I purchased some gloss clear coat from kemperle got the activator to go along with it.

I’ll be applying this to some plastic parts with an airbrush that are already painted.

Now i have 2 questions for the seasoned vets that know their stuff.

I’m pretty sure i shouldn’t have a prob shooting the clear through my airbrush, but in the event that i would like to use a reducer to do some blends, is it ok to mix brands? If so what is a good brand reducer that can work well with kemperle’s clear coat?

Second question, some parts i want to have a semi gloss more of a satin look. Is there a way to mix this gloss clear coat into a satin finish or am i better off just buying a pint of semi gloss clear coat?

well i'm seasoned but i'm not sure about knowing anything. i'm not familiar with the Kemperle clear, BUT if its a urathane clear you should be ok to use any urathane reducer. pay attention to the temp range and go for it. if its not a problem buy the semi gloss clear. it most likely will be what you want and be the same every time you use it, not to mention it should hold up better. trying to flatten gloss clear can be a crap shoot meaning mixing small amounts is tricky it might be to flat or not flat enough.
Jay D.

badsix wrote: trying to flatten gloss clear can be a crap shoot meaning mixing small amounts is tricky it might be to flat or not flat enough.

Nailed it.

If you're using out of the tin clear then I'd recommend buying a tin of the satin the same brand as your gloss. You can then mix known proportions to achieve intermediate finishes. Use the reducer that is recommended for that clear. There are "universal" reducers and others that will work but gloss will be affected usually.

I don't know that clear but see that they have both MS and HS variants. I'll bet you the value of my next job that neither will work in an air brush unless significantly reduced.

Yep, expect viscosities to be way up for an air brush. here's something I've done in the past. when your doing small parts and you need to reduce the clear as you might need to reduce considerably. use a slightly faster reducer, to slow and your going to suffer run problems as the mixture is going to be quite thin. by useing the faster reducer you can apply your reduced clear fairly wet on your small parts and avoid the run problem. it will flash rather quickly.
Jay D.

NFT5 wrote: I'll bet you the value of my next job that neither will work in an air brush unless significantly reduced.

How much was the value of that next job?
I tried the clear in my airbrush on a test piece and it actually shot well.

$500. But that finish is awful, doesn't count as having worked.

but, the viscosity of the clear was to thick and that's why you got a rough orange peel finish. I don't see this as a win.
Jay D.

NFT5 wrote::rotfl: $500. But that finish is awful, doesn't count as having worked.

It was just one pass to test it out. I didn’t actually finish it.

Although it did work, i wouldn’t use the airbrush with automotive 2 part clear. I would have to do a deep clean after each shot. The clear dries too fast and clogs the brush.

badsix wrote:but, the viscosity of the clear was to thick and that's why you got a rough orange peel finish. I don't see this as a win.
Jay D.

I didn’t properly prep the panel. And the pic was taking a few days after it was kicked around and used as a sword by my taxmanian 2 yr old. So if it had been properly done, i would say it would’ve came out just fine.

But as my first respond to NFT5, i wouldn’t want to go this route unless i necessarily have to on a very small area. I finished the actual piece with a 2k clear rattle can. It came out good with the exception of a typical amateur **** up of me compounding it incorrectly. But nonetheless im still satisfied with the final look.