saving a paint job with clear coat

I have a Rustoleum 2x Ultra can that sputters and leaves specks all over, no matter how many minutes I shake and how much I warm it before starting. It does not look terrible, but the specks leave it with more of a metallic look than the smooth gloss I wanted.

I keep thinking, what if I wait a few days for full dry, hit it with some fine sand paper to knock down the specks, and then try to restore the lost gloss by applying clear coat? Should that look good? How does clear coat over flat color compare to original gloss?

Thanks!

Your fine re coating with clear. As a rule it will gloss out anything. Are you over coating a metallic? If so --don't sand --just spray over it. If there are larger raised globs--for lack of a better term -- clear and let the clear dry, moist sand and re coat. Pics would be easier for us to give you a path to success. At least in my experience your better off clearing over wet paint. Less chance of busting up the bottom coat that way, so be careful !!

Is it metallic color? If so you have to redo it. As a rule you should feathercoat metallic colors, then let the clear coat provide the gloss. DO NOT spray with a wet edge, any runs, specks, globs will show up and no amount of clears will fix them!

If it's solid color, sand and recoat, then clear.

I do not have experience with sanding color coats and applying clear over it, so I won't speak to that issue.

But I do have experience with paint cans that sputter. The problem is almost always the nozzle, not the paint. Keep spare nozzles, and the second your paint starts to spit globs, switch to a fresh nozzle. Also, many stores will take back a bad can of paint and exchange for a good one.

I've painted countless guitars, including metallics. Finishing standard for guitars are very high. Just look at all the guitars, especially expensive guitars in stores and you'll know what I mean. Most rocketry paint jobs won't cut it (what looks good to you guys is ugly to guitarists). Metallics are very hard to get right, in fact I do not recommend beginners start with metallic color, but solid colors like white or pastel.

Spray something on a piece of scrap to make sure the nozzle is good, then when you are spraying your project, DUST the paint on. very quick, light passes, until you get good coverage. If the surface is wet, STOP. Wait for it to dry, then continue dusting if you missed a spot. To make sure you get good coverage efficiency try to paint something like white, or a solid color based on the metallic color under it (this depends on personal preference and your metallic color).

https://www.reranch.com/ this site offers a good resource on doing a good paint job. Granted your rocket paint job won't have to look this good, but it's still very helpful for tips on various colors and metallics. They even sell spray cans of various guitar colors if you happen to like guitars... Lake Placid Blue rockets anyone?

I'm pretty sure Watermelonman is NOT using a metallic color. He mentions using Rustoleum 2x, and as far as I know, there are no metallics in the 2x line. I think what he meant is that instead of looking like a solid glossy color, the sputtering makes it look flecked.

In that case just sand the specks out, spray one more color coat, then clear.

In my experience, the nozzle is crap on those cans, perhaps the worst I've ever used. But I haven't used enough of those cans to know whether that was just my dumb luck.

Gerald

I've learned to clean and save the "Good Nozzles" from Rusto 2X, as I had thet problem once too. I started a Thread about it, and the good folks here got me sorted out.
What I basically learned was to "Test Spray" them first to see if they are going to start that sputtering BS.

I bought two cans of Rustoleum 2X and found two different style nozzles. One was a white button about an inch in diameter...(not the traditional small 3/8" button on a stem) and the other was an odd small button, but some form of a split level button, with a thin upper flap that your finger rests upon, and the paint sprays out from underneath it in a bit of a cloud. This split level button is red plastic.

Which of these would you save, assuming that neither is spitting or clogging? Or is there any preference?

(I've decided to avoid the Krylon primer for now.)