OK, OK, I know it's not an airplane, but this thread is about paint and finishing and I thought I'd share my recent experiences with Eastwood Automotive 2K clear.
The subject matter is my new RC boat made by ProMarine out of Indianapolis. I'm getting ready to race it down in Florida.
It started as a white fiberglass shell which I thoroughly sanded with 600 wet/dry until all the gloss was gone. Cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and thoroughly wiped clean with a tac cloth.
This was my first experience using shelf paper as a masking medium. I've heard about it over the years but never tried it. If you've never used it, I have to say I loved it. You can lay out your design on it and then trim it carefully with an exacto knife. Peel it, stick it down and it forms a perfect mask. I had NO bleed through at all. The two front to rear panels were masked off with the shelf paper. All of the other lines were laid out using 1/4" wide green 3m striping tape. The curves were made with 1/8" blue 3m fine line tape. No bleed through there either, but I could press down firmly on the fiberglass surface without worrying about denting anything. You can't do that with balsa.
The entire boat was painted with spray cans.
I originally wanted a nice fluorescent green for visibility. The RC boat course is rather large, my eyes are not as good as they once were, the last thing I wanted to do was to lose sight of my boat in the middle of a race. The only color I could find even close to what I wanted was a Rustoleum color. It was hard to get a good consistent color due to the transparency of the paint, kind of like spraying kandy colors if you're ever tried that. I did the best I could, I finally had to stop worrying about it, it'll look great from 300 feet away. The metallic gray color is a Duplicolor automotive color. It really sparkles in the sunshine. The black canopy color was factory applied.
Finally, the clear coat is Eastwood 2K glossy clear. I took the boat to my RC field, taped a bunch of plastic to one of our work tables, wiped it down again with rubbing alcohol and a tac rag and sprayed it. Oh, I also bought a good 3M respirator. It was a nice day, warm, on the humid side with a mild breeze. I stayed upwind at all times and laid down a nice even coat of clear. The stuff sprays real nice, no problems with runs on the vertical surfaces or anything like that. I did not put any on the bottom of the boat.
The instructions say the pot life is 48 hours. What I wanted to do was take it home, wet sand it and then put on another nice coat. Unfortunately, the weather that we've been having (rain) started up again that evening and continued the next day. I was afraid to try another coat. Does anyone know how long you have to let the 1st coat sit before you can apply a 2nd coat?
So here are my observations on the automotive 2K clear experience:
Positiives
It sprays so nicely. The nozzle is perfect, the amount of material coming out is just right. You can put it on light, you can put it on heavy, it's how you spray it. It delivers a nice even coat.
No drips, no runs, nothing.
No signs of any blushing, even though it was on the humid side. Probably mid 70% at the time I sprayed.
Within about an hour, it was dry enough that I could put it in my van and drive it home. I had one little insect land on it (AARRGGHH). The next day I wiped it away and you can hardly see where it landed. Phew.
It seems to be compatible with Rustoleum and Duplicolor. I have no reason to believe that it wouldn't be fine with Krylon as well.
I can feel very light ridge line where the paint lines are. Just sayin. I'm no expert painter, there may be ways around the ridges by only using one coat, I'm not sure. If you could carefully sand the trim colors before applying the clear, that might help.
Provides a nice glossy, hard finish.
Negatives
It is expensive. However, you can find some nice deals on E bay if you keep searching.
Once and done. You can't put this back on the shelf and use it on your next plane. It might be thoughtful to have a couple of things lined up to clear coat, that way you would be sure to use the entire contents of the can in one application.
I'm not sure about this one, but I understand it can be dangerous. I talked to the lady at Eastwood (we have a store nearby) and asked her what mask to use and I bought what she recommended. I was very careful not to even stand downwind of the over spray, and like I said, there was a gentle breeze blowing the over spray away from me. There was no one at the field that day. I would recommend taking every precaution necessary just to be safe. I don't think you should spray it in your home or garage, but again, I'm no expert on the dangers of this stuff. If you have any questions or reservations, you should research it for yourself.
I hope this helps provide some information to those who may be considering using 2K automotive clear.
Topic: 2K Automotive Clearcoat (Read 1931 times)