Well I picked up a set of Sinister extended abs bags and dropped them off at a painter to be done in Vivid Black. I have never had a set of bags done before so this part is new to me. This painter has done gas tanks, fenders etc for me and they all have turned out great. They one thing in common is they were all previously painted.

They looked great when I picked them up. As soon as I got home I put one bag on my RG. The color matches but the finish does not. Fish eyes all over and blury. It's no where near the smooth, mirror finish of the stock harley tins.

I have to bring them back tomorrow and wanted some insight as I am not very educated on the painting process. I was told they were sanded, primed then sanded and primed again then had the coat of something so the paint would stick to the plastic. The cost was $350 for both bags. Can anyone tell me where they may have gone wrong? My first thought is they did not sand them smooth like they were supposed to be.

Thanks.

 

Doesn't sound like they cleaned the surface very well before painting. Or they maybe didn't paint them in a booth and dirt got in it? Idk, but usually fisheyes are caused by dirt or some other matter on the surface

 

"fish eyes" like the opposite effect of "orange peel"?

 

Well you got me. Like I said I know nothing about paint. The best way to describe it is when you put stock HD stuff next to the bags, I can clearly see my ugly mug in the HD stuff, like looking into a mirror. My image on the bags is very blury where it does not look like a mirror clear image. It seems to have a bunch of small round circles that are distorting the view. The bags are straight with no waves at all.

 

fisheyes come from contamination from wax or such, probably a release agent used on the bags. If your painter did not clean them first, he sanded the contamination into the bags. If he is a good painter he should know that. As for blury it could be orange peel or just not sanded and buffed out like they should have done.

 

Exactly! Most of these stretched bags were made in a mold of some kind... they use a release agent to get them out of the mold. My painter actually cleaned my parts with a special cleaner for these types of agents, then baked them in his booth, then cleaned them again... all of this before ever sanding them. Sounds like your painter did not clean them before scuffing them. My Sinister parts look like painted glass!

 

I agree with all previous comments. I spray lacquer finishes on wood. I go to the auto paint store and buy "Smoothie". About 4 little squirts per gallon eliminates fish-eyeing. Having said this, if the release agent was not cleaned properly, it will fish-eye. The mold release agents can have silicon in them. You cannot simply dilute that stuff and wash it off, it has to be cleaned, cleaned, then cleaned some more.

 

Sounds like a significant amount of orange peel. Hopefully a good wet sanding and buffing is all they need.

 

yep, that's what I was thinking.

 

ICYBUYS painter did it right-clean and bake. Fiberglass is a whole different animal compared to metal. You may get by with a good cut and buff-good luck