Tiger Stripes

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Tiger Stripes


This is not a slam on my buddy Rick at all because I admire people that are do-it-yourselfers...

Plus, painting is a learned art. That said, these are Tiger Stripes from how he held the spray gun when spraying a metallic paint job. The lines are under the clear so there's nothing that can be done to remove them except to repaint.

Tiger Stripes

This street rod came to in need a little help and left looking much, much better...

Pictures + Video of 1932 Ford Highboy Extreme Makeover

 

[flamed03vert]

There has been articles and stories how to avoid this for years. Candies, Pearls and Metallics are some of the toughest things too spray. Dependant on storke, overlap, spray pattern, and proper air pressure. Mike you could write another book on how to avoid the striping. Still a cool car, looks more oriented towards "Pro Street Go" and not so much "Pro Show"

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I think they are kind of cool--he should tell people he did it on purpose and they will be impressed with his technique!

 

[davidc]

When I was painting vehicles on the last color coat the color would be reduced 10:1 so the metallic would fan out and mix/cover the previous coats which were striped. You just needed to be very careful not to create runs but being reduced as much as it was the gun was held a lot further from the body.

Dave

 

[DaveT435]

So after reading this it seems to me if I were to improperly compound or polish my tint coat I could end up with these...right??

 

[Setec Astronomy]

So after reading this it seems to me if I were to improperly compound or polish my tint coat I could end up with these...right??

I don't think so.

 

[DaveT435]

I don't think so.

You don't think if I had one spot with a deeper scratch and had to take more of the tint coat off it would lighten that spot?? That tint coat is a pretty dark shade of red.

I don't know...but definitely something I want to know for sure...

 

[Setec Astronomy]

How can you possibly know what the color of the tintcoat is when it's sitting on top of the basecoat? Did you take it off and hold it up and look at it?

The car Mike pictured has variation in the metal flake layout...you don't have that or you would have seen it already.

 

[DaveT435]

How can you possibly know what the color of the tintcoat is when it's sitting on top of the basecoat? Did you take it off and hold it up and look at it?

The car Mike pictured has variation in the metal flake layout...you don't have that or you would have seen it already.

Clean a pad with a white towel it shows the exact color.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Clean a pad with a white towel it shows the exact color.

I guess you'd better stop polishing it, then. How would a tintcoat behave any differently with tiger-striping than a regular clearcoat? If I locally thin my clear I will change the appearance of it, also.

I have never read on this forum or any other about any dangers of polishing tintcoat, in terms of causing uneven appearance.

 

[DaveT435]

I guess you'd better stop polishing it, then. How would a tintcoat behave any differently with tiger-striping than a regular clearcoat? If I locally thin my clear I will change the appearance of it, also.

I have never read on this forum or any other about any dangers of polishing tintcoat, in terms of causing uneven appearance.

I'm pretty new to this...I don't know if it's going to change the color or not. I don't know that tint coats are that widely used. I know it's a three step paint process. I don't know how much affect it has on the final color of the paint. Never really thought about it until I saw this thread...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

One of my former students is restoring the original paint on a 1971 Dodge Cornet, I just sent him an e-mail to this thread and gave him some tips on how to avoid putting Tiger Stripes into the paint.

He's sent me some before pictures and has taken a few more before he starts the #7 Show Car Glazes treatment. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. The paint is in pretty bad shape so fingers are crossed.

 

[Fishincricket]

I'm pretty new to this...I don't know if it's going to change the color or not. I don't know that tint coats are that widely used. I know it's a three step paint process. I don't know how much affect it has on the final color of the paint. Never really thought about it until I saw this thread...

That's something I have been thinking about too... Allot of the GM extra cost paints are "tintcoat" paints.

As for what color the tint coat is? I don't think I've ever heard of any situation where the tint coat was a different color than the base coat.. Maybe a different shade, but the same base color/tint..

 

[BobbyG]

Solids

When spraying automotive paint a solid color can be applied in just about any direction with overlapping patterns that ensure complete and uniform coverage.

If the coat is applied too wet you'll libel to end up with runs. If it's too light then you'll end up with dry spots...neither of these are good because it requires more work and time to straighten the mess out.

Metallic's

When spraying metallic's, flake, or what was called iridescent by some paint manufactures required a much different approach. Overlapping sprays in a crisscross pattern ensured complete coverage but if it was applied too wet the flake would sink leaving the area dark and lifeless or worse not uniform and very disappointing....sort of what Mike's photos illustrate.

I used to apply 2 to 3 wet coats of metallic, let it set for 5 to 10 minutes then dust a light coat of paint in order for the flake to remain higher or closer to the surface giving it a nice bright uniform sparkle...very pleasing to the eye......Then clear of course...rops:

 

[BobbyG]

That's something I have been thinking about too... Allot of the GM extra cost paints are "tintcoat" paints.

As for what color the tint coat is? I don't think I've ever heard of any situation where the tint coat was a different color than the base coat.. Maybe a different shade, but the same base color/tint..

Tinting usually refers to a small amount of (a) color added to the clear coat to give it a slightly richer or different appearance especially under certain lights.

My Z06 Corvette has a tinted clear on it and it give a richer tone to the Millennium Yellow.

 

[Fishincricket]

I'm pretty new to this...I don't know if it's going to change the color or not. I don't know that tint coats are that widely used. I know it's a three step paint process. I don't know how much affect it has on the final color of the paint. Never really thought about it until I saw this thread...

Tinting usually refers to a small amount of (a) color added to the clear coat to give it a slightly richer or different appearance especially under certain lights.

My Z06 Corvette has a tinted clear on it and it give a richer tone to the Millennium Yellow.

So if you were to do a correction to your vette it would stain the pad a yellowish color from the small amount of yellow tint in the clear... Am I understanding that right?

 

[ohmy34]

Yes!

 

[BobbyG]

So if you were to do a correction to your vette it would stain the pad a yellowish color from the small amount of yellow tint in the clear... Am I understanding that right?

Yes, you are understanding this correctly, BUT, tint is usually so slight that the effect will be picked up by the eye but not enough to show a lot of color on the pad...

I'm sure that if enough tint was added to turn the clean into a translucent color then you'd certainly see some color on a white pad....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Tiger Stripes


Below is the only pictures that kind of show what tiger stripes would look like on old, single stage metallic paints.

Tiger Stripes from the buffing process
For this meaning of the term tiger stripes, if you buff too much on single stage metallic paint you will remove enough pigmented or colored paint plus abraded the aluminum flakes enough to leave stripes or lines in the paint that mimic the way you moved the buffer over the paint.

I don't have any good pictures of Tiger Stripes from over-buffing single stage metallic paint. I've seen it in my life but must not have had a camera handy.

You can get an idea of what this over buffing of single stage paint can look like in this write-up. I'm not saying my friend Craig over buffed this paint, it could have happened from before he owned the car. But you can definitely see a pattern of light and dark lines in the paint after he removed the extreme oxidation and restored clarity and gloss to the finish.

1971 Dodge Coronet Original Paint Extreme Makeover with Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze


Before

After

IF you look you can see dark sections and light sections this is where less paint and more paint has been removed at some point in the car's life from buffing.

This doesn't mean Craig the owner did it when he saved the paint job, he may have, he may have also revealed the appearance differences when he removed the oxidation.

What can you do?
The best thing you can do when buffing on single stage metallic paint is to take a very non-aggressive approach when choosing compounds and polishes and use a light touch. Then always use a crosshatch pattern when buffing, don't simply go from side to side.

And if it's not your car then less is more...

First educate your customer on the type of paint their car has and the unique issues buffing on and restoring this type of paint brings to the table. Then under promise what you can do and then do your best to over deliver. And of course this forum is always here to help.

So buff slow... don't buff aggressive... light pressure and more time.

It would be much safer to use a dual action polisher IF you are in fact working on antique single stage paint and IF you are in fact working on antique single stage METALLIC paint.

Tricky stuff when it's old and neglected.

Hope that helps...