Learning spray-painting the hard way

After my first attempt at spray painting, I opted for a much larger gun.  Specifically the 47016 gun.  According to the web page it:

• Sprays enamels, lacquers, metallic, and urethanes
• High versatility for automotive and hobby projects
• Ideal for spraying base coats and primers

Sure sounded ideal. So I picked it up along with my can of Killz Primer.

The Killz website says I can spray at 2,500 psi to 3,000 psi which is far more than my air compressor can deliver.

The spray gun said it was supposed to run at 50 psi, so I set the compressor output at 50 and gave it a try. At first it seemed to work, then soon I got blobs of paint on the tip and the end result of all of this was total crap. The carefully smoothed surface became a mess of blobs and mottled paint:

I obviously need a LOT more experience in painting, but I don't have time to experiment on the cabinet. I want to get it working!

Out came the rattle-can

preparing the Harlem Globetrotters Pinball cabinet

After finishing up the Steampunk-Inspired lamp, I have turned my attention back to the Pinball tables. Specifically, getting the Harlem Globetrotters table topper fixed up. 

While the topper wasn't in terrible shape, there were bad edges, dents, the paint was faded and the box was covered in lead-based paint. So it definitely needed some work.

Plus this was a chance to learn a couple of things:

1. how to do wood repair - specifically how to use Bondo (which is the recommended filler from a lot of repair gurus)
2. How to spray paint. I have never used a spray gun - I have always used rattle cans (or a roller) for painting.

 I purchased some Bondo-brand filler at the hardware store, mixed it up and tried it out on some bad corners:

After gagging from the smell! I learned two key pieces of information:

1. Bondo sets up quickly! I was only halfway through my pile of goop when it started hardening and would not spread easily on the wood.
2. A thin coat is all you need! I laid it on thick, thinking it was like the stuff you put on sheetrock - easily sanded off - hah! I had to sand for hours to get rid of the big ridges and blobs I left all over the wood...sigh

But at last I had it good enough for a first coat of primer.

I pulled out my handy-dandy portable spray booth, set it up in the garage, loaded the top in it:

Got out the 3/4 Oz. Quick-Change Airbrush Kit I purchased:

and started in!

I quickly discovered that the 3/4 Oz. airbrush was far far too small for this use.  It is probable that I cannot get it adjusted to its maxiumum abilities but it is not even close. At its best, all I could produce was a light paint spray about 1 inch wide.

The good news was I was able to learn a bit about using a spray gun, the bad news was I need to purchase one 2 or 3 times this size.