learn me: suede finish with cheap paint

I want my datsun replica to have a cheap paint job that is easy to touch up when I smack a traffic cone. It would be a plus if it was not glossy beautiful so that it would be good at hiding the imperfections in a car that is - literally - assembled from a pile of garbage.

We've all seen shiny rustoleum paint jobs, both in the "take a million years to do it" tip-and-roller method and the thin-it-and-spray-it method (thanks, Hess)

Those look great, but I don't think they'd be easy to touch up, and shiny definitely shows off surface flaws. suede/flat will definitely hide surface imperfections, but how difficult is it to touch up? Can you do a suede or flat with rustoleum or TSC paint? Is it the cheap way to get a "hides imperfections on my track rat" finish? If not, would rustoleum with an abundance of orange peel do the trick? How would you set up a gun if you wanted orange peel? (Don't say 'improperly' and then run away. Give me specifics.)

I know that flat black rustoleum from the spray can is really easy to touch-up and hides small imperfections.

Few years ago, I built myself a bobber/rat bike and used that to paint the tank and fender. After a summer of riding, they both had a few scratched. Five minutes with a spray can, and they were back to their beginning of summer glory.

But if you really want easy, and that hides imperfections well, I would go plasti-dip. Did the hood of my truck, and after a complete canadian winter, I only had one tear to repair.

If you want something that really hides the imperfections, and that's tough, try bedliner in a can.

I like that hammered metal finish paint. I used it on my craigslist rescue truck toolbox and even though she's got some dings, she looks good! It is not a high-gloss finish, and it reminds me of older toolboxes, kind of a splotchy grey.

Plasti-dip? With one of the dipyourcar kits with the spray gun, not rattle cans.

I'll be posting some pics of my (slightly botched) rattle can hood job on my E30 and you'll see that in the areas with good, even coverage it looks pretty great. If you shoot it through a gun instead of cans it should be pretty good, it's cheap, it's super-easy to touch up (just spray over it and it blends right in!), and comes in a ton of colors.

Go with satin not flat. It has just enough gloss to not look like a neglected pos but not so much that you can't hide imperfections or touch it up easy.

I don't think plastidip comes in tan. I really want tan and brown......the shades that rustoleum calls dunes tan and leather brown work really well together.

The goal is to to make the datsun replica look like someone took this out of a museum and hotrodded it

Then what I need is tan in a suede finish. How do you spray rustoleum so it ends up suede? Does this turn it into a two-stage, with a clear that has flattener in it? Is there a way to do it and still have the laziness/ease of single stage? (I suck.....there will be cone carnage.)

OK, I see that rustoleum sells satin finish rattle cans
http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=1

the big question is what about the paint makes it different than their normal rattle cans? Is it the same paint with a different nozzle, or is there an additive in the paint? If it is an additive, can I purchase it separately to add to a gallon of rustoleum dunes tan?

JoeyM wrote: I don't think plastidip comes in tan. I really want tan and brown......

Plasti-Dip Tan Plasti-Dip Brown

RealMiniDriver wrote:

JoeyM wrote: I don't think plastidip comes in tan. I really want tan and brown......

Plasti-Dip Tan Plasti-Dip Brown

Yeah, in individual cans rattle cans. Do they do large quantities?

Rustoleum does have the leather brown in suede
http://www.doitbest.com/House+and+barn+paint-Rust+Oleum-model-7775-504-doitbest-sku-790040.dib

Still trying to find out about the dunes tan

Ask them. They'll probably whip up a big batch of both colors. Prolly even tune them to exactly what you want.

I wouldn't rule out plastidip just yet:

https://www.dipyourcar.com/product.php?productid=5&cat=17&page=1

What about a matte clear coat?
Rustoleum makes one that's likely compatible.

Go to a Sherwin-Williams or similar and have an industrial enamel mixed to whatever color you want. I sprayed my 720 with a satin black and it held up as well as Rustoleum would have. (faded after a few years in direct sunlight)

turbojunker wrote: Go to a Sherwin-Williams or similar and have an industrial enamel mixed to whatever color you want. I sprayed my 720 with a satin black and it held up as well as Rustoleum would have. (faded after a few years in direct sunlight)

I like this. Industrial enamel in tan, satin or suede.

JoeyM wrote:

RealMiniDriver wrote:

JoeyM wrote: I don't think plastidip comes in tan. I really want tan and brown......

Plasti-Dip Tan Plasti-Dip Brown

Yeah, in individual cans rattle cans. Do they do large quantities? Rustoleum does have the leather brown in suede http://www.doitbest.com/House+and+barn+paint-Rust+Oleum-model-7775-504-doitbest-sku-790040.dib Still trying to find out about the dunes tan

Check this direct link to plasti-dip products: https://www.dipyourcar.com/home.php?cat=15

The Pro-Kits come in 3 or 5 gallon options if you're doing a car or an SUV; the kits also include the sprayer and the necessary supplies. All the colors are offered seperately in gallon cans, too.

Flat paint shows imperfections nearly immediately. Also, don't plan on washing it. Suede or semi-flat might work better, but I doubt it. (PS - I've painted 1 car flat and 4 cars gloss so far...)

Personally, I'd spray it with that Rustoleum gloss, but not go through the cut & buff hell. Just spray it and forget it. The gloss will look a zillion times better than a flat, and if it does get dinged up you can just touch-up with a little on a brush, like any other normal car.

Javelin wrote: Flat paint shows imperfections nearly immediately. Also, don't plan on washing it. Suede or semi-flat might work better, but I doubt it. (PS - I've painted 1 car flat and 4 cars gloss so far...) Personally, I'd spray it with that Rustoleum gloss, but not go through the cut & buff hell. Just spray it and forget it. The gloss will look a zillion times better than a flat, and if it does get dinged up you can just touch-up with a little on a brush, like any other normal car.

Thank you. You just saved me a butt-load of future time and work. This sounds like the easy method.....scratch building the car is hard enough, sweating the finish is not something I was wanting to deal with.