Quote Originally Posted by JimC View Post
Its a question of cost and time really. Something has to fill all those wood pores. You can do it with layer on layer of top coat, each sanded back, but you're going to have turned a lot of expensive paint into dust. To my mind grain fillers are basically a cheaper and easier option. But there's also compatibility to consider. If you put a layer of grain filler on top of your paint and the paint all bubbled up that would not be a good day...

I would contact the paint manufacturer and see what they recommend for a high build undercoat or primer. Then sand back as far as they suggest, add the high build, sand again until all pores invisible then back to topcoat. The key thing is to make sure all pores are invisible before starting the top coats. It may just be you needed another coat of primer sanded back more aggressively.

But if there's not a compatible high build, then dispiriting as it might be, back to bare wood and grain filler will be the cheapest option and the least work. Consider how youd feel if you used all your colour and all your lacquer and it was still showing grain...
So I decided the grain had grown on me... I started clearing it, thinking it will look kinda cool, so about 5 coats and two days in, I added a coat of clear and it bubbled in 2 spots, just 3 bubbles... I rubbed it back, then I went through some of the coat and had to touch it up. I let that dry and added some clear, and then it bubbled in about 5 places, I now have my very own bespoke distressed/road worn fender Copy.
So I have roughed it all up with fine grit, taken back some of the worn through edges back to smooth, I am going to do another coat of colour and see if I did a smooth enough job to level out the misguided paint repairs and if it doesn’t work, I am going straight back to wood and starting again. Go buy some new colours, treat it like a car paint job.
Just going to say, I had some really bad ideas that just didn’t come to pass. I don’t know where it went wrong exactly, but I think I tried to add too much clear before the last coat had cured enough, the can said, 1 hour between coats, Ileft about 2 hours and did 3 and left it overnight. Then another two, and on that next one I got smashed. So I am giving it one last try before I strip it bare and start anew.