Hot Rod Forum banner

Little Base Coat in my Clear Coat?

25K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  SlowbutSure 
#1 ·
Hello everyone,
Is there any reason you can't add a little base color to your clear coat?

I appreciate your comments.
Jason
 
#4 ·
I painted a motorcycle fairing the other day, base white and then cleared it.
On the 2nd coat of clear a black speck ( bug ) etc. landed in it. Used a dirt pic to remove most of it. Applied 3rd coat of clear.

Wet sanded, came out barely noticeable. What other options would you guys have used to correct this problem ??

I made the mistake of applying a little base while the clear was still wet a few years ago and it wrinkled. :nono: :nono:
 
#5 ·
I won't do it but...

70 chevelle conv said:
No reason you can't, but why would you it doesn't help with adding depth and makes it harder to match. Also if its metallic it may become blotchy if you add to much. Usually the only time you add base to clear is for cutting in jambs and such.
Based on everyone's advice I won't add any base to the clear except maybe to play with it to see first hand what the difference would be.

But I now have a couple of follow up questions if I may? You said that normally this is just done for cutting in jambs etc., why is it done in that case?

Secondly, you said it wouldn't make the color deeper, by that of course I was meaning to look more like colored glass where the color darkens as you look deeper into it. Are you saying that I'll have this effect anyway, without the mix? I have not spayed bc/cc before so I am not aware of all the tricks of the trade on getting depth.

Just to let you know I am not considering metallic for this project or my next project. They are both going back to original factory colors, or at least the first one is. But I thought it could be better than factory and add some depth. It's a '68 Ford Ranger (F100 with Ranger trim package) and the color is a bright red. I think it is called emergency flare red or something like that. I think it will look very good with bc/cc and will gladly take any advice on how to make it have depth.

Thank you all,
Jason
 
#8 ·
Ah, I see

baddbob said:
Some painters mix the base 50/50 with clear when doing the jambs just to get it done quicker, but this makes the paint less durable in those areas.
I see, they are mixing it 50/50 to essentially make a single stage paint to be lazy. :) I wasn't trying to cut corners. I was thinking more along the lines of a few drops of base into the clear coat. Just a hint of tint and then the last coat or two would be straight clear for protection.

I think I should have been more explanatory of what I had in mind. What do you think about this idea of a few drops of tint BUT DEFINITELY ENDING WITH STRAIGHT CLEAR? In my mind's eye it seems like a good idea to make the effect of a colored glass finish. But as I said, I just haven't dealt enough with bc/cc hence my questions.
Thank you for all your help,
Jason
 
#9 ·
Well I did it back when I painted the hood and blended into the fenders and bumper for a friend of my dads, this car.

He already had bought the paint, and brought over cheap limco base and western clear.
Color was very transparent, and he he had a used red hood and I had on grey primer spots as the used hood was chipped up. He had put hood pins in the hood instead of fixing the latch :rolleyes:
I burnt through a whole friggen quart of base getting coverage. If i remember right the reason I added, but hood looked a little blotchy (Could have been garage lighting playing tricks on me, and before i realize to just let the base set up and wet it to simulate clear and take a look) and had a few white specks in it when the base finally was covered and I was pretty much out. Think I hit white specs with the little base left, and then took the little base left in the bottom of my cup and mixed it with the first coat of clear.
Wasn't enough to really change my blend at the fenders and the color meeting the door, but the hood wound up looking pretty good. I only added it to the first coat. I don't think you would want to add a metallic to the final coats of clear, even with little metallic mixed in with the clear, would be afraid that with colorsanding you would hit metallic and end up with streaks or a blotchy look.
Ordinarily though, don't think there would be any advantage at all of adding your base to the clear.
I did happen to see the car sitting at the gas station about two years later, and hood still looked good, not chipped up or anything weird happening, and I wouldn't expect that Western clear to be the most durable in the first place.
 
#11 ·
I thought alot of OEM's either used activated base or just plain ol lack of clear? My friends Toyota, you can see where the trunk was a little open and the clear got in around the latch, but nowher else :pain:

Slowbutsure, are you meaning something like a tri-coat? What a tri-coat is, you lay down your base colour, then mix pearls into your clear and shoot for # coats for desired affect. Then you just straight clear over top of that.

Alot of new whites are tri-coats...caddies, lexus, even ford.
 
#13 ·
A tri-coat or three stage can be anything as long as it has a base, mid and clearcoat. A candy is also a tri-coat. Usually you don't put pearls and such in clearcoat, most of the time they are added to an intercoat clear or clear basecoat. What usually happens when you put it in clearcoat is it settles out and can become dark and not as vibrant , plus you'll get way to much film build.
 
#14 ·
I guess a Tricoat is it

BMM said:
Slowbutsure, are you meaning something like a tri-coat? What a tri-coat is, you lay down your base colour, then mix pearls into your clear and shoot for # coats for desired affect. Then you just straight clear over top of that.

Alot of new whites are tri-coats...caddies, lexus, even ford.
I guess it would be considered a tri-coat, yes. Except I am not using pearls or metallics on this truck. My thinking was a few drops, and I mean a few drops, of base into the clear just to tint the clear a bit and spray a coat or two of that. Then come back with a coat or two of pure clearcoat.

The effect I was going for would be like looking through a Jolly Rancher candy. The color is all the way through, (almost all the way through for me since there would be no base in the top coat or two of clear.) The thicker the candy you are looking through the deeper/darker the color. In this case I don't want the color to be any darker than it would be with base/clear. What I would be after is to make it look like there's a layer of glass (or jolly rancher candy) all over my truck and as you look through it you can see the depth of clear and the deeper you look into it the darker it becomes.

Sounds like what I am talking about isn't common. I'm not going to experiment on my truck but what I might do is grab some piece of sheet metal, maybe a cabinet I have out in the shop and try this process on it and see if the effect is worth the trouble or if it causes ill side effects.

But if you have any other ideas about it please let me know. I definitely appreciate the help.
Jason
 
#15 ·
Sounds like you want a Candy paint job. A few coats will keep the colour light (if you're using a light Candy, but still give that affect. However, the more coats, the more intense the effect.

They are hard to capture in picture, but try doing a google search for Candy paint jobs. If possible, check around some shops or car shows..you'll know them if you see them.


If that is the case...its kind of a new game.
 
#16 ·
If i were to do something of that nature I would shoot my base then use something like HOK sg100 or Spi 2020 intercoat and mix a bit of base into that..those are special clears made just for that sort of thing..then after that shoot my topcoat clear..Bear in mind that the custom painter guys have burned thru a lot of paint trying so they can see how various methods work out..

Sam
 
#18 ·
OneMoreTime said:
If i were to do something of that nature I would shoot my base then use something like HOK sg100 or Spi 2020 intercoat and mix a bit of base into that..those are special clears made just for that sort of thing..then after that shoot my topcoat clear..Bear in mind that the custom painter guys have burned thru a lot of paint trying so they can see how various methods work out..

Sam
Sam is right on, if you want to add basecoat to an intercoat clear and lay down some transparent or weaker coats of color before your topcoat clear-this is definitely the way to go. It also helps when blending and to avoid mottling and tiger stripes on difficult metalics. Just don't expect much of a depth increase and definitely catalyze your basecoats for more durability-the more coats of base being applied the weaker the overall job unless you catalyze your basecoats so crosslinking takes place when the clear goes on.
 
#19 ·
Back from Christmas Break

I appreciate everyone's help. I'm just getting back out here. It's been a crazy Christmas and New Year.

I did not know there were special clears for middle coats. I assume these are designed to mix properly when the base is added?

I'm familiar with candy paint jobs. I know what they look like and as far as applying them I am aware that they take quite a few coats and a lot of elbow grease. I wasn't sure how close this idea of a few drops of base in the clear was to the concept of a candy paint. I actually tried searching on candy paint prior to creating this thread but nothing I could find was helpful and it seemed that candy paint jobs required special candy paint bases so I left that reading more confused that when I started.

Does anyone have any good books, sites or other materials that would explain these concepts well? I'd like to know more about bc/cc in general and then more about candy paint and other effects and the details required such as catylizing the base coats for better adhesion to the clears etc.

Thanks again,
Jason
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top