For those of us who are looking for the deep rubbed out look, is sanded and buffed high quality urethane the way to go ? Will a high end clear urethane over sanded single stage add a depth look without the bc/cc mirror shine ? Would appreciate any help, will be my first attempt not using acrylic enamel with hardner. thanks
depends on what you mean by depth. I've painted a lot of cars and the only type of paint that actually looks "deep" to me is candy. Clear over single stage is going to look the same as BC/CC. Sanding and buffing does increase the DOI (distinctness of image), in laymen's terms its makes it "shinier". I've always been puzzled as to why people say paint looks deep, unless they're talking about candy.
why not just use single stage urethane. You can get a very nice look out of it. Then you wouldnt have that clear look. I use Limco direct to metal. It sprays nice really lays down. Stays shiny good uv protection. Its also very affordable. Its a industrial finish. Also can be buffed
Thanks guys, I think what I am after is the rubbed out, soft shine look ? I want to use a solid color urethane. To me BC/CC looks very shiney and very thin in solid colors. I also don't like the ultra shiney mirror look . How long should I wait to cut and buff with a high quality urethane enamel ?? Car will be garaged but driven. Appreciate the advice.
I'm confused? are you wanting to clear over "old" single stage paint? If so I wouldnt do it. You wouldnt clear over a single stage then it would be 2 stage?? You want a deep "dull" look?? I'm so confused????????? You would want to color sand and buff within 48hrs. If you wait to long its like sanding concrete.
You mean you want the Rolling Bones weathered look. Where its still some what glossy but looks a bit hazy
maybe he means like a hand rubbed lacquer paintjob. I was looking at an old lacquer paint job my dad did on a motorcycle tank today, its kinda sounds what this guys looking for. That being said i know little about paint work so who knows.
That's what I was thinking also, the look of buffed out laquer. IMHO there is no way to get a BC/CC paint job to look like buffed lacquer, has to much of a "plastic" look to it. Buffed single stage urathane comes closer.
A close, and I mean close way to achieve the lacquer paint job is to use a single stage urethane, sand it flat with 800 grit sand paper and then clear it with a high grade clear. I used PPG's DCC single stage and then DCU 2021. They both use the same hardener and work great together.
Thanks all, I am going for the "lacquer look". I am going to try exactly what you are suggesting, Urethane SS, sand, Urethane clear. Actually have nothing to lose trying this method since I know I don't want the bc/cc wet look. Plan on using the PPG, I need something that will hold out in the sun here for a reasonable number of years. Appreciate the advice, sorry for the confusion.
Just remember the flatter you get the DCC with out sanding through (check for thin spots) the better it looks. You can spot in areas of color that are thin right before you clear with out fear of a blend line so long as its a solid color. Just make sure that you use the same temp reducer through the whole project. If you start with DT870 stick with DT870 until your done. Also use the same hardener for the entire project, if you change either you can expect it to lift down to the primer.
last time i checked,laquer is not avaliable at every corner paint store! never heard of changing reducer causing a lifting problem
American Federated Parts store in my neck of the woods has lacquer paint. The duplicolor that they sell at advance auto parts is also lacquer. So its not every store, but you can get it in just about any podunk town in the nation.
i dont know what color he wants but i think dupli-color makes a lacqer based paint system, paint shop i think the name is they sell it at autozone. i bet a good paint store could find something or know where to find it. i have seen the dupli-color stuff on a model a roadster it had the look your after.
Well, a "Candy" mimicks depth by being translucent. To get the old deep looking laquer rubbed a thousand times look I have had real good luck with just base/clear and then sand with 1000 wet until its flat and then re clear again. Wetsand that and buff it and it usually looks real "wet" maybe not so "deep"? I have gotten really deep looking blacks by using a single stage urethane then a wetsand and then 3-5 coats of urethane clear wetsanded and buffed. Blacks always look deeper if you use the bluer blacks. Ford code #UA is almost a brown looking black compared to like a toyota #202 black which has a bluer tint to it and looks wetter and deeper. I probably added to the confusion, but if you want to talk paint PM me.
I Agree! Stop playing around and just use lacquer. Also 345 Winder is wrong about finding lacquer paint. Duplicolor sells it in quarts at local autoparts stores but they have limited colors. Bill Hirsch sells the old school lacquer. Trinty/Paintofthecars sells a limited number of colors in gallons only. The Restoration Shop carries alot of colors in lacquer including factory colors. So stop playing around Chumlee.
The best compromise for having the look of lacquer, and the durability of urethane, is to do this: Put your single stage color over your primer/sealer, until you have good coverage. Next, using a clearcoat, in the same brand, and "family (i.e., it uses the same hardener) mix up the rest of your coats with half color, and half clear. Now put on enough coats so you have at least 2-3 coats over your first coverage, after sanding and buffing. Depending on hoow good a apinter you are, and ambinet conditions for flowout, this is usually 3-5 more coats. The addition of clear to the sigle stage, gives you an approximation of the depth of lacquer. Back in the day, it took 10-15 coats of lacquer to achieve good coverage, with some room to sand and buff. Today, 3 coats of uro do the same thing. So considering one coat of uro is close to 5 coats of lacquer, your 2-3 coats of half and half "kind of" looks like 10-15 of lacquer. Not exactly, as the lacquer pigments tended to be more translucent all around, while uro pigments are more opaque, so you are starting off with a slight disadvantage. I've doen a few cars like this in black Single stage, both HOK, and Dupont, and even 20 years ago, when people still knew what lacquer looked like, it fooled quite a few people. Only the real die hard paint guys had an inkling it wasn't lacquer! Additional note: this is my formula for solid colors!. Metallics don't work like this, though you can use similar techniques, you just hav eto use a lot less clear, or the metallics will blotch, sag, or mottle, if in too much clear. But metallic paints tend to be more transparent to begin with, so lessclear in the mix is needed. you'll have to experiment with test panels to get it right!
TCP sells lacquer, and Ships it. I have always used Acrylic lacquer...you can spray it in your driveway if necessary, EVERYthing will sand out of it, and it's idiot proof to use...ask me how I know. Once the color is on, I spray on clear (lacquer) so that when I do the final color sand, it doesn't cut any of the color. Buff it out and keep it waxed, and it will last for years. It's the easiest stuff in the world to use, and even an idiot can wind up with a spectacular paint job...relatively cheap. And it looks like hand rubbed lacquer...
best advice right there, short of using laquer itself. done this many times myself with great success, and you don't use half as much material as a laquer job or even a bc/cc method, which in turn can save you time and money, and you still get the results you are looking for, with the durability of urethane.
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