Paint issues, need help

I'm having some issues with painting at the moment. I've bought some auto spray paint (in a rattle can) from the local Autobarn. It's supposed to be a gloss orange. Sprayed some parts last night as a trial to see the final colour. It's come out looking satin. This is fine for the dash and steering wheel, as it almost looks like it could be orange leather or something as it has a bit of texture to it. I've attached a couple pics to show you how it's turned out. On the under bonnet the paint is very uneven and hasn't stuck to some of the edges etc. It almost seemed last night that the gloss component and the colour part didn't want to be together any more.

So my question is, what's going on? Will putting a clear over it fix it or will it still look a bit satin? (I really want it glossy). Could this have been something that I've done wrong (I don't think so, as I did exactly the same as all the other rattle cans I've bought, and from the same place as well)?

Hard to say exactly without knowing the paint and circumstances, but seeing as it is winter I would hazard a guess that it's just too cold. You can't use lacquer effectively below 20 degrees C - it has a tendency to go flat.

Thanks Bryce. All my spray paints are rattle can. Can't remember the brand, but it is automotive paint that I bought from Autobarn. I'll have a look tonight at the can for the "brand" on it. I just remember they are all mostly dark blue coloured cans. The dash has automotive grey primer then the orange. The under bonnet was the silver base coat (mostly) from my 57 in the tri-five build.

The paint is stored in the house so the room temp was comfortable (don't know the exact temp) before spraying, but sprayed it quickly outside after work last night, then taken back inside to dry in the room under the workbench light.

When it was sprayed the paint looked a bit watery (thin) and runny, as it was starting to dry air bubbles seemed to appear (so I'm guessing that caused the "texture"). Would the cold cause that? Or maybe I didn't shake it properly enough. Although I thought I'd shaken it enough.

The paint is stored in the house so the room temp was comfortable (don't know the exact temp) before spraying, but sprayed it quickly outside after work last night, then taken back inside to dry in the room under the workbench light.

shouldnt really cause that much of an issue

When it was sprayed the paint looked a bit watery (thin) and runny, as it was starting to dry air bubbles seemed to appear (so I'm guessing that caused the "texture"). Would the cold cause that? Or maybe I didn't shake it properly enough. Although I thought I'd shaken it enough.

Sounds like its seperating in the can. Try sitting it in a pot of hot TAP water you should hear it bubbling a little then shake the bejezuss out of it for a minute ,this should insure its properly mixed.
Kinda sounds like its an enamel as a lacquer doesnt behave like that usually and wouldnt really have time to pull away from the edges (quite often happens with enamel rattle cans as they spray on a bit thick and pull away from edges and high spots as it looks to have done). If that doesnt work take it back and tell them its crap incase it was a bad batch. Good luck , Brett

Thanks DSF,

I'll try the hot water tonight. If that doesn't help, I may have to buy another can, and maybe a few other colours for good measure. Then hopefully it won't be too long from being finished.

I didnt think automotive paint was made in enamel spray cans any more.
You also have to be careful with the out side tempreture even with the can warmed up. Sometimes the paint will still go white while it is drying due to really cold air as I found out in my shed one night.

Thanks everyone for your help in this. It's the first time I've had problems with painting that I couldn't pin on me straight away.

I tried the warming of the can last night and resprayed the under bonnet. It seems to have gotten some of the gloss back. After the can cooled a bit, it seems to have gone back to the satin look. I guess I'll just have to warm the can more tonight and paint faster. If worse comes to worse, then it's more paint that I need to buy.

The paint can is power plus brand. Couldn't see whether it's enamel or not, only had a quick look at it this morning for the brand name.

I'm using power plus for the Monaro build and it's going similar with the first coat , rubbed it back and the second coat was better , third coat better again . I also heated the can for the third coat too though .

Not just temperature but also humidity can affect the paint & cause clouding.

And. FWIW car paint nearly always ends up semi-gloss when I spray it.

Sports850: I'd better try the extra coats tonight as well, as I've painted a few other bits and it was similar again. Not as bad as the first time. This is the first time I've had troubles with this paint, so I was hoping that someone else knew what might be going on.

Zenrat: I've put clear coat on my recent builds to get the gloss that I like, but I'd just never had it this dull before, unless I'd bought the matt colours by mistake. I'll try again tonight to paint some more and see how it goes.

no humity problems in SA just bloody cold.
If there is no improvement take it back.

I've had the same problem even with tamiya, the problem is the time in which you are spraying or conditions couple of tips for you.

during winter don't spray at night or early morning wait til the sun is up and the air has dried and warmed

Don't spray in wet whether.

the best way around all this is a heated spray booth or heat lamp and warm your paint can

just a thought have you ever noticed when a gas is released from a can it gets cold leaving condesation on a surface, this is the same with the thinners in your paint the thinners release leaving condesation on the surface e.g clouding paint. by having warm dry air and warm can doesn't allow the paint to get cold enough to cause this condensation.

I have been told that a lot of the paint in rattle cans made up on flat or satin base,I had a red that came out half satin and flat. car painter said if they use to much thinners in the rattle can,u can get patchy paint also.I airbrushed a VW ute pale green for Ken it looked gloss but dryed flat he had to clear coat of gloss over it,

i used to mix auto paint, from memory most paint is gloss to make it satin of flat we had to add a flattening base