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I had many scratches on my Honda and I have decided to paint it myself. I have sanded with 300 then 600 grit and applied a layer of primer. All good.

I looked at the color code on the sticker and it reads NH623M:

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So I got a spray that has the same code:

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Then, after sanding the primer with 600 grit, I have applied the spray. I have applied six coats and the car looks far from matching the same color and it has spots of lighter and darker color. So before putting another six coats, I would like to know if this is the way to to go. I don't think so. The color feels saturated and I'm pretty sure that further coatings will only make things worse (over thickening).

This is how the good part of the car looks like:

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And this is how it looks after six coats:

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Clearly, I am doing something wrong and I don't know what. Can anyone help me to get on the right path? It's pretty time critical, I guess. Thank you in advance!

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  • No expert, but I'd suggest two things. First, the paint is not mixed well enough before you sprayed it. Secondly, your painting technique needs some help. I believe the striations you are seeing are due to not putting the paint down right and overlapping in the wrong spots. This is just a guess on my part.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Apr 3, 2020 at 21:20
  • Thank you for the feedback. Will mix it a lot then. As for the technique, well, that is still a flaw. Will try to focus more on the dark spots.
    – CuriousPaul
    Apr 3, 2020 at 21:31
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    The thing with the dark spots is that when you are sweeping the spray, you have to be VERY conscious of your speed, angle, distance, etc, and ensure you don't stop in the middle of your stoke. It has to be continuous and past the panel when you stop. Painting flake takes a special touch. It's not surprising you are having issues doing it.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Apr 3, 2020 at 22:07
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    If it is metal flake paint, they have sprayers that have internal mixers to keep it mixed during spraying, metal flake is hard to shoot and take a lot of experience. Also if it is 2 stage urethane, it will look ugly until the clear coat is applied.
    – Moab
    Apr 3, 2020 at 22:45

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I would suggest a body shop ; I painted a few cars in the days before base coat color and semi-transparent metallic top coats and then clear coats. , and it was not easy . First, you need a compressor and paint gun -need to decide if you want a siphon or pressure gun( not a rattle can). A dedicated "dust free" garage. The color code is a start but the way professionals do it today is with an electric color analyzer , then mix the color. This allows for factory color variation and weathering. I had 2004 Nissan Titan and needed to get the tailgate repaired and painted; The local shop said he would cut out a piece and send it to the paint shop to match- I said don't bother it is only one year old (2005).He was right the new color was not an exact match but because there were essentially no adjacent body panels ( mostly tail light assemblies ) no one noticed. Looks like you need 3 different paints , color base, semi-clear metallic, and clear top. Also, I would not skip from 320 ( not 300) to 600 and miss the 400. I suspect some paint systems actually use 600 or 800 to sand the color base coat , but not likely something you need. This will get an exact match. I have certainly used rattle cans and tiny touch-up bottles when I did not need an exact match.

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