonight off from working on the truck but I'll be back at it tomorrow.

I'm going to try the tailgate next before I go back and redo the bedside. I'll try to shoot the primer a little slower and wetter, and be sure to sand it smooth before shooting color again. As the paint color dried it smoothed out quite a bit...still not acceptable to me, but I think if I get the substrate smooth and keep the dust off of it, it will look really nice. I'm digging the color so far.

 

Are you measuring your air pressure with the trigger pulled?

 

I like the color man. Keep practicing you will get the hang of it.

I made a make shift paint booth once. Pretty simple i just bought a bunch of platic drop cloths and stapled them to the garage ceiling and then taped the bottom to the floor. Put a fan pointing outwards so it would suck air out.