Posted by gordon maney, editor, power wagon advertiser on August 05, 1999 at 15:43:06:
In Reply to: Painting with brush posted by STP on August 04, 1999 at 22:52:30:
Auto manufacturers used to paint cars with brushes, many decades ago. If you have the proper brushes and thinner, and the right technique, you can do an incredible job.
I watched my parents paint several cars as a kid. Then, when I was an automotice instructor, my mother painted another car. She went back to the auto paint store and visited with an older fellow who set her up with all the right stuff again. On top of that, she did a fine metallic. I tried to talk her out of it, but it turned out beautifully.
The secret is largely in the thinning. If the paint flows right, the brush marks go away, yet there are no runs.
Some of my students were admiring the car one day. One of them asked where it was pointed. I told him my mother did it with a brush. He asked if she would paint his car.
On the other fellow's comment about painting methods from other countries.... When I was in college there were a number of guys there from Nigeria. They painted things with those hand pump bug spray devices. The reseroir was essentially a metal can that screwed on the front of the device. You just kept pumping the handle, much like a bicycle pump, and the paint would spray out the end.
We were skeptical, so we tried it on some 55 gallon drums. With a little practice, we could do an incredible job, with no runs, and a nice, glossy coat of paint.
You might try it some time....