No need for 2k primers, you will lose many of the epoxy benefits.

Looks like your mini has a right hand tank, is it a Cooper S ?

I have an air compressor (8cfm, 50L), and I'm looking at the ANi Compact spray gun. The kit in the link is with 1.3 and 1.8 tips, is this the right size for what I want to spray?

The compact is a mini gun while for painting a full car you may be better off with a full size, like the Ani F160, similar size fan as the 1.3 but physically bigger.

I'm not convinced by the Compact kit as 1.8mm size is for primer duty, its nice to have a seperate gun for that as you never get 100% of the primer out.
The £40 GF3 would be ideal for primer but the largest nozzle is 1.2, mine is modified to the maximum 1.7mm. the nozzles, as a set, are interchangeable with the R160/Compact/R150. The body is identical, but the air cap/nozzles are a cheaper design, but they work perfectly for primer.

The compact gets some mixed reviews, it does have an unusually large fan for a mini, but they say to get good results the pressure must be turned up to 50psi, using more air than the F160.

I have the older version of it, R150, in 0.8mm and 1mm, it works well with my small 2.5hp 20L compressor.

I have enlarged my GF3 nozzle to 1.7mm, which you can see in this vid, on my R150 body. For doing a bike tank, the compressor keeps up ok.

Another thing I have done to both guns, is drill the air passageway to fit a bike TPMS air pressure sensor.I'd not want to go back to a bulky physical gauge.

I have a 1/4" bsp diaphram regulator and water trap about 16" from the end of the air line, also reducing bulk on the gun and giving accurate adjustment.

Yes I would get back to bare metal on all panels, but only as many as you can do in 1 day, don't leave panels bare for more than a few hours.
I've restored & painted many cars in my lifetime & even with my own spraybooth & 100cfm compressor, I still put the first coats of epoxy primer on
with a foam roller, no masking, no wasted overspray, quick & easy, the first coats are for protection mostly, get a couple of coats, half hour between
coats. Then do all your filler work & spray prep on top. All these cars were roller primed
You might have seen this guy on Youtube, does some great work for an amateur, he does everything himself too.

Yes I would get back to bare metal on all panels, but only as many as you can do in 1 day, don't leave panels bare for more than a few hours.
I've restored & painted many cars in my lifetime & even with my own spraybooth & 100cfm compressor, I still put the first coats of epoxy primer on
with a foam roller, no masking, no wasted overspray, quick & easy, the first coats are for protection mostly, get a couple of coats, half hour between
coats. Then do all your filler work & spray prep on top. All these cars were roller primed
You might have seen this guy on Youtube, does some great work for an amateur, he does everything himself too.

Yep, agree with all of this. First epoxy coat is for protection, you will be flatting and overcoating anyway.

Similar to you, I'm working through my first paint job in years on a completely stripped shell. After receiving loads of really useful advice on this forum, my process has been.

1. strip to bare metal using clen & strip discs
2. prime with Lechler 29107 epoxy (has sprayed really well). I used a cheap 1.8 Fastmover gun which has been great.
3. coat the underside with Gravitex. I went with Gravitex over Raptor as it's specifically designed as under-floor protection. I've heard of (but not personally experienced) Raptor flaking off in large chunks due to poor adhesion.
4. Filler and flat where needed
5. Apply further coats of 29107 on the upper panels to build up some thickness. I've varied the amount of thinners to try to build up the material. I've struggled a bit to get real depth but it seems to sand back well and has left me with enough to paint over.
5. Flat back using guidecoat to 400 grit.

This is where I am at the moment with a few more sessions of flatting necessary

I've just bought 6 litres of Nisocoat 2 from Rawlins who were very helpful with colour matching a 1990's Fiat red. Tbh, I haven't applied any yet but it looks good. I've bought an Anest Iwata Chrome Flash 1.3 gun on the strength of a recommendation. It was £150 and I'm hoping it will flatter my skills.

Good luck and keep us posted

Only one thing from me, with regard to doing it in sections. The top coat should be done in one go, all over or you will get variations in colour.

Thanks everyone, this is all really helpful.

I think from what's been said, I may well get the ANi Compact, but just use it for the top coat. For epoxy I'm torn between rollering and buying a cheaper gun for that purpose.

Which model did you go with? If it'll run on a smaller compressor I'd be interested...

I'll have a look at this one as well. When are you doing the top coat? I'd be interested to see how you get on.

Why is this? Due to pigments settling in the can, or thicknesses of paint layers?

Lord alone knows, but you will. Probably all of the above plus environmental conditionds, how you apply it, paint thickness... etc.

Lord alone knows, but you will. Probably all of the above plus environmental conditionds, how you apply it, paint thickness... etc.

Which way you hold your tongue whilst spraying.....what moon phase your under....

Why is this? Due to pigments settling in the can, or thicknesses of paint layers?

As apprenticed in body and paint back in the mid seventies, although I got out of it and am not well versed in modern paints, there are many reasons.

Apart from the obvious batching from different tins, temperature variation, slightly different mixes and air pressure to name a few.

Most of all though, for the inexperienced is technique. You get better at it with practice and experience and as you get the hang of it, your technique changes, speed of application, overlap, how much paint you can get on in one pass.

Theory is all well and good, as is watching someone else, but like most practical skills actually doing it for yourself is really the only way. You can adjust thinner content, paint volume, and pressures to what suits you and your equipment best.

Of course, I had the benefit of others paying for the materials to practice with.

I wouldnt want to roller epoxy. I did try rollering before with epoxy and direct gloss clear. Its messy, and it wastes a tonne of paint in the roller.
Theres really no disadvantage to spraying epoxy.

For a cheaper epoxy gun, Ani do the full size F1/NS, which I imagine uses the same body and compatable with the F160

You've got to bare in mind with cheap spray guns, especially the really sh1t ones that have rubber or plastic seals that are unavailable,
I've a dozen Fast Mover guns that I can't use cos the fluid tip seals leak so are useless, always check consumable parts are available

Have a look at the R500 guns from AliExpress, I use a devilbiss gti mainly but bought one to try, was really impressed with it, it comes with a 1.3mm tip so I bought a second one for £33 that comes with 1.3,1.7 and 2.0mm tip kits which I’m going to use for primer.
As it’s a LVLP it’s a bit slower to paint but only uses around 4cfm.
I think I will mainly use them now and keep the gti set up for clear.
Plenty of videos on YouTube singing its praises.

Pete's Hobbies on YT has done many videos showing them, the rongpeng guns. The LVLP idea on these cheap guns is a myth they use just as much air as other guns, apparently.

Only one thing from me, with regard to doing it in sections. The top coat should be done in one go, all over or you will get variations in colour.

That's interesting. My main concern with the Nisocoat is that I've heard it flashes off really quickly so I was going to the the opening panels separate to the shell.....