Blending and sealer? And clear coat...

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:22 pm
I see videos of people laying down a clear base coat and or sealer on the adjacent panel
. Or soemitmes all panels.

They also mention a blend additive... When asking in my local paint shop they said you can just this aerosol fade out thinner on your blend area to melt the base together.

Is this wrong? Or is there something I should be laying down in a blend area to give me a wet bed to avoid a dry edge rough edge?

More so. What should I be laying down in the blend area . The shop keeper looked confused when I asked for a clear base? Is it called something else in the UK? Or is he just not knowledgeable enough to know what I am trying to achieve?

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 11:04 pm
Once upon a time......when spray painting was more about technique and less about having a Masters in Chemistry, we used to blend silvers on to dry panels and rarely have a problem.

The advent of waterborne paints has recreated a whole set of problems that we thought we had licked, but this time the paint companies are developing solutions rather than their old response of "Learn to paint, ya mug".

So we now have the concept of wet bed. This allows barely qualified, inexperienced painters (because they're cheaper) to achieve good results and not have expensive reworks. Panel shop boss is happy because he's pumping more through and the paint company is happy because they're selling al these new products.

A wet bed is a layer of clear paint that you put on the panel in the area that you're going to blend and then you spray your base coat while that clear layer is still wet. The flakes sink in to the wet bed and lay down in a nice orderly fashion, so the edge of your blend isn't visible. Good stuff...... and it does work. Wet bed can be clear base coat (some systems do have one), binder without any tinters, a special (and expensive) product, like "blend additive" (aka thinner) that the paint company has just ripped you a new one tp pay for, or it could just be clear plastic adhesion primer. Whatever, it allows the painter to do all those bad habits that we used to be trained out of, and still achieve a good result.

Fade out thinner is a different animal altogether. It's a very strong thinner that is capable of melting even hardened or catalysed paint (2K). Not for use with base coat but does allow 2K and clear coat blends mid-panel. It melts the edge you've just sprayed and any overspray into the underlying clear. Works great and makes clear coat joins invisible after a little polishing. Trouble is that they come back after a year or three. Never use it on jobs that I warranty.
Chris



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PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 4:46 am
Thanks Chris.

So if I used a adhesion enhancer it would also give me the wet bed too?

Does this mean a sealer would do the job of a wet bed?

Basically anything wet and clear? Except a clear coat obviously

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 3:33 pm
Adhesion promoter does work. Note I'm assuming you're using solvent based paints here.

A clear sealer would probably work too, but I'd test for compatibility and not use if it's 2K.
Chris



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PostPosted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 7:18 am
okies il bare this in mind, i guess it wouldn't hurt to use a sealer or a promoter anyway it would only make the paint job better

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