Paint.

Paint comes in several guises, be careful they don't all go together and can react and ruin your hard work.

Preparation is the key. If you don't get the preparation right it's  not worth doing. Strip the panels (Not plastic panels paint stripper is not good for plastic:- just key the panels.) Key up all paint work to accept new paint. Use 800 before primer then flat the primer using 1000-1200 wet and dry. Add a little washing up soap to the water you use. The soap grabs the dust from the paper and helps to reduce friction.

MAKE SURE NO GREASE, OIL OR WAX COME INTO CONTACT WITH YOUR WORK.

If you don't flat the paint or filler properly you will see it through the new paint. If you don't key it up correctly it may peel or flake.

Isolator.

An isolator put's a protective coating over what ever it is sprayed upon. If you are not stripping a tank back to metal I would always use an isolator, it will save you redoing the job. Always use an isolator when spraying plastics. I use an isolator called Barcoat.

Cellulose.

This is the easiest medium to spay with, it day's quickly but it reacts with all other types of paint. Use an isolator if you don't know what you are spaying on top of. You can spay anything over the top of cellulose.

Mix ratio:- 1-1 (1 part paint 1 part thinners) for most celluloses occasionally the suppler might say its 1-2. Ensure once you have added the thinners you stir well, paint not mixed well will not atomize correctly and give a poor finish.

Application's:- 3 coats.

1 light coat or a key coat. This is see through and only takes a few minutes to dry.

The 2nd coat is heavier and should almost if not cover everything. But be careful not to get any runs. Allow 5 mins to dry.

The 3rd coat is the final coat this is a heavy wet coat which should go on smooth and thick but not run. Allow 15 mins to be touch dry but several hours before it can be polished or masked.

If you are spraying a metallic base coat the above applies except you also apply 3 coats of single pack lacquer. You can use two pack however it takes hours to dry and can catch the dust etc. (If you can keep the paint work in a dust free environment two pack gives a better finish.) Should you use two pack lacquer remember you have to isolate it if you wish to paint over it.

Two Pack.

Two Pack is dangerous! Do not breath the vapour, us an air fed mask.

Mix ratios:- Lacquer requires 2-1 two parts paint to one part activator (Hardener), I don't add any thinners some add 10% thinners. Base coats are 1-1 One part paint one part thinners. The thinners is not the same a cellulose thinners.

Application:- As cellulose but remember Two Pack does not dry quickly it takes 2-3 hours to be touch dry and 24hrs before it can be keyed or masked.

Note:- Two pack lacquer does not always like two pack paint being sprayed on top of it. If you wish to lay a base coat then mask it off and lay another colour I would spray a protective layer of single pack lacquer. You could just mask the paint however quite often this bruises the base coat and when lacquer is applied you can see where you have touched it. Hence the thin layer of single pack. Should you apply lacquer to be painted over key it with 1200 wet and dry.

Good luck.