Need Painters Expertise On Supplies, Please (not labor)

i really need some imput on the supplies it would take to paint my project BRAVA-DIME. this includes jams, under hood, all engine compartment, full body and interior panels (not the roof). i have-to-date a front and read bumper and grille and 4 out of 11 interior pieces completely done. with the one gallon (+ activator, hardner, reducer) we have guide coated the entire truck twice and now he is asking for another 2 gallons to guide coat it one more time. since october i have spent $1,300+ for 3-4 gallons of "rage" filler, 2 "easy sand" filler putty (in the squeeze plastic jug), 2 gallons of primer (which reduced would make more) 1 1/2 gallons of kandy orange with activator, reducer and hardner, a "sleeve" of blue tape (like 6-8 rolls), 2-3 gallons transtar of clear and reducer, hardner, etc. rolls of paper to tape off misc., a box/roll of plastic wrap for taping off truck while priming, etc., 7 gallons of acetone, etc. and many other items. i need some input as to if i should just call it a loss and retrieve my supplies (or whatever is left when i show up) or keep getting these random tex'd messages about "need another gallon of rage and primer" or "need some more clear and acetone"....... painters please chime in as to what the total amount of supplies would take to do the job. im really starting to think he is using my stuff to finish other projects and has me replacing them at my expense. if any other information is needed, please message me and i will do what i can to help you help me. THANK YOU!!!

I am not a professional painter myself so all I can relate is my experience.  Is there any interior / engine or under body?  If not then the request for tape is a lot.  To mask a vehicle does take quite a bit of tape especially if done many times.  The request for primer sounds about fair.  Bondo request might be a bit excessive unless the truck required a lot of work to it.  Add in smoothing and primering the interior and primer goes fast.  I think I have about three gallons on a regular cab Ranger with a bunch of interior painted.As I go thru the paint process I have a new appreciation why so many rides stumble at that stage.  It is not cheap to do it right and when done right the cost is well worth it.  Good luck and hope my input helps and you can get your truck in paint.  Its a whole new feeling. P.S.  Primering and bodywork is not the costly part (besides labor) wait until you see the bill for paint and clear.

my only 2 cents into this is that most of the material put on a truck to get it smooth is sanded right back off. seriously, they should call it sanding a vehicle as opposed to painting it. ive got 2 gallons of rage and 2 gallons of 2k primer on my truck thus far and im only 50% into the cab. its a ton of materials man! and just think, your truck is 3 times longer than mine is.  

some of the materials seem slightly high, however it also comes down to equipment he is using, and ability to do something right the first time. If he is having a hard time with the bodywork, then he will be wasting lots of filler, by re-applying it over and over. Thats pretty much the only problem I see there. As for clears and primers, again if he is using an older spray gun, that has a lower transfer efficincy rating, than he will be wasting materials. Perhaps he is putting 3-4 coats of clear on each piece. I typically just do 2 coats.  Its tough to say if he is wasting the products, we all do work differntly. I work with 3 other painters, and we all use differnt amounts of tape, paper, primers, and paint. So I guess if your happy with his quality, attitude, and price, then suck it up and pay the material bill. But if your not happy with the work he is doing, than go look for another tradesperson. -Brad

I would agree with everyone else. I think on my truck i have a almost a gallon of kitty hair two gallons of rage gold, most of which hit the ground as dust. four gallons of HOK epoxy primer 2 1/2 gallons of unreduced paint at 850 a gallon (5 gallons sprayable )for the blue and 3 QTs of silver. and two gallons of clear. but all that counts the frame and bottom of the truck. You could stop in and watch him work for a while and see how it goes. if he mixes way to much clear and pours a bunch out then maybe he should be a little more carful same with primer and body filler. if its just taking a bunch to do it and not being wasted and the work looks good then suck it up and spend the money. the one thing you put ist the two gallons of primer when reduced would make more, but most primers dont get reduced a lot usally only 10% at the most. just hardner put in.  

well a couple things, first thats a ton of materials for a job, like was said tho all of us do it differently so its hard to say he is wasting it, i will say tho if he got all that stuff for 1300 bucks he stole it each gallon of rage is about 38 bucks                                                                                                                                                      152.00 each gallon of primer around 185 with all the crap that goes in it .                                                                                                         370.00 each tube glazing putty around 45 each                                                                                                                                                  90.00 a "sleeve" of blue tape (well blue tape dome come this way) but say 6 rolls 7.50 each                                                                           45.00 each gallon of transtar clear has got to be around 195, with hardener or so, (i dont use this crap so i am makin a educated guess)  585.00 a roll of sharkskin (plastic wrap)  is around                                                                                                                                                27.00 each gallon of acetone (what the fuck does he use acetone for)11.00                                                                                                       77.00       this stuff alone comes to more then 1340 bucks, and what the heck is he using to guide coat? something thats catalyzed? this makes no sense at all and i cant even believe hes doing it but hey all i got to go by is yer word    body and paint is not a cheep sport man, ya got to pay if ya want to play, and like i said i dont think i would have used any where close to that amount of materials but maybe hes not into makin the panel flat before he starts his mud work, i can't see any way possible to lay down 2 friggin gallons of 2K primer on any rig  especially if it had 3 gallons of rage under it to flatten it out, again i dont have a clue as to what he is usin for guide coat but there's no way i would ever use another 3 gallons of materials to guide something that had 4 gallons of mud and 2 gallons of primer on it      , then add 3 gallons of clear on top of this, dude you better have some serious bags on this bad boy cause he has added about 300 pounds of materials to it, the way i teach body work and have done all my life this amount of materials would have lasted me at least 2 rigs, maybe 1/2 a third one, but again every one does it different                

i just noticed you said 2 gallons of guide coat... geez. that shit is just misted over the primer and in most cases a 'spray-paint' type guide coat is what most peeps use. and i was mistaken, we only have used a half gallon of primer on my truck so far (i just checked)

i can't give advice on the painting materials but I will say.... if he's a buddy that is doing you a favor (such as doing the work for next to no profit just to help you out) then he may be using your material other places. if so, that sucks but just how it goes when friends help you out. it it's a shop and you are more a customer than a friend then it's unprofessional and unethical for him to be doing that. also just keep an eye on things around the shop. if he hits you for acetone/tape/paint whatever, doesn't do any serious work on your truck for 2 weeks and then asks for more he's obviously not using it on yours. did he give you any sort of estimate on material costs when he started? I would think that would be on the invoice somewhere...

the initial "deal" was this, 1. i told him i would buy all supplies for the truck, (thats my truck, not homies, not his car, not someone elses ride, mine)2. i dont have weekends off (as he does) so i wouldnt be able to help everyday on it but now and then i have "furloughs" and sick days i can burn now and then3. i help him with his 91' toyota pick-up. full frame and  mr2 rear wheel drive motor in the bed. his deal, not mine but i was cool with it i bought over $500 in supplies in oct. and told him when he gets time we can get this damn thing hammered out. WITH THE DEADLINE OF 4-24-10 down to earth show. that gave us 6-7 months to get this done. he tinkered with other odd jobs and what not all the while id text or call him like  "6 months left", "5 1/2 left", "shows in 4 months". february i gave him another $500 in supplies that i hadnt bought yet (on his initial list of stuff) and another $120 2-3 weeks later. he finally told me to take it over to him april 5th and he had the 19 days to get it all squared away. if anyone here was at the DTE show they saw front/back bumpers and the grille painted. i know "labor for labor" isnt the best way to do things and its ruined many friendships all over the place but to me, we both would have won. im very much annoyed beyond hell and deep inside i know i can spray the truck but i have no where to do it. my town is anal about shooting paint within city limits so........................in a nutt shell, suppoed to be "labor for labor", ended up paying $1,300+ for a bumper set and grille. i know he can do it but the entire build has beeen extremely low budgeted up until now. its just taking off and i dont see the light at the end of the tunnel....... VERY ANNOYING!!! its almost like he has no concerns of my deadlines. (rant rant rant)i know priming and guide coating is part of the process but to completely prime and guide coat 3 times = 3 gallons of primer????? im on the fence cause if i pull it and shoot it myself,  it wont be done with confidence, if i keep it there my wife will lose her friggin mind and my bank account will be even worse.

Well.... Shoot man first off i was like the mud seems right then you said 1 1/2 gallons of candy what brand of candy cause on that size of truck with jambs and all thats not going to go far.  didnt hear anything about what you were using for a ground coat. 7 gallons of pre cleaner yeah think he got ya there. Then this is what got me 3 gallons of TRANSTAR CLEAR Really all that time and money and your going to spray that thing with a clear that wont last six months in the sun... paint material isnt cheap especially for the good stuff i have people crap thier pants when they pay 600 dollars for primer material honestly for what you got 1300 dont sound to bad some of it sounds questionable but hell paint material is cost money. the clear i used on my truck for the 5 liters of clear and the 1 liter of hardner was 455.00 and that was with my works discount