Spraying the van's exterior was only one part of a much longer coating project. My AEROPRO purchase belongs to the painting kit, while the diary records the masking, preparation and finish problems that shaped my view of that work.
My van with masking around the exterior areas prepared for coating.
The item in my kit
I bought AEROPRO R500 LVLP Spray Gun as part of my camper van equipment.
Spraying the van's exterior was only one part of a much longer coating project. My AEROPRO purchase belongs to the painting kit, while the diary records the masking, preparation and finish problems that shaped my view of that work.
Where it fits my build
I taped the boundaries and covered the areas that would not be painted with plastic sheeting. I then sanded the exposed areas with an orbital sander and 60-grit abrasive, blew away the dust with a compressor, and cleaned and degreased the surfaces.
I mixed clear bedliner with white tint and sprayed the van. After it dried, I removed the masking. The tape and sheeting stage alone took around eight hours, and the finished edges still needed some touch-up.
The side of the van during the white-bedliner project.
My build notes
The most useful detail in my diary is the result, including the problems. Rust-Oleum pooled and dripped in places, and trying to repair one area with a paintbrush made it worse. I wrote that I would use a foam roller for touch-ups and preferred the more consistent finish I had obtained with RAPTOR.
Masking, preparation and application method each became a substantial part of the exterior-coating job.
Alternative products
Two alternatives to compare
The Astro EuroPro and NEIKO guns use HVLP formats. They are alternatives to the R500's LVLP design, with their own nozzle and cup arrangements.
Astro EuroPro HVLP Spray Gun
This Astro gravity-feed HVLP gun has a top-mounted paint cup. Its compressed-air controls provide another spray-gun format for liquid coatings.
This air-powered spray gun has a cup mounted above the gun body. Its trigger and adjustment controls provide a gravity-feed format for applying coatings.
