Acrilic paint questions

[scottly 475]

Hey guys I'm painting my Xd ute in acrilic Snow White and I have a few questions I need help with.

 

When i paint my ute in snow white do I have to clear coat over the Snow White, if not what are the advantages and disadvantages of clear coating?

 

I would like to know what products are used on the lower rear quarter panel to stop the paint from chipping how are you mixing it what grit do you sand it back with?

 

I will start a project thread soon any help would be great cheers scott

[hendrixhc 10,921]

Acrylic base coat wont supply you with a strong gloss finish like a 2pak will off the gun. The clear coat protects the base coaat and gives it depth and allows you to buff it up to a nice shine. It quite amazing what a difference it makes.

 

On the sill you could usee something like Cguard and then top coat it with acrylic. You can get Cguard in black, grey and white.

[KRUPTOR 929]

Just 2pak clear it when youre finished with your finish coat.

[Gav 616]

In the past I didn't bother with clearcoating solid colours. Traditionally you clear coated over metallics only because colour sanding/buffing these may cause you to rub through a layer or two of paint and you'd get odd effects in the distribution of flake as it may differ slightly between coats. It was seen as unnecessary clearcoating solid colours. Having said that...recently I decided to clear coat a red that I had sprayed on some doors for my XR6. Reds typically don't have great resistance to the sun , they mark easily and coverage is poorer now they've banned the use of lead based pigments - I wanted to toughen things up a little. The result was knockout! The paint has a real depth to it - a wet look. I can't stop looking at the fucken' things (the doors!) LOL.  Impact resistance will never be great with acrylics but my paint seems to resist marking better than colour coat alone.

 

I'd be wary of using 2K clears on freshly sprayed acrylic paint. Acrylics need a lot of time to properly cure - weeks if not months to allow all the solvents to eke their way out. Well cured paint may be okay though. Traditonal 2K paint  has health and safety issues you need to be aware of. As an alternative...you can get iso-free 2K clear that is designed to go over acrylics. Its a Hi-Chem paint - a brand which enjoys a patchy reputation. I use their 2K iso-free primer which I love but can't vouch for the 2K iso-free clear. Another Australian mob...KBS...make a single pack polyurethane clear which their spiel states can go over anything and wont fuck your respiratory system in the process. Regardless...I'd still allow acrylic paint to properly cure before recoating. With respect to the KBS stuff - I haven't tried it....but intend to next spring when the weather is on the up again (cold winters in Melbourne!). I'd really love a good clear that toughens up pissy acrylic paint. My local paint shop has good things to say about it...they're quite impartial (haven't sold me shit in the past just because they could of) so I tend to believe them that is good stuff.....

 

I think the disadvantages of clear coating are that it requires more work. I did some testing of different brands and clours. One of my test panels was white. To be honest..the gloss effect of clear over white was not as knockout as clear over red. White doesn't show gloss defects as glaringly as red or darker colours - so you wouldn't do it for that reason. It would have to be for the "toughening up" factor...

[BBS XE 160]

http://www.ozfalcon.com.au/index.php?/topic/442-cheap-auto-paint/

 

Look there if you haven't already, 2 pack vs acrylic is something you'll probably have to decide for yourself! It's a hot topic

When I do my "other" car I'm just doing it acrylic buffed up. It's an old way of doing things but the car is old and I don't want it much shinier than original anyway.

[revhead 1,392]

with 2 pak clear it will peel off acryilci solids,its kind of the candy apple effect ,

[scottly 475]

hey guys, thanks for all the replys i now have lots of info that will help me out. looks like i will be doing clear over the white now and dont think i will use 2pac clear tho. i will check that cguard out and i will check that acrilic vs 2pac thread cheers guys

[inventiv 3]

Just with the acrylic clear - when its dry, would you have to wet sand it back a bit to remove the orange peel effect then polish it, or just cut and polish it after its dry and forget the wet sanding?

[revhead 1,392]

you need to cut it back with 1200 or finer wet n dry and a soft block,with soapy water, then buff,it,using a lambs wool pad, and a harsh cutting compound ,like a septone compound

[Ants 6,370]

it's very easy to rub and cut though,especially compared to 2pac.

[Gav 616]

it's very easy to rub and cut though,especially compared to 2pac.

 

Six days after the last post...but...For acrylic cut back gentle but expensive masking tape is your friend - the stuff you can leave on for a fortnight without the adhesive becoming araldite-like in strength. I tape along sharp contours and panel edges then buff with cutting compound until all colour sanding marks are gone. You're left with swirls from the woolen mit. Remove tape and give the briefest cut to panel edges etc with the woolen mit then orange foam pad ("softish" pad) buff on a random orbital sander (speed  setting 2) with Menzerna SP 1000 to rid the job of swirls - remove F.A. paint so no tape necessary. No rub throughs. It's an art - ya' still gotta be careful