Ok, thanks for all the help. Heres the plan, i,ve decided to do a double mask as I thought the first mask will be the hardest as the second is just running the tape up to the first paint line.

Prep car in 400 grit....done.

Mask up stripes.....done. (I used the 6mm tape, it was,nt as hard to get the lines straight and even as I thought) Each stripe is 350mm wide and runs over bonett, over the roof and boot and ass end of the beast.

Next weekend provided I get some good weather.

Put down six coats of the first colour (green), sand with 1200 between the 2nd and 4th coat and finish with 1500 or 2000 after the 6th coat.

Second mask leaving 1mm of green showing.

Put down the black again sanding between every 2nd coat and finish with 1500 or 2000.

Pull off masking and sand off the lip to create a smooth finish with 1500 or 2000.

Six coats of clear sanding every 2nd coat 1200 and finish with 2000.

Buff for a super shiney finish.......

you dont need to sand between coats of base if your using a base clear system. Use a good Acrylic basecoat & a decent polyurethane clearcoat. Search the net for tech sheets of the brands in your area for their recommendations on applying their products. I'm not a pro painter but have painted a few things now & learned a bunch in the process, also made a mistakes & had to fix them. If you follow your plan you will likely have problems.

Ideally base is applied in multiple coats without sanding in between them, theres no need nor does it help adhesion - again consult the tech sheets for that particular products recommendations. You can however tack rag inbetween base coats if necessary to pull lint/dirt off prior to the next coat, this you have to do very lightly, not rub hard as you will leave the tack rag solvents on top of the base & potentially cause problems. You will have dirt/dust in your clear coat unless your in a stateof the art booth. Clearcoat you can sand in between coats but its not necessary unless you've messed it up - solvent pop, runs, dry spray, etc...

You dont need 6 coats of clear either, if its a good product 4 would be fine & have enough to buff out - read up on color sanding, cut & buff. You can sand out the last coat w/P800 to create a top coat called a "flow" or "glamor" coat, this is to give the last coat a really flat surface & flow evenly over the last. If you have orange peel in the 1st coat of clear plan on sanding it out before applying more coats as it'll always be there if you build on top of it w/o flatting it.

If you haven't ever done this dont be disappointed if the job isn't show car perfect, remember why pro paint jobs cost 10K & not $500 bucks. this job will only be as good as the amount of detailed effort you plan on putting into it & you've created a complex paint job to tackle.

Here are some sites to peruse, lots of goods info - I HIGHLY suggest you spend a TON of time reading before ever spraying & them practice of some crappy panels before spraying the real paint. Good luck.

BTW - the Kawi in my Avatar was a multi-color/layered & decal-ed job all clearcoated over.

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