Heavy flake paint jobs - I have questions for you guys

What I'd like to know is this :

How many coats of clear did it take to cover over the flake ?
How is it holding up ?
Are you noticing Any problems from the increased film thickness ?

Thanks

 

a friend used b*** boat flake on a coupe it took 7 coats of clear to smooth it out. it has held up good for the past 15 yrs

 

Thanks moonshine

 

In a nut shell, lots
Really depends on the size of flake used,and how well you can get it to lay out.
Most good flake jobs require 2-3 sessions of clear. Spray your flake in an inter coat carrier clear and then douse it with clear. Sand,clear,sand and see where your at. If not satisfied,clear again,sand inspect.

 

I have no experience with this stuff but I know thay have different clear coat for high build I have seen some for 1 to 3 coats and some for 5 and more.

 

'better use an inter clear no matter what sized flake you're using between the flake, and your first of as many as four to six coats of a preminum clear.

Using cheap clear is a waste of your time and money. Try to keep a ''flake or candy'' job outa direct sun whenever possible

" Humpty Dumpty was pushed "

 

I have had good luck mixing the flake with clear instead of intercoat clear. The regular clear dries slower, and flows out smoother. This gives the flake more time to lay down flat. I use a Flake Buster gun, and fog on the flake until I'm happy.It will usually have a decent shine by this time. Sand it the next day and re clear.

 

What color flake are you using? Reason I asked is if it's colored (anything except silver) you got to be carfull sanding, you hit the flake and it can take the color off the flake on some flakes. Maybe it's different now, I haven't done a flake job in many years but the colored flake we use to use was aluminum with the color added, hit them with a sander and you would have some silver flakes showing in the middle of the color, effectively ruining the paint job.
Gotta be easier today with the urathane clears, we use to have to bury big flake with 15/20 coats of lacquer. Wouldn't last a couple years.
I give you credit, with all these threads your determined to have the paint job you invisioned and no one can say you haven't done your homework! Good luck with it.

 

Metalman is correct if you use lacquer it is going to take lots of coats of clear, lat thing I flaked with lacquer was a motor cycle, 3 coats of clear sand then 3 more and sand. My flake was real fine and it layed out well and it still took a dozen coats to smooth it out.

Something to remember is that it is not a dozen coats everywhere, just where it builds to fill in the low spots, there are places over the flake that is probably only the thickness of 2 or 3 coats when you are done.

Last flaked enamel job I did only took 7 coats to smooth it out. I have not tried flake with urethane.

Something else to keep in mind is that it may not take as much to cover light flake jobs as it does to smooth out a heavy flake job and the size of th flake also makes it work out differently. The flake that was hardest to smooth out as I recll was that pie pan sized flake that was popular in the '70s. I like the little teeny tiny mini flakes (we called them angel dust when I was a kid) when done right it looks almost like metalic paint only it really sparkles when the sun hits it.

 

Thanks -
Who better to ask this of than the guys with heavy flake jobs ....

I'm trying to get a handle on any possible ill effects :

* of thick clear build over a highly reflective surface.
* thick build up over a very irregular surface, this would mean the clear thicknesses vary greatly from flake to flake .
* long term durability of such a large amount of material ( film thickness)

And exactly how many coats there are

 

Again,

Cheap clear isn't a bargin! The same clear used throughout the job will yield some flake that will settle flat (not good) whyle some will be on end Mininumal thicknesses of base/colour, flake & finish clear all insure long term viability.

 

I just finished my first all-over flake job. No more for me....well, maybe a roof or a bike, but...
Used old small Metalflake brand flakes--Pea****, over a custom mixed matching base, and Abalone over white on the roof. Used regular clear with the Abalone, 3 coats with a 800 grit buzz, then 4 more. The Pea**** got suspended in DBC500, and laid a little flatter with better control, followed with 3 heavy coats of PPG 2021, red scotchbrited the hell out of that, and 3 more heavy, followed by careful stick sanding with 600-1000-1500-2000. Why a scotchbrite?-- the first attempt to flatten the first 3 coats with 1000 netted me several scaled flaked(silver), and dictated some respray time Talk about nervous..... but I got it. Looks killer.
Flake's pretty....and a lot of work if you're like me --a novice at shooting it

 

did not read everything before but i flake a lot ,never had luck with a flake buster or simmiliar system. Use the benefit of today, do not put the flakes into the clear you get a to high build up . Use sg 100 form HOK or go to your paintstore and say you wanna have clear basecoat. Never and i mean never ever apply your flakes like you would paint a regular color in a noce even pattern. go with your spray gun as wild as possible i apply in circles ,so the flakes will lay in many diffrent angles,needs a bit mor clear at the end but does not end with a boring flake job that aint sparkle. then two heavy coats of clear, sand it flat if possible and clear again.
my Bug
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM8AksHk0Vg
or other stuff i done with or for friends
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V9U1KqRY7s

 

I've done flake in a binder coat (I used Dupont 222s), and have done it in the first clearcoat.....

Next time I would do it would be with the binder again. This did seem to work better as doing it in the first clear, it did take more clear on top to get any depth, and even then in areas where you have a sharp bend in the panel the clear was pretty thin over the flake.

 

basic body prep, primer etc, then I painted a base coat in my case red then I sprayed the flake in a binder coat, I let it dry over night then sprayed 4 coats of clear, I use PPG products sanded it as smooth as I could then sprayed 4 more coats of clear sanded that with 800, 1200, 1800,Dry, then 3000 wet with a DA then I buffed the poop out of it. you can see the finished produce on my profile page. Good luck, just do its only paint if it doesn't work sand it off and start over.

 

Yeah, no problem. Sanding off flake and 8 coats of clear wouldn't be much of a PIA

 

Thanks guys , I really appreciate the info

But what I'm trying to find info on and need to know is this:
How many coats of clear did it take ? (Seems 6-9 sanded every 3 is average )
Any problems from the very thick clear coats ?
How is it holding up ? Over how long of a period of time.

What I need to know isn't about the "flake" what I need to know about is the heavy clear coat surface. Who has thicker coat of clear than the big flake guys ? Nobody so who better to ask than the guys with heavy flake paint jobs .

 

Number of coats really means nothing. It is the final mil thickness that counts. You could put down three really heavy coats and have the same amount of clear as someone who put down 6 light coats.

 

I get what you are saying , I really do .

Ok let's just say I rephrased my question from "how many coats?" To "what's the final mill thickness ?"

Would that help get me the info Im looking for which is all 3 posts in post #17

 

HAHA probably not because most guys probably don't know. I understand what you are after but mil thickness is definitely more important than the number of coats.

 

If you spray the flake mixed with intercoat clear and then wet sand with 600 followed by three coats of straight clear works the best


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Are you planning on using Flake? I get the impression you are not and just trying to figure out how much clear you can get away with using.

 

Well if you are getting that impression you must have read post 17 and both quoted posts in it too.

I'm trying to get my bearings and footing relatively speaking on how that much clear holds up over time.

 

Hey! You asked a trick question

The answer lies in the type/brand clear you use--some hold up longer in heavy mil apps.
I'm disappointed now......I thought you were gonna flake under the harvested red first. I was going to town to get a new shade for my welding helmet so I could look at it and not go blind!

 

Don't get disappointed just yet -
I didn't realize it was a trick or loaded question
So which type/ brand hold up best in heavy mill applications ?

Some of the worry full comments on my other thread about the amount of materials and number of clear(candy) coats I'd need got me thinking. "Ask the guys with more clear than anybody"

 

That's like a Ford vs Chevy question.......or points vs Pertronix....

 

Come on Earl !


You can't tell me that after you tell me this ... The answer lies in the type/brand clear you use--some hold up longer in heavy mil apps.


That's just teasing me . Next you'll ask me to pull your finger

 

Not my car but it does not get much more FLAKEY then this. Rumor said that he lowered his car on the weight of the clear alone

Our buddy TOUCAN was hypnotized!!!

 

HOK... a flake/kandy job is a lot of work. It's worth the extra money.

Any one of the their urethane clears(usc01) are designed to have a high mil thickness. Here is a quote from their description:

"All House of Kolor clears use a unique chemistry, allowing build-up in excess of 15 mils without cracking, splitting, or delaminating. Collision repair paint will fail well below this level"

I use inexpensive clears on some stuff, I would never do so on a flake/candy job. Never.

 

Bump !