This is a quick guide which walks you through the spray painting process

What Type of Paint do i use?
2 Packs (2k) Dry/ harden like a two part epoxy you normaly mix in a catylist (hardner) which makes the paint go hard. Problem is the catylist is a carcinogen (meaning it is know to cause cancer) and it is absorbed through the pours in your skin and lungs. So when painting u must have at the very least use a face mask rated for spraying 2 Pack but better a fresh air supply system (starting from $1500) or some scuba gear u can borrow. The upside is this paint is very durable and flexible. It is resistant to oils, petrol and acid rain. It is the paint used by the automotive industry as standard. And if you have a very clean spray area u may not even have to sand it after u have painted it. -Candy colours fit into this catagory, they are basicly a semi translucent system of colour layers that is difficult to acheive for the avarage DIY project so they will not be covered here.
Acrylic These are the paints that where used on cars some 20 years ago. They air dry by the evaporation of thinner. They are much safer than 2 packs containig nothhing realy nasty. They require more work in the wetsanding polishing department after spraying to get them to look good. And they are much less resistant to fuel and oils. -Enamals, having not used them myself i cannot coment much, but they are a favourite with anyone who wishes to restore using only genuin parts and materails. Also well suited to heat afflicted areas such as gearboxes engine calipers ect.
Clear coat or Not
While we are on this topic u will also have to decide wether or not u want to clear coat your machine. As with most paints u will be able to get a colour in either Clear over base (COB) or solid colour (which is clear coat and base/pigment mixed together). There is normaly not a huge diffrence in the final outcome however the clear coat system will always have a deeper shine. For the DIY job a solid (clear+pigment) mix is always best.
Equipment
$130 Air Compresser starter Kit This will usaly involve some hoses fittings blow gun and a cheap sucktion fed spray gun (throw away the spray gun its crap) $50-120 Decent spray gun For motorcycles you want a 1.4 mm needle gravity fed spray gun. As it is to hard to work with a 2.0 needle around a motorbike and not get runs and sags. Most hardware shops will offer a half decent one for a good price. HVLP is just another option that means it supposedly uses paint more efficiently.

Clean Everything

The first thing u must do is clean your fairing inside and out, use de greaser/metho/waxngrease/warm soapy water

Remove any decals with either a razor or a heat gun. the glue can easily be cleaned up with de greaser/wax and grease remover ect

Repair, Sand, Putty

Prep Gear

$5 Sandpaper 300-600grit $30 Spray on putty some putties may cause paint to crack or not be suitable for plastic fairings. A good bumper (as in car bumper) or catylised (2k) spray putty are good options. Stay away from acrylic spray putties. $16 Plastic Putty (deep scratches masking plastic repairs) $35 Plastic Primer used on any bare plastic parts

• You will need to do is asses your fairing if there are any cracks on it u will need to get them plastic welded or repaired with epoxy or fiberglass followed by sanding (plastic welding is much prefered as fiberglass or a poor epoxy job will delaminate sooner or later will delaminate)
• If there is any bubbling or paint that has started to crack off u will need to sand around the affected areas with 120 then 300 grit remove anypaint that has started to lift.

Sand the whole fairing with 400 grit sand papers, wet/dry types are the best. doing your best to do the corners and edges as well as mount holes

If there are anyy deep marks feel free to go over them with plastic putty and sand down to 300 grit

If there is any exposed plastic go over with a spray of plastic primer (most will be ready to paint within an hour)

If there are multiple small scrapes and scratches u may put on a layer of spray on putty. Which will need to be sanded with 300 grit paper. this will provide for a surface which is very easy to sand and is able to become very smooth. And will provide a better/smoother looking surface for paint with less effort involved. On the downside it makes the paint job more prone to cracking and drying out later on. Especially when this layer has been heavily piled on. However it will make for a very smooth and easy to sand surface. U may skip this step.

Clean with anti static cleaner (this will stop dust from being attracted to the plastic)

Paint

Supplies Acrlic	Supplies 2pack
$50 paint (normaly comes in single stage) $30 thinners Optional supplies $30 Elastic bumper spray putty if needed (do not use normal spray putty or acrylic primer surfacer $50Sealer $15 Cut n polish compund	$50 paint $30 clearcoat (if using basecoat paint) $35 2k hardener $35 2k thinners $35 Basecoat thinners (can be substituted for 2k thinners) $60 high build primer or 2k etch primer Optional supplies $30 Rubbing compound (dont use acrylic cut n polish) $50 Dark rubbing compound (2k dark colors only) $50 Clear Coat Polish or polymer coat

Spray putty everything.

Use a cheap black or other dark colour and lay a very light coat over everything

U will most likely find areas that need to be sanded again.

Sand as necassary

If u are using a sealer spray it on now.

A sealer when used will stop the thinners in the paint reacting with the paint layers underneath. A sealer is somtimes used with 2 packs when multiple layers have been striped and the peice is going to be painted without applying any 2 pack spray putty (which also acts as a sealer)

Spray all the hard to reach areas first and all the edges with a layer of paint. Let it flash dry and repeat as per
manufacturers instructions. Do light gentle coats of base coat as to not disturb any of the underlining layers (acrylic paints are prone to this).

Let dry and repeat with the clear coat (clear coat systems only)

There is a bit of skill involved in making everything look good and shiny, u must get the amount of thinner/reducer correct the colder the weather the more u should add. The smoother the finish u want the more coats u will need with more reducer in them. However the more reducer u put in the pain the easier it is to get runs, Which will need to be sanded out later.

It is best to let the spray area u are using air out and all the dust settle before u begin to paint.

Wetsanding

This step is crucail to most DIY jobs as you will have just and contaminates and orange peel in your paint job. this process will get rid of that and can be used on all paint types and most bare metals.

Please note it is alot harder to wetsand and polish 2 pack paint that it is acrylic. As 2 packs dry harder and after sanding them it is harder to regain the shine.

If there is lots of contamination dust ect in your paint work u may choose to wet sand it. Now it is possible to start wetsanding with 1200 grit and then work your way up to 1500 and finaly 2000, but this does not work well for me as i often miss areas and even though cutting compounds are ment to take out any scratches/sand marks above 1100 grit the truth is they dont. I wetsand with 1500 and then with 2000. Also it is importand to note do not sand areas that you cannot cut polish or cant get the buffing machine into.

Polish and Detail

U really must use a machine for this step. Apply some cutting/rubbing compound to the foam pad and rub it agains the sanded areas untill u are happy with the amount of shine u receive.

If your are painting a dark colour you have the option of using a very fine rubbing compound that will get rid of all the swirl marks the first compund left (they will not be noticible on a light colour)

Then its time for the final polish rub it on as per instructions (some polishes require heat to seat properly this is usaly provided by the friction of the fast spinning buffing machine)

Smooth everthing down with a soft cloth

Look back and enjoy.