How much pain't to mix

[heeranyi]

I bought a 26ft mid-size bus that I want to paint on the outside and I want to use heavy equipment paint. the paint color that I want is light blue but so far I have not been able to find that color so I need to mix White with dark blue. I need to know how many gallons to buy cuz I have one shot to mix my color and need to make sure I have enough so I don't run out. for those of you who have painted how many gallons for the exterior did it take and how long was your bus. How many gallons do you recommend I mix?

[Robin97396]

About a gallon, unless you're going to put it on really thick.

I have a 26' TC1000. You should have paint left over from your gallon. Are you spraying or rolling it on?

[chev49]

I assume you are going to use acrylic enamel. Actually it is quite cheap and very durable. The next question is what color are you going to paint the top... If it were me, I would probably buy a gallon of each color, as the paint can be put in your paint cabinet and used or mixed with other paints as needed. Acrylic enamel is no big deal to make a batch of the same color if you dont have enough. You can also buy a gallon of clear, and the hardener, and your top wet coats you can add more and more clear and get a very high gloss finish that lasts for years. I did that on a 64 chevy suburban for one of my friends twenty years ago, and the paint still looks new, even tho the thing has always sat at the curb in front of his house...

[heeranyi]

I was planning in rolling.

[Robin97396]

Me too. I bought a gallon of rustoleum and two quarts of Flood Penetrol. The penetrol is to be mixed with the paint at approximately 15% by volume, but that might be specifically for sprayers to gain a certain consistency. The label says it helps the paint spread out smoother.

The penetrol is a solvent that can be mixed with the paint as described and can also be used to wipe down the surface of the bus to remove gums, wax or oil. It's got pretty bad fumes and you'll need good heavy gloves for the wipe down if you choose to use this method.

I've watched a lot of youtube videos on bus painting so I may be getting some of the methods blended. Looks pretty simple. As usual most of the work is in the prep.

I've recently sanded the exterior of my 26' bus, weather permitting. That sure seems like a lot of acreage. Now it's raining again. I had to back up a little bit. I'm almost ready to paint and I hadn't done any seam sealer on the roof at all, so I ordered seam sealer yesterday which should arrive by the 18th. I also ordered some really good quality caulk to re-seal the windows. I plan to pull the windows, clean up the frame, trim paint the frame area, re-caulk and replace the windows.

Every job ties in with ten other jobs making everything go quite slow.

[tobeamiss]

Before you run out and buy a can of white and a can of blue...and then having to buy many more cans of white to fix it, remember that...
1qt =100sqft of coverage.

1...Buy a five gallon bullet.
2...always start with white. You'll probably end up using about a gallon and a qt.
3...You can get a tube of very dark blue tint anywhere...
4...only add a couple of drops at a time mixing it thoroughly each time. Test an area.
5...remember that it dries much darker.
This should help save you money instead of using the trial and error method.
I hope I helped.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[water boy]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

About a gallon, unless you're going to put it on really thick.

I have a 26' TC1000. You should have paint left over from your gallon. Are you spraying or rolling it on?

Glad to know because Ill be doing this real soon too.....

[Goatherder]

My bus is 23 ft over all. I painted from the top of the windows down. Sprayed it with Rustoleum Professional. I did 3 coats, mixed 1.5 gal and ended up using about 5 qts. I mixed 5 parts paint, 2 parts Acetone, and 1/3 part Enamel Hardener. I used Magic brand from Tractor Supply. Valspar makes it too.

The hardener is key; makes your paint job turn out better, as the paint is glossier and signigicantly more durable, and it skins over a WHOLE lot sooner...which means that bugs and dirt have less of a chance to get to it while it's tacky.

[heeranyi]

great idea, the tint you are talking about, any particular brand or company? I don't know much about painting and didn't realize you can buy tint to mix the color.

[tobeamiss]

Any craft store will carry it.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[chev49]

Originally Posted by Goatherder

My bus is 23 ft over all. I painted from the top of the windows down. Sprayed it with Rustoleum Professional. I did 3 coats, mixed 1.5 gal and ended up using about 5 qts. I mixed 5 parts paint, 2 parts Acetone, and 1/3 part Enamel Hardener. I used Magic brand from Tractor Supply. Valspar makes it too.

The hardener is key; makes your paint job turn out better, as the paint is glossier and signigicantly more durable, and it skins over a WHOLE lot sooner...which means that bugs and dirt have less of a chance to get to it while it's tacky.

if one goes to the paint store for vehicles, such as industrial finishes, you will find more than one type of hardner. For example, hardner for spot repairs to blend in... also, not mentioned... use the correct speed reducer for the temperature you are painting at. Third, be sure to use the same base paints, reducers, etc. For example, I will not mix rustoleum with off the shelf acryliuc enamel from the paint store.

[Goatherder]

Originally Posted by chev49

if one goes to the paint store for vehicles, such as industrial finishes, you will find more than one type of hardner. For example, hardner for spot repairs to blend in... also, not mentioned... use the correct speed reducer for the temperature you are painting at. Third, be sure to use the same base paints, reducers, etc. For example, I will not mix rustoleum with off the shelf acryliuc enamel from the paint store.

Magik brand enamel hardener and Rustoleum brand paint work well together. As do Rustoleum paint and Valspar enamel hardener. Generic acetone works fine with both. As does generic paint thinner for wiping after scuffing w/ Scotchbrite.

I would not mix different brands of paint. It may work out, may not...and dealing with a failed coating is WAY bigger pain in the ass than doing it right the first time.

[chev49]

Having first painted service trucks and cars in 1964, and hundreds since, I have found that as long as the base of the paint is the same, the brand doesnt matter. Normally I use basf paints such as the cheap limco or r/m, but have also found that the cheap paint from the www.paintforcars.com website mixes well. Sometimes that website's paints are far cheaper than the local paint store (depending on what one wants). For resale cars, I have often mixed up whatever colors i had extra such as extra white and blue or green, etc, shot the car and put on the lot... Have not had one mixmatch disaster that I know of in the last 50 years. Even when there was NO clears in 1964, I shot the clear varathane over a deep blue for a 28 ford roadster show car, however it took a week to dry, and much time to wet sand and polish...

[Maggie01]

Originally Posted by chev49

if one goes to the paint store for vehicles, such as industrial finishes, you will find more than one type of hardner. For example, hardner for spot repairs to blend in... also, not mentioned... use the correct speed reducer for the temperature you are painting at.

I know this is an old thread, but I have a few questions:

1. What is meant by correct speed reducer and different types of hardeners?

2. Can someone please fully explain what wet sanding is to me and when and how you do it? I know you need to lightly sand between all coats (except the last one). But do you wet sand while the previous coat is still wet? Or would it be better to let each coat dry and then lightly sand (340-400 grit?) dry?

3. I plan on brushing/rolling my bus with gray Rustoleum Professional Enamel. After prepping, I planned to roll on a coat of Rustoleum primer (Rusty Metal Primer or just plain Rustoleum Primer)? Then roll on multiple thin layers of the gray enamel with some Penetrol and Majic Hardener added. Then a few coats of clear coat. But now am reading that with my top wet coats of gray that I can just add more and more clear coat to get a tough,
high gloss finish that lasts?

4. The roof will of course be painted white. If I decide to go with multiple coats of Rustoleum Professional White on the roof (instead of an elastomeric paint), could I add clear coat to it too, for extra protection and maybe some of the insulating ceramic powder/beads? I guess I would also need to some of the Majic Hardener to the roof paint too?

[Danjo]

Originally Posted by Maggie01

I know this is an old thread, but I have a few questions:

1. What is meant by correct speed reducer and different types of hardeners?

2. Can someone please fully explain what wet sanding is to me and when and how you do it? I know you need to lightly sand between all coats (except the last one). But do you wet sand while the previous coat is still wet? Or would it be better to let each coat dry and then lightly sand (340-400 grit?) dry?

3. I plan on brushing/rolling my bus with gray Rustoleum Professional Enamel. After prepping, I planned to roll on a coat of Rustoleum primer (Rusty Metal Primer or just plain Rustoleum Primer)? Then roll on multiple thin layers of the gray enamel with some Penetrol and Majic Hardener added. Then a few coats of clear coat. But now am reading that with my top wet coats of gray that I can just add more and more clear coat to get a tough,
high gloss finish that lasts?

4. The roof will of course be painted white. If I decide to go with multiple coats of Rustoleum Professional White on the roof (instead of an elastomeric paint), could I add clear coat to it too, for extra protection and maybe some of the insulating ceramic powder/beads? I guess I would also need to some of the Majic Hardener to the roof paint too?

I did my five window Thomas with single stage auto paint. One gallon of primer, one gallon of color.

I did not paint the roof. I’d go with PPG ESSS. Though I think any single stage auto paint would be
Better.

No offense to the Rustoleum painters. It’s my pure novice opinion.

[Anonybus]

Originally Posted by Danjo

I did my five window Thomas with single stage auto paint. One gallon of primer, one gallon of color.

I did not paint the roof. I’d go with PPG ESSS. Though I think any single stage auto paint would be
Better.

No offense to the Rustoleum painters. It’s my pure novice opinion.

Hey there Danjo. I wanted to check in and see how your paint job is holding up? After doing lots of research, your method seems like the most simple option. Is she still looking good? Any issues a few years down the road?


Thank!

[Danjo]

Originally Posted by Anonybus

Hey there Danjo. I wanted to check in and see how your paint job is holding up? After doing lots of research, your method seems like the most simple option. Is she still looking good? Any issues a few years down the road?


Thank!

Paint still looks great! Good adhesion. I ran it up against some chaparral and marred the side a little, but it didn’t take the paint off.

I’m pretty happy with the quality of the job I did and it’s holding up very well.

[Anonybus]

Originally Posted by Danjo

Paint still looks great! Good adhesion. I ran it up against some chaparral and marred the side a little, but it didn’t take the paint off.

I’m pretty happy with the quality of the job I did and it’s holding up very well.

Thanks for the update. Looks like we have similar 5 window skoolies. I'm spending the week sanding in preparation to tackle the paint. Did you use a sprayer or did you roll it on? We have access to a quality sprayer and all that is necessary with that, but I'm open to rolling as well.



Do you mind linking to the exact product that you used? I'm coming up with mixed results.



Thanks again.

[Danjo]

I used the PPG Delfleet Essential product line.

I used

Epoxy Primer ESU481 4:1
Hardener ESU489

Delfleet Essentials ESS 6:1:1
Hardener ESH200
Activator ESX 510

It was sprayed using HVLP sprayer, wet on wet. I don’t know about rolling. It’s possible that a foam roller would work, but I’d get a small amount and test it first. If I were to try rolling, I’d use a foam roller and avoid bubbles by trying to flush the air out of it by pushing it against the bottom of the rolling pan.

[ol trunt]

I used the same thing as Danjo on the main body color. I used Nason Full Base for the base coat color on the fenders along with PCL Super Pro Clear. Both paint types have retained their fresh as new looks for nearly 10 years now. Both were applied with a high dollar HVLP gun.

The Delfleet is more prone to bruising than is the B/C but it does rub out to near new. It is also substantially cheaper than B/C.

My bus is kept indoors most of the time and I wax it about twice a year and I expect that has helped the paint job survive. I wouldn't consider using a roller or a brush with either of these materials because the surface closes too quickly for rolled or brushed application to flow out--which results in lap marks and a 20 ft job.
Jack