so i was trying to figure out the cheaper way to do the base and clear and decided to give the duplicolor cans a try on small pieces. did a trim piece with rattle can base and rattle can clear came out ok

thought i would give the duplicolor paint shop clear a try.
mixed it with some reducer like i always do with clear coat for painting

did about 4 coats of clear on each panel.


after few hours of drying the clear from rattle can looks better than clear from spray gun.

i have hvlp gun set up according to instructions on the can


i warmed up the paint and warmed up the panels with a heat gun both times temperature was about same

top is spray gun bottom is rattle can clear.

 

closeups rattle can left spraygun right

spraygun

rattle can

 

I thought those Duplicolor paints were all ready to spray out of the can? If you added more reducer to it it may have flashed off too fast or started to lift the basecoat.

 

more thinners and up the presure of your gun me thinks

 

its junk anyways

 

I only put 4:1 thinner for this. Ill try more next time.

 

Try a slow thinner too, it will allow it more time to flow out as that clear is ment for small panal repairs and sets up pretty quick.. Its still junk I would reather use PPG clears any day.

 

its cheaper. my daily driver not trying to spend a whole bunch of cash on it.

 

You can get cheap clears from like eastwood or get some quality dupont clear from a paint shop. Those little cans are like 40-50 bucks a can, you can get a gal of clear from like napa for 90-100.

 

A cheap but better solution would be single stage kits from Eastwood/nason/ppg. If your not going for baller show car status and are content with a oem-ish finish these would be a better choice and the quality vs duplicolor is much better. I did nason single stage on my front bumper for my integra as a temp and even though the silver didn't match my chromobase (Silverstone metallic) it was pretty damn durable

 

I looked into eastwood they only offer few colors i didnt like any of them

 

Any oem color you like is more then likely offered in a single stage from better companies such as nason, ppg etc whatever your local auto paint store carries. Tri coat paints though are not offered in single stages