so do you ? i do . and i dont mind do it with cheap spray paints that i can find in most shops
i mean using good old those
[img]http://www.wccaustralia.com.au/images_general/product_spray_paint_aerosol.jpg[/img]
and then just using lacker on top. i painted like this my rims to black. and i "fixed" my rust myself on back left arch. yes its not very good job and yes im becoming better with everytime too. and yes you can do it every year if needed or months.

after pretty bad accident last year and restoring this part of car i painted this myself
[img]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag458/scalmanx/DSC_1541x_zps07zzfxte.jpg[/img]

made those rims to black and those calipers to red
[img]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag458/scalmanx/DSC_1544x_zpsrgbxhrql.jpg[/img]

then this protective rubber coat
[img]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag458/scalmanx/DSC_1597x_zpsgvlmflxw.jpg[/img]

and yes im not doing maybe nothin properly and perfect surely not , but all in all i fix some probs that i see as much as i can myself DIY
surely just give your car to repainters to make it as new is easy , but its costly. and its not fun for yourself at least. when you do something with your 2 hands , and other body parts , you feel so great after this ... its amazing fealing

True..

i spent enough time around panelbeaters when i was a kid. most of your money goes to preporation of the surface for paint. cheap paints give cheap results some better than others. you can paint it yourself at home. after you lay the base coat, you rub it back(wet rub) and layer on the next and sand it back. the more you do that it enrichens the top coat before the clear coat (sealing layer) i can tell if if a car has been reprayed these days as the panel will loook lighter and sort of newer compared to existing paintwork.

Hi Mate i am going through exactly the same way as you,when you do it your self and get the finish to your liking it does feel great i have taken loads of pic's of my work so far and once i get the hang of using photobucket or dropbox then people will see it.so carry on with the nice work you have put up so far. all the best Nick Cara

[b]Nick Cara[/b], With photobucket its pretty easy. Just make acc and upload pics. I take all pics with xperia s phone and ulpoad them straight away there. Then just getting link ant paste it to forum. Its allways interesting to see what other ppl do and how they do it. Most times from that I get some ideas for myself.