If a full panel is to be painted, start at the top edge applying paint in evenly spaced strokes from one side of the panel to the other without pausing. The next stroke is taken immediately in the opposite direction, overlapping the first just sufficiently so that there is no "dry spray" gap left between the two. The amount of overlap will depend on your spray equipment , the more powerful types covering larger areas with each stroke whilst allowing smaller overlaps.
Complete the full panel in this way from top to bottom. If painting a horizontal panel, e.g. a bonnet , start at one side working in to the middle, then from the middle outwards to the opposite side, moving around the car as needed. By not stopping or starting mid-panel, dry joins or unabsorbed overspray can be avoided. Occasionally it may be easier to paint larger or awkward panels in sections. In this case the strategy would be to always spray a section immediately adjacent to one which has just been sprayed, trying to avoid overlaps drying out too much between coats as above.
Where more than one panel is being sprayed, decide which panel to spray first and follow into the next, and so on, until all panels have been painted. If, suppose, one full side of a car is to be painted, start at the rear wing, then doors, then finally front wing.
A full respray would normally start at, say, the nearside pillars progressing to the middle of the roof, continuing on the other side from the middle of the roof down to the offside pillars, followed by your chosen direction around the bottom half of the car from the rear wing in a complete circuit. This would be repeated for each subsequent coat, allowing time for solvent flash-off between coats.
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