2004 f250 tailgate

what I would do is sandout the paint chip and feather edge around it a few inches then use a primer to build up the area start with a small first pass and the second coat go a little further and the third past the second to create a smooth transition

third coat……..———————
second coat…….————
first cost…………….—–

sand with 220-320 up to 600 if you so desire rebase the spot gray scuff the rest of the gate and reclear

since there is no dent you should not be using a filler (unless you mean a roll on primer but then you should be using a foam roller not a brush)
Also 1000 grit is kinda over kill well to me anyway I base over 320 most of the time with no problems at all I have gone to 600 tho

as for a decent gun check on Sharpe and Devilbiss you can get a starting line set from Devilbiss for under $150.00 for 3 gun set. I have used them before not bad and beats spending 2k for a good set of guns that you will need a big air system to run.

[quote=”lebanontn” post=20681]im painting in black and yes i can afford. im looking for bragging rights against my brother who claims he knows what he is doing but i dont think he is very good..lol… does the type of paint matter for my job?
he dealt with water based paint and really didnt turn out very well on a z.[/quote]

Well…here is an option that may be easier. Black is generally easy to match, you really don’t need to blend it, especially on a tailgate. You may want to try spraying the tailgate in Single Stage rather than base clear. There are fewer steps, it is cheaper and a little easier, imho. And single stage can look just as good as base/clear. UA should be your paint code…

Feather edging (feathering) refers to sanding one or more layers of paint (and undercoats) back to a smooth transition. Improper feathering generally leads to a wavy finish. Once feathered back, several coats of primer (usually 3) are sprayed over top, then blocked flat when dry. This allows the primer to fill in the area that is sanded to become level with the existing paint. These three steps are referred to as “feather, prime and block.” They are some of the most crucial steps in getting any work straight.

You need to figure out what products you are buying before we can tell you the exact steps. There are different products avaliable and although most are similar, there are often different processes required with using them. Tech. Sheets for the product will tell you how to mix it and apply it, how long it takes to dry and recommended grits of sandpaper. We can give you some general guidelines for now, though.

A D.A. sander is probably the best tool for feathering your paint back (although it can be done more slowly with a block, by hand). You can start with any grit you want. I would recommend anything from 80-220. finish with 320 before priming. The primer, once fully dried, can be blocked with 320-400, some people will go coarser to start (180, 220 or 280). I prefer dry sanding most of the time, but wetsanding is an option too. If wetsanding, generally go 1 step finer than you would dry. Once blocked with 400, you can move to 500 and sand the entire tailgate (if you are painting the whole thing either with single stage or base/clear). You can finish finer, if you want (up to 800 is generally good). When sanding, it is best to use the 100 grit rule (avoid moving from one grit to the next by jumping more than 100 grit at a time, or the next avaliable grit…eg, 80, then 120, 220, 320, 400, 500, 600, 800 etc). If you do decide to go base/clear and blend the base you should clear the whole panel. The steps for sanding this are slightly different…

You obviously have a lot of questions, maybe search through the forums and online a bit to see if you can get a clearer vision of the big picture. I believe there are some good videos from this site on youtube.

Just use a DA Featheredge around your repair that you were working on sand the entire panel with 240 – 320
Spray on some sealer (Gray) sand the sealer smooth 400-600grit. At this point you should be able to see any imperfections left, If there are some sand scratches left you can either try to sand them out trying not to go through the sealer or use a glaze (Very fine Putty) I happen to use Evercoat products like metal Glaze 416 but others may have a better suggestion. You can apply a thin coat of this the sand it down till you have fixed all the problem areas you can then spray another coat of sealer or your First Coat of primer (Some primers can be mixed as a sealer depending on what products you are using.

and spray your color spray 2-3 coats of Base and let it dry this way you can wet sand it smooth for your final coats of Base then do 2 more coats of base wait the time the tech sheet says and clear the tailgate.

let us Know what brand and specific products you are using and we will have a better Idea of what steps to take in case your using single stage paint.

also if you are doing it in a garage I know you would think its easier to paint it lying flat but If you can Stand it up just like it sits on the truck, This will help Bring Down your dust problems . take all the emblems off and remove the handle

and use as many lights as you can this will help you see any flaws and help you while spraying making sure you have good film build Make sure you have good overlap and a wet edge nothing worse than Dry edged and dry rough stripes in you paint.

I have a vaper gun 1.4 I use it to seal. Once to paint a part its only good for sealing.