Spray painting technique?

[kenoten]

I am painting EVA foam armor. I am priming it with plastidip. I make sure the plasti dip is in thin smooth coats and is perfectly smooth before applying paint.I am using Montana gold spray paint because it was recommended as more flexible that something from say Krylon. However, I am getting bubbles in a texture. Am I painting it wrong?

I have tried several different ways to do this. Close, further away, thin coats, thick coats. Some are better than others but no matter what I get bubbling. Am I missing a step? I have also tried sanding it after the fact but that takes all the shine out of the metallic paint.

 

[charades]

When I built my Iron Man suit, I got some bubbling happening on the back piece. It could be as simple as the humidex in your area. I was working in my garage, and found that when the day was particularly humid, the bubbles were worse. You need dry air to get a smooth finish. I'm assuming like most people, you're doing your painting outside or in the garage as well.

Try these options:
If you have a ventilated indoor space, crank up the AC and do it there
Paint outside and bring everything inside with AC cranked up to dry indoors
Turn on a fan (or multiple fans) to try to dry the air in a particular area you work in (I tried closing my garage and blasting box fans)
Paint only at night after the humidity has gone down

Humidity does crazy things to foam and spraypaint. My primer went on nice and smooth as expected, and then the paint went psycho.

 

[kenoten]

Great advice Charades! I have been working in my garage. I will try to do it in my basement instead. I have a somewhat ventilated room. I'll just have to be careful about how much time i spend in there. I'll also put up fans to move the air in and out of there, that should help i think.

 

[laellee]

Post a pic if you get a chance, it might help to diagnose your paint problems.

Might try this as well, just because it's easy...
Besides shaking the heck out of the cans (at least a minute and a half each), I throw them in a sink filled with hot water for a few minutes to raise the paint temp before spraying; it helps with everything from clogging issues to how well the finish flows as you spray. I do this with all of my aerosols, including even plastidip and especially metallics.

 

[charades]

Post a pic if you get a chance, it might help to diagnose your paint problems.

Might try this as well, just because it's easy...
Besides shaking the heck out of the cans (at least a minute and a half each), I throw them in a sink filled with hot water for a few minutes to raise the paint temp before spraying; it helps with everything from clogging issues to how well the finish flows as you spray. I do this with all of my aerosols, including even plastidip and especially metallics.

I never even thought of that! I'm going to try that too. makes sense especially with metallics

 

[laxman09]

basements are humid as well, you'll have better results than in the garage but still be aware that basements are usually a bit humid as well. Also some spray paints are just easier to get a good finish, and some are crappy. I remember using montana gold before, and i'm pretty sure i hated it. also, heat will affect your paint job, the warmer and more dry the environment, the better (but obviously not scolding hot). have you tried using a different spray paint to tell if its the method and the environment rather than the paint that is the issue?