Abram, ryoken,
I really do appreciate the color charts and reading. I guess that I've got my "weekend homework assignment". Since I wasn't getting anywhere with the Dupli-Color help line, and I've already got Dupli-Color products on the shell, I think that I'm going to stay with Dupli-Color brand this time. I've heard of reactions between different brands that may not show up for years and I don't want to have to sand all of the Dupli-Color stuff off to be sure. It may be overkill, but that's my style, ask any of my friends. That's also why when I build a 20 foot deer stand, they don't worry about using it no matter what they weigh.
I scuffed an area on the side of the shell and primed 1 part of it with Dupli-color scratch filling gray, another with a flat black primer. The third area I just scuffed and let the off color Dupli-Color #83 Gunmetal Metallic act as my primer. After I did a spray out on each primer and the off color gray, I let them dry and sprayed them with their clear on the fiberglass. There isn't very much difference, almost none, between any of them. It's close enough that if I couldn't see where I put the tape to separate the three, I'd be hard pressed to tell any difference in them.
I think what I'm going to do, if it sounds OK to y'all, is use a random orbital sander with about 600 ( other suggestions?) then come back with something like 800. Since the top has up to 6 layers of paint and 2 layers of scratch filling gray primer in some areas where I was testing, I'm thinking about using a rough enough sand paper to start with, so that if there's any areas that didn't bond to the prior coat properly, that they will show up. Do you think that 600 is coarse enough? I'm expecting to clog the sandpaper pretty fast, especially on the first pass. I've also thought of doing a third sanding with a little finer paper for the last pass due to the paint being kind of thin and I don't want to see heavy sanding scratches in the final product after I spray it with their clear. How many coats of the clear do you suggest and what grit should I scuff the clear with before I spray another coat of clear?
One other thing; I had some paper come loose and I got some overspray on the paint. Doesn't look too bad. What is the best way to remove it? Maybe wet sand lightly with 2000 paper or is there a easier way?
I found this color pattern in a Jimmy brochure that someone sent me. Oddly enough, I didn't find the color pattern that I had on it in the brochure. I'm going to look again.
If y'all have any suggestions, cautions, advice, I'll gladly listen.
Thanks again, Paul