When a person enters the world of auto body repair, sooner or later s/he needs to decide if they want to become a painter. Auto Body technicians and Painters may be a different breed, but they need to work together to turn out a beautiful repair. This article gives advice on pursue a career in auto body painting.
Instructions
1. Do everything you can to land a high school apprenticeship at an auto body shop working in the paint department.
2. Get yourself an after school job working for a body shop. You may have to be a porter or car washer, but the goal is to become acquainted with people who are in the industry. Hard workers who are pleasant and willing to do what it takes to get the job accomplished will eventually be taken under the wing of the technicians to learn on the job.
3. Tell the owner and head painter that your interest is in learning the paint business. Ask if you can begin as a helper in the paint department. The first jobs you can expect will be washing the vehicles, masking off parts of the vehicle, and sanding body fill. Sanding is essential for you to learn how you smooth you like the body fill. Eventually you will spray primer. This practice putting on primer will give you the proper spray techniques needed to become a true painter.
4. At this point, entering a auto body technician's school is probably a good idea. However, now is when you need a mentor, and most painters will not teach their helpers to mix paint. If you are lucky enough to find an on the job mentor to teach you to mix colors and give you experience shooting it onto cars, you are indeed lucky. Sometimes the shop owner is willing to allow you to paint with the painter during a slow season, or at the last part of the day, on a personally owned vehicle.
5. Ask for help improving your technique from better technicians. This is where you will try to get the reputation of being able to lay the paint on like glass. This take time and practice. Expect to make mistakes that you will have to fix once in while.
6. Update your skills as frequently as possible by attending I-car and paint classes. Read body shop orientated magazines for new ideas and immediate information about new paint materials and techniques.
Tags: auto body, body shop, body fill, paint department
