Any auto body painters on here? Quick question

[trophyhunt]

So I went to macco to have my canopy painted.  Yes I know they are the k-mart of paint shops but I just didn't want to spend 1,00.00 to paint my canopy.  I was intrigued by their 275.00 dollar paint job, well after everything it came to 457.00.  Ok, I can live with that, but when I went to pick it up today!!  It already had several scuffs on the paint, one was all the way through the old paint.  My question is, it looked blotchy to me!  He said it takes time and a coat of wax to bring out the blotchy look??!! Is this correct or BS, I'm not a paint guy.  He said he will fix the scuffs and I can pick it up on Friday, what about the blotchy paint, is this what I have to expect for the price??? Thanks

[Woodchuck]

No "blotchy" isn't normal on a decent paint job. Wax will help hide some of it but you can't wax until the paint is fully cured. The truth is that you get what you pay for. 

[trophyhunt]

I do understand not to expect greatness, but it shouldn't be blotchy.  I would think the paint job should look fine but wouldn't expect it to last a long time.

[flinger]

No it should not,Wax will not cure blotchy You are Not paying for the performance and technique of the painter (maaco = applicator) you are paying for the quality of the material and preparation.
I know a bit about painting after 30 yrs. of that being my profession Bottom line You need to be happy with the job and not They say you should be happy 

[wildweeds]

Not a painter by trade,but I've been around enough of it and sprayed enough  junk iron  industrial type paint on my own to know that "Blotchy" isn't right,As you've allready mentioned,saving money comes with costs,the cost is cheap paint and less than stellar skills on the end of the working buisness of the spray gun.I've only been around painters who do show cars.Depending on the paint used you may be able to wetsand with a block and super super fine grit sandpaper(like 3000 grit) and then buff the paint out to blend it even.My best guess is the blotches are areas where the paint is thicker than the others.What color is it? Does it have any metal flake in it?

[trophyhunt]

It's a silver birch to match my gmc. So if its blotchy when I pick it up what the heck can I do about it? Tell them to take money off?

[flinger]

have them redo it. If you are not happy with the look tell them you understand that what you paid for is the cheaper materials but it should not look crappy, If they say that it will get better with time and wax It Will not, Being its a high metallic color I would assume they clear coated it. If they did it will not change the appearance with buffing / waxing / sanding what you see is what it is, if it is a single stage it will only get worse with buffing / waxing
as I said YOU need to be satisfied with what you paid for, They are the professionals and You are the paying customer

[724wd]

it's NOT going to get 'better'... sounds like he sprayed it dry or mixed it wrong

[wildweeds]

Flinger is right,I had a trainwreck with Concept paint,it was expensive and the guy who sprayed it for me,moved the trailer outside before it had cured the evening he shot it,it went from looking about 3 feet deep Mars Black  to a nice rat rod matte finish because it "Blushed",no amount of rubbin,buffin would fix it.I ended up reshooting with some cheap paint.It was on a horse trailer I had completely reworked,I tried for really nice and ended up with mediocre.I should have just shot it in my driveway myself,which is what ended up happening anyway!

[Bofire]

  I hope yer related to an attorney, I think yer gonna need one. Maaco does not paint well but they ain't stupid, I bet you signed yer rights away. good luck tho I hope they fix it.
Carl

[flinger]

Small print certainly could be an issue but for the most part decent shops prefer satisfied customers

[Whitelightning]

MAACO cheap paint job is just that cheap. They will almost always spray SINGLE STAGE paint for their low cost paint jobs because single stage is low cost not only in material but labor as well. Single stage metallic paint is harder to orient the metallic flakes evenly than a base coat clear coat application. This is most likely why its blotchy, it could also be lack of even coverage. No it will not get better. The warranty may be 30-30! I hope you are able to get an acceptable resolution to the issue.

[demontang]

Yea if it looks like that now its not going to change. A metallic color like that id bet they didnt use the right pressure or over lapped as they spray. Id bet you stuck with it being macco and it will probly need repainted in sort time seen as there prep work and materials arent the greatest

[GrainfedMuley]

it's NOT going to get 'better'... sounds like he sprayed it dry or mixed it wrong

I have been painting for Boeing for 27 years. I have done several cars and motorcycles on the side. A canopy or two also.   Spraying the paint "dry" would not leave it blochy. It would leave a rough finish with no shine to the gloss. Mixing it wrong would not make it blochy either. The problem sounds to me that the paint gun was not very clean and left an uneven pattern on what is called the fan. If you spray that way it will leave an uneven streaky, blochy looking job when done. Plus you have to have enough light to see what you are doing. With enough light you could have seen what was happening and try to correct that as you paint. The employees that work for Maco are entry level employees. They are still learning the fine art of painting a car. There is a fine line when spraying enamel. You have to put enough product on the surface to make it look wet but not too much that the paint runs. If it has a clear coat on top of the color, then yes some of the lighter scuffs can be rubbed out with a buffer and rubbing compound. The one scuff that has gone beyond the old paint will not rub out. I live in Puyallup and can spray it for you if you are going to redo it. I have all the tools and and materials to prep, mask and spray it for you.  I can have it done in a weekend.

[trophyhunt]

it's NOT going to get 'better'... sounds like he sprayed it dry or mixed it wrong

I have been painting for Boeing for 27 years. I have done several cars and motorcycles on the side. A canopy or two also.   Spraying the paint "dry" would not leave it blochy. It would leave a rough finish with no shine to the gloss. Mixing it wrong would not make it blochy either. The problem sounds to me that the paint gun was not very clean and left an uneven pattern on what is called the fan. If you spray that way it will leave an uneven streaky, blochy looking job when done. Plus you have to have enough light to see what you are doing. With enough light you could have seen what was happening and try to correct that as you paint. The employees that work for Maco are entry level employees. They are still learning the fine art of painting a car. There is a fine line when spraying enamel. You have to put enough product on the surface to make it look wet but not too much that the paint runs. If it has a clear coat on top of the color, then yes some of the lighter scuffs can be rubbed out with a buffer and rubbing compound. The one scuff that has gone beyond the old paint will not rub out. I live in Puyallup and can spray it for you if you are going to redo it. I have all the tools and and materials to prep, mask and spray it for you.  I can have it done in a weekend.

very nice offer and good info, how much would you charge me to re-shoot it?  Before I took it to these dip sticks I already removed all the windows, I'm supposed to pick it up Friday.  I'm not in a huge hurry, and they will have sucked almost 500 out of me so putting much more into it will be difficult.  Thanks again for all the input, I will tell them what you all said but it sounds like macco will just not care.