So.. I'm about to paint my lip Adriatic blue pearl, and I was wondering if I need a pearl coat? My friend just recently painted his Artic blue pearl and he said the finish came out a little matte? He prepped it, sanded the lip down, primed it, painted it, and cleared it. He notice there was no shine to it even after the clear coat. He tells me that people told him he needed a pearl coat in order to bring out the shine? IDK, sounds weird to me but I was wondering if it was true. Are there even spray cans that come in a pearl coat? And me and my friend both bought the paint off www.paintscratch.com, so it isn't your everday Kragens product. TIA guys..

 

He must have sprayed it incorrectly because any paint with clear laid down on it correctly will have a shine to it.

 

^ Thats what I thought right? He got me hella trippin..

 

ABP is not a tri coat. its just a base/clear.... the pearl is mixed in with the base not the clear. the base is not supposed to be shiny. the clear brings out the shine. he probably just sprayed the clear dry which caused it to be hazy.

 

^ Or maybe he sprayed too much clear? IDK, but thanks man that cleared up a lot of questions I had. I was nervous about painting my lip, especially since those spray cans aren't cheap. But big ups to you sir.

 

Yep i guarantee you he was dry. Don't forget when you spray yours to spray it wet. Spray it how you want it to look.

 

no prob....i went to school for this.lol

 

so as far as clearcoat u dont want to paint a light coat? let it dry then another coat? you basically wanna wet the thing down as much as possible to get that shine? and maybe later down sand it with fine grit and buff and polish? im new to this as well

 

Wait.. what do you guys mean spray it wet? Like when I lay the last base coat I should spray the clear coat right after? Or wait til the base dries, spray the clear then wait 5 mins and spray clear again?

Nioce, wish I could too, but oh well. I'm not a total noob at this. (My pops is an auto body repair major.) But it would be nice to learn a lot more.

 

Let the base dry then put the clear on heavier or "wet". When you spray it the paint will look "wet'

 

spray ur base. u only want 2 coats or until coverage.....wait about 15 min for ur base to flash then go back in with ur clear. Now when u spray ur clear you you want to move slower than u did sparaying ur base. u want to spray the clear wet. The term "wet" means heavy more or less. whatever it looks like as soon as u get done sparyin is how it will look when it dries. just wait the recomended time between coats when spraying if not you will have issues.... but for future reference spraying goes like this (talking about millage)

epoxy primers-thin
etch primers-thin
primer surfacer(filler primers) thick
sealers-thin
base coat-thin
clear coat-thick

 

In simple form: spray your base till it is covered (multiple coats). Let it dry. Spray your first coat of clear (till it is shiny). Let it get tacky. Then spray your second coat (till shiny). Be careful not to put it on too heavy because it will run. Just put it on till you have an even coat that looks wet and smooth

 

Alright seems simple enough, thanks a lot you guys. But really big ups to twitch tho, guy knows what he is talking about! Haha, I'll post some pics of my progress and hopefully it turns out good. Wish I was using a gun for this, but its just a lip.

 

any time bro

 

white requires a tri coat where the pearl is sprayed on between the base/clear and some red's require tri coats for pearl.. other colours it is mixed with the base.

Put the clear on thick so it looks wet, but carefull not to get too crazy or it will run. When your done i highly recommend wetsanding the clear and than buffing/compound and polishing it.. if you want the best results.

However, since your using spray bombs to paint something im guessing your not looking for professional results anyways.

 

That's not always true

 

Yeah I'm def. wet sanding and buffing it out after the clear is baked. I just want the paint to color match perfectly/closely as possible. Thinking of painting my lip & side skirts this weekend.

 

the problem is when you buy those spray cans there is no hardener mixed in. beleive it or not the hardener is what really brings out the shine.