Hand painted art on a vehicle (2024)

Gentle Readers:

This meeting place offers high traffic & unlimited room for the community to post Q&As, photos, history, & interesting tidbits!

But, like a co*cktail party ...
... when people show interest in others' situations, it quickly becomes fun & informative
... but if they only want to talk about themselves, people usually can't wait to get away :-(

Q. I'm looking for the same info -- hoping you may have found out by now!

I had a go and used [on eBay orAmazon] (white) to paint-out the bonnet (hood) of the car before starting.

... but a couple of days later it rained very lightly and the paint bubbled and peeled.

Not sure if I didn't do enough surface prep -- I was loathe to sand it down first as I liked the original paint protecting the metalwork, but maybe I need to bite the bullet and do that?

A. Ken: It depends on the surface. If it is metal, standard enamel automotive paint will do the trick. And a couple shots of poly-enamel clear-coat to finish up. If you're working on a plastic or fiberglass vehicle, you may want to spend a bit more and use a poly-based acrylic and an acrylic clear coat. And you didn't mention, are you HAND painting, with brushes, or air-brushing/spraying? If hand painting, you'll need to acquire specific brushes, meant to handle those types of paints. Natural bristle brushes don't hold up well with auto paint. And some of the less expensive Chinese or Korean artificial brushes, though excellent for traditional watercolors or oils, tend to gum up, and even melt, when using auto paints and the thinners used.
These paints and such can be purchased at most auto parts stores, but your best bet is to visit an auto repair shop, bring donuts, and pal up with the finisher.
Good luck, and happy painting!

Tim Mooney
- Talbott, Tennessee, US
July 28, 2009