Yeah, I know... tons of info out there for avoiding or removing orange peel in paint, but I like to know how to actually create it. I'm getting ready to repaint my charcoal canister and the original finish has heavy orange peel and even a couple of runs. I want to recreate that. I'm guessing spraying heavy with reduced gun pressure would do the trick but thought I'd see what you expert painters think. I'll be spraying SEM Trim Black and also thought maybe using lacquer thinner as reducer for a fast flash time would boost the orange peel. Thoughts?

Rustoleum has a hammered paint which may look like orange peel.

@bbrock

I think you may be the only guy that hasn't mastered the artsy side of orange peel along the way to learing how to paint.

You're on the right track. Less flow, move gun closer with less "fan" pattern and fast flash reducer. More flow and a slight pause in the movement of the gun if you want the runs. Bottom line for orange peel, you want the paint to flash off the solvent before the paint has time to flow out.

Still can't belive I'm reading this but you certainly get extra points for orginality!

Ha! You give me too much credit. I'm perfectly capable of making orange peel by accident, but you know exactly what will happen when I try to create it on purpose - it will be the only time I lay down a professional looking laser level finish.

I'm pretty sure the car will be downright undrivable with a ridiculously smooth finish on the canister. Got to have that factory look man.

I'd laugh harder but hey, I plan to put a canister there for the right look though I haven't decided if I'll actually plumb it up proper.

Why would you not plumb it?

The vid below tells you how not to get orange peel, but if you do a bit of a 180 it's also how to create OP.
Get some scrap bits and play with different gun settings and/or reducers till you get the desired effect. Most pro guys would still colour sand the finish but they don't remove all of the OP.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkrToVGXLPY

@bbrock

1) That space under the drive side door sill that normally houses the evap loop will get used to relocate my battery to Frunk.

2) Conversion to six in the future. If I don't lose my job out of the US self inflicted economic suicide plan it will be a small miracle. With money available, I'll go PMO ITB with modern EFI. Lot of variations in whether or not that setup will ultimately include evaporative emission loop. With no job, the six conversion will go on the back shelf for a long while.

3) I'm entertaining other things I might be able to run through the tunnel as part of the rustoration. If I can fit the evap loop lines in there too, that might be a game changer.

Awesome! I've watched a lot of that guy's vids but hadn't seen that one. Exactly what I needed except... three may be a change of plans and I might be spraying this with rattle can. Was planning to shoot SEM Trim Black for all the fuel tank components but discovered it isn't a good match. Original paint is more of a semi-gloss than satin and VHT Chassis and Rollbar paint is a pretty close match. Might have to experiment and see if I can get that to look shitty enough to match the original finish on the canister.

A sure-fire, easy way to get it is to just ask me to come over and paint it for you.

I've been using VHT semi gloss black epoxy and I like the finish. It sprays out pretty nicely though, I'm not sure it's going to give you the texture you're looking for.

My .02 is unless you're going to show it in a PCA concours, as long as it all looks uniform, who really cares? Your car is going to be infinitely better than it was just a few years ago.

If you're going to rattle can it and can't control the solvent, you might try heating the part up in the with a heat gun to get it up to 120F or something like that. Don't worry, a closed trunk on a sunny day with a dark color car will easily be 120F inside, you won't hurt a thing.

That way when the rattle can solvent hits the part, it flashes off quickly due to part temp.

Have fun you mad scientist!

Well spraying heavy will get you the runs you’re looking for. But for orange peel viscosity is the key. The thicker the paint the more air pressure you need to get it to atomize.

Mission accomplished.

Click to view attachment

I tried a couple things without success. Then I went through the paint shelves with viscosity in my head. Here was the secret sauce.

Click to view attachment

I adjusted the texture by spraying from a slightly farther distance than normal, then waved a heat gun over it to solidify the undercoating before it had a chance to flow out. After letting it dry a couple days, I top coated with VHT epoxy gloss black to get the desired sheen. I am the king of shitty paint jobs!