Hi folks,

As per title, when clear coating a panel and i find some areas of the clear poorly applied (yes me), is there a trick to smoothing and clear coating just that area without witness marks of the blend area in the buffing rather than clear coating the whole panel again.


Steve

Side note - Doors almost done

If the clear is fairly fresh then you can just recoat the problem area and melt in the edges using a blending thinner. Getting it just right so that there are no obvious lines after buffing can be a bit tricky - it's an experience thing, knowing just how much blending thinner to use and then not over buffing the join.

What is blending thinner, thats got me interested now, I am aware of retarder for lacquers but not 2k stuff.

Steve

It's a special thinner that melts fresh clear into existing clear. Applied with a fine mist coat over the join it bonds the two layers together.

Thanks, will contact paint shop tomoz, what sort of drying window do you think it would work with, one day, one week, one month, one year etc

Steve

[quote="NFT5"]If the clear is fairly fresh then you can just recoat the problem area and melt in the edges using a blending thinner. Getting it just right so that there are no obvious lines after buffing can be a bit tricky - it's an experience thing, knowing just how much blending thinner to use and then not over buffing the join.[/quote

this procedure might be a little more than you want, but I've used a mid coat adhesion promotor DuPont's 222 several times it works good with blends in clear. I will usually use 3 guns, 1 to apply the midcoat and base then one to shoot the clear and a detail gun for the blender. as Chris said it an experience thing. in all truth about it I would just sand it smooth and recoat with clear, but then how are you going to get that experience.
Jay D.

simso wrote:Thanks, will contact paint shop tomoz, what sort of drying window do you think it would work with, one day, one week, one month, one year etc

Steve

The blending thinner goes on immediately after the clear and you only use a tiny amount - just a fine mist over the joint itself. The one I use is Axalta AK350 and 5 litres lasts about 5 years. It slows the flash off in the initial stages by a little bit, but then drying times are much the same as for the clear you've used.

AK350 can also be used with 2K and even acrylic.

When I blend clear I use magnets taped to paper to offset it off the surface.
I spray my clear up to the edge at a slight angle so some goes just under the
edge, then I slide the paper away a little before the next coat.
Last coat I slide it a little more and spray a little blender or
reducer on the edge to lay it down.
Never paint to a taped line for a blend

NFT5 wrote:The blending thinner goes on immediately after the clear and you only use a tiny amount - just a fine mist over the joint itself. The one I use is Axalta AK350 and 5 litres lasts about 5 years. It slows the flash off in the initial stages by a little bit, but then drying times are much the same as for the clear you've used.

[/quote]

Picked up some blending thinner, I also asked them how to use it, he mentioned you can spray the area with the thinners before hand or after or mix in with the paint

Steve

JCCLARK wrote:When I blend clear I use magnets taped to paper to offset it off the surface.
I spray my clear up to the edge at a slight angle so some goes just under the
edge, then I slide the paper away a little before the next coat.
Last coat I slide it a little more and spray a little blender or
reducer on the edge to lay it down

Interesting way of doing it, i was taught soft edges by rolling the tape up for blending out, just this time around i want to melt new to old

Steve