Zero clearcoat question

[das_auto]

Hi!

This occured to me when I cleared this Porsche body with zero 1K pre thinned.








It is like there is small ripples and/or creases on and underneath the clear. As you can see on the picture it´s almost like the plasic has curled up. The basecoat was allowed to flash for 12 hrs. And before applying the clear I dusted on some tack coats that flashed for about a minute each. Then one wet coat and now it looks like this.

Has this happened to anyone else? If so will I have to put it in stripper or will it come out with polishing.

Thanks!

Emil

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by das_auto

Then one wet coat

There's your problem.

Don't spray this stuff in heavy wet coats- and ABSOLUTELY NEVER spray it on wet on the first application.

1K lacquer clears have a significant amount of solvent in them, and so they must be slowly and carefully applied. The first layers must be sprayed in light mist coats, to build up a protective barrier to shield the paint below. Then medium mistcoats can be built up on top. But if you ever spray it wet, you are asking for trouble. You've then poured a pool of lacquer thinner on the paint below. Your paint here reacted exactly as you would expect to that- it softened and wrinkled. (Often these effects are more difficult to see on solid colors- it tends to be even more spectacular when clearcoat is applied too heavily over metallic paints and decals.)

Build up the clearcoat in mist coats, and never allow it to collect in a wet pool on the surface. The first three applications should be very light, to build up a barrier layer- wait at least an hour between applications. After a barrier layer is down, medium mist coats can be applied two at a time, leaving at least 1-2 hours between applications. Clearcoating should take all day if you're fast and everything is going perfectly- but all weekend (or even all week) is safer.

[stevenoble]

When you say you allowed the basecoat to dry for 12 hrs, what basecoat did you use...? If it was Zero you don't need to wait 12 hrs, you can clear it after 20 mins. I had this same effect when I left the basecoat overnight to dry, but not when I cleared it sooner.
My personal opinion with clear is that you don't need to lay on really heavy coats, but mist coating everything is not the way to go either. Certainly build up the coats one by one with drying in between, but you do need to have a certain wetness in the finish coats to obtain a good finish. Otherwise you will be doing plenty of polishing afterwards. If you lay the paint on reasonably wet you minimize the polishing work by far.

[gordonli1]

one question, what zero do u guys recommmend? zero 1k or zero 2pack clear? bcos i have read acrylic clears overtime will turn yellow and same as enamel clears.

also where can you purchase zero 1k clear or 2pack clear apart fom hiroboy.com?
hope you guys can shed some light

[JimboCO]

Originally Posted by stevenoble

When you say you allowed the basecoat to dry for 12 hrs, what basecoat did you use...? If it was Zero you don't need to wait 12 hrs, you can clear it after 20 mins. I had this same effect when I left the basecoat overnight to dry, but not when I cleared it sooner.
My personal opinion with clear is that you don't need to lay on really heavy coats, but mist coating everything is not the way to go either. Certainly build up the coats one by one with drying in between, but you do need to have a certain wetness in the finish coats to obtain a good finish. Otherwise you will be doing plenty of polishing afterwards. If you lay the paint on reasonably wet you minimize the polishing work by far.

Good points here, Steve. This approach works for me too.

[das_auto]

Hi guys, thanks for replying!

I´ve now sanded down the clear with some #2000 wet n dry to get the texture off. And it worked!. I then took some finishers coarse compound and got a baby bottom smooth surface. Then after washing the body I gave it a medium wet coat of TS-26 right out of the can. It came out almost like a mirror! . Guess who is gonna polish his primer in the future...hehe

When you say you allowed the basecoat to dry for 12 hrs, what basecoat did you use...?

Actually i thought I could use Tamiya fine white surface primer as a base and then clear over it. As it is perfectly opaque and also possible to apply in mistcoats like a basecoat without the risk of getting orangepeel or other nasties.

what zero do u guys recommend?

If you have the right equipment (effective spraybooth and good respirator mask) then go for the 2K, there is nothing to rival the shine you get from it. If you´re skilled with the Airbrush you probably don´t have to polish. But as the chemicals involved are really nasty, be careful!

The 1K is also good but more tempramental (as seen above)and requires more skill to apply. But comes with the added bonus of being less toxic. (but you will need a good respirator mask)Often needs alot of polishing to get a good result.

also where can you purchase zero 1k clear or 2pack clear apart fom hiroboy.com?

Since it is the hiroboy (Steve) that mixes this stuff himself from Lechler automotive paints. Hiroboy.com is the only place to get it AFAIK.


Thanks and HTH!

Emil

[Some_Kid]

Originally Posted by gordonli1

one question, what zero do u guys recommmend? zero 1k or zero 2pack clear? bcos i have read acrylic clears overtime will turn yellow and same as enamel clears.

also where can you purchase zero 1k clear or 2pack clear apart fom hiroboy.com?
hope you guys can shed some light

If you have an automotive paint supply store near you, you can purchase 2k clear by the quart with an activator. I just bought dupont selectaclear 2k clearcoat with activator for $39. Do make it a point to be careful with this stuff, get gloves, respirator, goggles if need be. Also clean your airbrush with lacquer thinner immediately after use.

[Didymus]

I haven't tried it, but I think UPOL Clear #1 UV resistant high gloss clear coat is a 1K urethane. It's available from Sam Ditchek & Sons at http://yhst-13811118617756.stores.ya...l1uvreclc.html. I've recently used their "power can" clear coat. It's similar to Tamiya, except a bit harder to sand/polish and much, much cheaper.

I wouldn't use 2K urethane over anything but a urethane color coat. Even though urethanes and synthetic lacquers (like Tamiya TS Series) both can be thinned with lacquer thinner, they are not entirely compatible. For example, you run into trouble trying to cover TS13 with a urethane base (color coat). The result is similar to yours.

On the other hand, I've never had trouble spraying TS13 over a 1K urethane touch-up paint. TS13 can cause problems with decals if it's sprayed wet, but it's perfectly okay over touch-up paint.

By the way, I've tried to get small quantities of 2K urethane clear from my Dupont automotive supply place. They'll sell 2 oz of unthinned 1K Dupont color coat for $13, but they won't sell less than a quart of 2K clear, plus hardener.

Hiro has a monopoly on small quantities of 2K urethane. Good for him! (Sooner or later somebody else with the right equipment will figure out that there's a market for 2K clear in small quantities.)

Ddms