How-To Spray Raail Spherical

How to spray Raail Spherical

Please always do a test panel.

Yes I know, this looks like a lot. We are working on a video but I still wanted to have this typed up.

Step 1:

Wash the vehicle 24-48 hours prior, using Raail Wash (coming soon) or Dawn Dish Soap (scent free) and water. A good proper wash. If you feel a gritty texture on the car still, we suggest clay bar. After the 24-48 hours of the car drying. You can start the masking process. You can of course speed up the process by force drying however water in the cracks and crevices will cause issues later. Ensure as much water as possible is gone.

Materials: We currently like the blue 3m tape sold at most local stores. (Lowes, Home Depot and so on). As for paper, Trimaco solvent resistant paper. It's an army green color and comes in a 12in roll. Tape-N-Drape is normally right around there. It's good to pick up a roll of that too. Lastly a razor or an exacto knife. This will come in handy later. 

Now the car is in your spray booth/space and you have the materials needed, you can move on to masking.

Masking: *We will start having videos about this topic. More in-depth. We will update this post with the video. We do however suggest masking up the car with the mindset of traditional paint. Cover anything you don't want sprayed. We've noticed it's just easier to peel the tape and know it's done vs trying to get something out of a crack later.

*Tip: Better the prep the better the end result.

Final wipe down before spraying: Please use a lint free towel and Raail Pre Spray or 3/4 Denatured Alcohol + 1/4 water and a couple drops of Dawn Dish Soap in a spray bottle. Do a finial wipe down. This is key.

 

Spray day!

Best to keep the gallons room temp. If the paint is too hot or too cold from sitting in a garage for a while, the paint may dry faster/slower than what you want and cause issues. Best to leave them room temp. 

Raail Spherical Surfacer (1st)

25-30 psi with a 1.6 or greater (use what is comfortable to your spraying)  

Always mix and filter prior to adding to your hopper. 

Spray 2 light/tack coats on the surface. This will increase adhesion while helping to prevent fish eyes on future coats. 

 

Raail Spherical Primer (2nd)

This is going to be your first pre-tinted gallon. Here you will use the same 1.6 or higher tip at 25-30 PSI. Colors come in: Black, Light Grey and Dark Grey. 

Please always mix and filter prior to adding to your hopper. 

Spraying 6-8 inches away from the panel. Apply a nice light/medium coat. Allow 10-15 minutes to dry. Longer in cold climates. Continue with the coats however more on the medium side till the primer gallons are empty. Spraying panel by panel is good to do here. This allows the coating 

 

Raail Spherical Mid-Coat (3rd)

Same gun, tip size and psi. (Unless you have a preference at this point)

Please always mix and filter prior to adding to your hopper. 

Either you are spraying your Clear Mid-coat plus pearls or you are spraying a base color for the pearls or... you're spraying the final color. 

With all that being said let's break down each one.

First one, Clear Mid-Coat plus pearl. We don't suggest more than 35g in a gallon for a few reasons. Makes striping occur much easier. Also can "white out" easier. Not to mention the pearls can sag much easier now. This is one of those "more isn't better" type of things. When spraying pearls, always mix well. Even mix between refills of the hopper. Spray full passes. Do not go panel by panel. Walk the full car length. Nice even coats. On average 3-4 nice even coats does the trick. If you see where there is some areas that need some touching up, feel free to do so now. Allow 10-15 min to dry between coats. 

Next option is if you are spraying a base coat to better match your pearls. 

We always like this option. Example: Mars Megashift looks great over a black base but when applied over a Purple base, the shift has a great effect to it. 

This would be the step in the process as to where you would spray that purple. Same as all above. Nice medium coats. 10-15 dry time between. Panel by panel is good here. Unless you are spraying super light colors like white, yellow and tan. Full passes for those is suggested. Especially with white. 

Last option is you are spraying your final color. Same as above, nice medium coats. You can do a coat or two panel by panel and the rest full car length. Unless you are spraying white. Full car length for you. :) 

Final step before Spherical ClearCoat.... Raail Spherical Surfacer. 

This is going to be your "sealer" coat. This locks everything in. This will act as a barrier so to speak with pearls, flakes or even Candy. This process needs to be applied wet. One nice even wet coat. Allow 1.5-2.0 hours to full dry before ClearCoat. 

 

Raail Spherical ClearCoat

Kept room temp. You will mix 1:1. That's 1 equal part of gloss and 1 equal part of activator. Please use the mixing cup given with the kit. Yes we are working on a video. :) Please filter prior to mixing in your hopper. We like to use a completely separate gun when it comes to Clearcoat/gloss. The main reason is because you need to really clean out your previous gun of any existing product before Clearcoat is added in the mix. That may cause issues when applying Clearcoat. So we just use separate gun. 1.4 tip of less for Clearcoat. 

Only mix one hopper at a time. If you mix all at once, you will have a much harder time spraying near the end since the coating as started the curing process. So it's best just to mix only what you need.

Spray one medium/wet coat panel by panel. Medium/wet meaning the surface is wet but not to the point where it's almost dripping. Allow a solid 10-15 min to dry. Start a timer and clean out your gun. After that do a super quick walk around. This will allow you to see any areas you may need to focus on with the next and final coat. We've found it's best to spray panel by panel when it comes to Clearcoat. 

Final Coat: Mixing 1:1 still and spray a nice wet coat panel by panel. Ensure your coats are overlapping nicely for an even finish. There is a sweet spot. Too wet and you'll have runs or dye back and too dry you will have orange peel and dry spots. Practice panel is always key.

After that coat, do a super quick walk around and double check all looks even. No dry spots and no runs. 

Allow 6+ hours to dry. We like spraying at the end of the day and letting it dry overnight before we start unmasking.

Tip - Keep a nice airflow out of the space so the solvents can escape.   

Unmasking: After 6+ hours, start the unmasking process. Taking that exacto knife or razor blade and cutting any pieces where the coating and vehicle surface touch. A steady hand is needed here. Peel the tape at a sharp angle. This will help ensure the coating has a clean cut. 

Feel free to give it a quick wash and wipe down. I know, super long message. Sorry. 

We will break down more steps if needed along the way like

-Masking

-Flow Coating

-Wet Sanding and buffing

Disclaimer: We tried our best to give key information however this does not include everything. Some small stuff needs to be learned along the way. Easy but small. We are here to assist 100%.