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A while back, I had a V83 I stripped. I cut the Coca Cola embossing from the door skin, and I am going to paint it for a sign. Its looks pretty cool. I am going to try to use the wet sanding trick. Rustoleum now sells Lacquer in a spray can and I grabbed some red and white. I put a whole lot of coats of white on the sign. The can says it dries hard in about an hour. I plan on letting it sit all day, and hitting it with red tomorrow. I know red pigments typically bleed and I don't want it turning my white into pink when I wet sand. Should I use a clear lacquer in between just to seal the white paint? So far the white looks great. Very nice bright glossy white.

       Yes, always use as much clearcoat as possible between 2 colors of paint,
especially if you are going to be sanding through one of them. I've never used
spray can clear but think that drying time should be several days before coating
over it.

       Instead of sanding, you could remove the red paint while it's still fresh,with
cleaning solvent, providing the clear coat has cured.

Excellent... I'm glad I asked... thanks Glen... I'll post pics when I'm done with it. This is the first time I've seen lacquer spray paint in a can.... The white really went on perfectly. I'm hoping this comes out as good as I hope. I'll take some pics before I put on the next coat.

Lesson learned.... Patience is necessary when painting. I put my white paint on the sign.. many coats waiting average 20 min or so between. To help it cure faster, I positioned my heat gun close to the sign to blow hot air across it. After 6,8,9 coats (not exactly sure) I let it sit for 2 days... using the heat gun periodically. After 2 days, got some clear lacquer and put a few coats of clear on. It dried in my basement for a few hours, again with heat... The next day was a beautiful sunny day, so I put the sign outside in the sun for a few hours. After looking at it, I noticed a few lines in the paint. I could have sanded them out, but by the morning, my sign looked like a stained glass window. So, out came the stripper and I just cleaned all the paint off. I'll prep again, and leave probably a week between layers... 

Any other suggestions on where I may have screwed up?

Not a painting expert, but I would leave out the heat gun step and let the paint dry naturally

      I'm sceptical of any clearcoat that does not require a catalyst for a proper curing.

This is the stuff I used....

Mohawk Pre-Catalyzed Clears

Features excellent flow out for touch-up use. The dry film is very durable and adheres where other finishes will not. The product has been tested and approved for in-factory touch-up on catalyzed finishes.

* Excellent atomization
* Excellent adhesion
* Very good clarity and durability


http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/item_view.asp?src=cat&ictNbr=439&itemNbr=20977
They have a pdf datasheet with more info..

I was going to go back to HD and get the matching clear...

Well, after stripping the whole sign back to metal, I started over. I let the pain cure by itself and sit a few days between colors. Last night, I got around to some wet sanding. I hit the red with 220 first. I need to still go over the edges and hit it with 400 or so to clean it up. I had one pin hole to fix in the white, but otherwise, nothing else sanded through. I think I spent about 20 min sanding if that....

Looks good! Good job. I will try that on my next embossed machine.

Looks great from the photo ! ! !
Are the edges sharp and clean...?
This technique will save money on paying sign lettering!

In that pic, no. I have to go back over it and do the edges now. I spent about 1/2 hour on it tonight, and got "Coca" pretty cleaned up with 400 grit. I don't have great light where I am working, so its a bit slow. But its looking decent. I'll get some more pics as I go along...