One of the most significant and most important factors in spray painting is making sure you have, and give, enough time between coats. Rushed paintwork is the biggest contributor to the poorest finishes.
When you apply primer, you may notice small pinholes in the paintwork. This is because you have applied the primer to thickly, or the first coat has not had the time to fully cure before applying the second coat.
Cracking or webbing normally appears when there is a paint reaction or if the first coat of paint hasn’t dried before the second coat is applied (regardless whether its primer, base coat or topcoat).
Orange peel effect occurs when the paint droplets dry out before they have left the spray can, resulting in an unlevel surface. Make sure your spray paint cans are in date, and the nozzle is not clogged.
Tiger stripes are horizontal or vertical lines within the finished spray job. These lines are caused by not overlapping your passes with the spray can. Ideally, you need to overlap the passes by around 50% and across the stripes to get an even finish i.e. horizontally first and then finish off with the second coat vertically.
Another common misconception is that you must sand the paint between coats. This is not true. Although it can sometimes provide you with a flatter coat, it is not always necessary. If the last coat you laid is nice and flat with no imperfections, then continue with the job as normal and lay your next coat.
One of the most significant and most important factors in spray painting is making sure you have, and give, enough time between coats. Rushed paintwork is the biggest contributor to the poorest finishes.