Paint advice required.

[Andrew Casley]

Hi all, i'm pretty new to this so bear with me. Experience wise, I have spray painted a few motorcycles over the years, just for myself and consider myself a fair spray painter. I've only ever use automotive acrylic paint and it's always turned out okay. Now that I want to move into airbrushing some of my bikes, I have a couple of questions regarding paint usage. I intend to respray a bike shortly, and then put a mural on the tank. I was in a local shop the other day and they have some 'water based' airbrush paint. The salesman said this would be okay to use over acrylic auto paint, then seal with an acrylic clear topcoat. It might just be me, but this didn't sound right, can water based and auto be layered over each other without any adverse affects? The salesman said this is a new thing, I said I would do some research and ask around. Seeing as I will probably be predominantly mucking about with auto painting, I would say I will stick to this type of paint. I look forward to any advice on this. I will also need a lot of practice, so I guess I could use an alternative until I get better. I've seen food dye suggested.
Also, in my town there is not really anyone who caters for airbrushing supplies. I go to Melbourne on a pretty regular basis, so if anyone Downunder is reading this, can you please suggest a place where I might be able to source some paint, or even a good on-line source in Oz would be helpful.
Thanks in advance all. Kind regards, Andrew.

 

[Mr.Micron]

I do it all the time , I use either Wicked , Createx Illustration or AutoAir which are all made by Createx but are all designed to paint on almost any surface.
Depending on the paint job will depend on if I use an intercoat clear or just clear prior to laying down the graphics.
But most times I will just seal , primer base coat , graphics and clear.
I have not had any issues yet.
as far as automotive paint I use it is mainly House of Kolor, But I do use PPG sometimes.
As far as a good source in OZ I am sure the Oz folks will gladly help you sort that out.

 

[Immortal Concepts]

Isn't trident pretty close? Mitch could probably tell you or rebel. You can mix them, as long as each layer of medium is completely cured. For a motorcycle or vehicles you will have to clear with a urethane 2k clearcoat with uv inhibitors. Otherwise it will never last. Spray a mist coat, let it tack up. Do a medium coat, then follow with a wet coat.

 

[Immortal Concepts]

I do it all the time , I use either Wicked , Createx Illustration or AutoAir which are all made by Createx but are all designed to paint on almost any surface.
Depending on the paint job will depend on if I use an intercoat clear or just clear prior to laying down the graphics.
But most times I will just seal , primer base coat , graphics and clear.
I have not had any issues yet.
as far as automotive paint I use it is mainly House of Kolor, But I do use PPG sometimes.
As far as a good source in OZ I am sure the Oz folks will gladly help you sort that out.

Jinx, only a minute between replies . [emoji57]

 

[Mr.Micron]

Jinx, only a minute between replies . [emoji57]

Great minds and all that ya know..LOL
On Trident I have heard good things and bad things.
The good things is it does spray like a urethane , The bad is it re-wets fast, very on tape outs But being it cost to much to get where I live I have only tried a small sample of it so I really did not have enough to run a full gambit of test with it and learn the ins and outs of it.
But I have seen some really killer work with it.
But as Justin state you do want a good 2k clear if you want it to last.

 

[splasha]

Hi, Andrew.
Can't really help much with the paint stuff, but I'm sure that if you contact Airbrush Megastore . com.au,
the guys there will help out.
If you get to Geelong, see the crew at Darby's in Moorabool St.
They're the local auto paint specialists here and have some great stuff, HOK , DNA and most others.

 

[ferret]

Hello Andrew , i agree with all above and will add do not use a 1k clear with any waterbased paint if you want to avoid reactions and want it to last . I will also add that you should also avoid the non isocynate free 2 k clears as these tend to have a yellow tint to them and are a pain to rework .

 

[Andrew Casley]

Thanks guys for all that info, I clearly have a lot to learn but it's great so many of you are there with the right info, and it is appreciated. Well, I had my first proper crack at a mural yesterday, I've created an album and uploaded a couple of photos. It took me about two hours to do, some further info is at the album. Forgive my corner cutting regarding a paint source, I had an itchy trigger finger and time, which sometimes is a commodity I don't have. I cleaned up the old tank with a quick rub, some prepsol, a quick coat of spray pack acrylic black for a background, and then into it. I don't think it turned out too bad for a first attempt. Cheers.

 

[Supernova]

Airbrush supply network sell PPG automotive paints in quantities more suitable for airbrushing. They also freight around Australia at no cost.

 

[splasha]

Hi, Supernova.
Do you have a contact for them?
Can't say Ive seen 'em around, but could be worth a go for some stuff?
Maybe do a retailer review for them?
There's lots of people in Australia chasing stuff, and it's not all that easy to come by at times, so any info will help heaps.
Thanks.

 

[Supernova]

Hi Splasha, here is the link to them http://www.airbrushsupplynetwork.com.au/index.php?osCsid=60f2cb9ffa15c94d0edf5e20b579894f
I haven't bought any PPG through them only their water based illustration ink. I'm no expert on being able to compare paints but I use them regularly whilst learning. Etac would be my favourite but these are pretty good and for $18 to $24 for 500ml they are great value.

 

[Gilbert Philippe]

Hi all, i'm pretty new to this so bear with me. Experience wise, I have spray painted a few motorcycles over the years, just for myself and consider myself a fair spray painter. I've only ever use automotive acrylic paint and it's always turned out okay. Now that I want to move into airbrushing some of my bikes, I have a couple of questions regarding paint usage. I intend to respray a bike shortly, and then put a mural on the tank. I was in a local shop the other day and they have some 'water based' airbrush paint. The salesman said this would be okay to use over acrylic auto paint, then seal with an acrylic clear topcoat. It might just be me, but this didn't sound right, can water based and auto be layered over each other without any adverse affects? The salesman said this is a new thing, I said I would do some research and ask around. Seeing as I will probably be predominantly mucking about with auto painting, I would say I will stick to this type of paint. I look forward to any advice on this. I will also need a lot of practice, so I guess I could use an alternative until I get better. I've seen food dye suggested.
Also, in my town there is not really anyone who caters for airbrushing supplies. I go to Melbourne on a pretty regular basis, so if anyone Downunder is reading this, can you please suggest a place where I might be able to source some paint, or even a good on-line source in Oz would be helpful.
Thanks in advance all. Kind regards, Andrew.

HI Andrew,

I've done it before and they seem to work fine. I've used Trident and Wicked water based and DNA Candy on the same artwork without any issues.. I've used 2k clear on trident/wicked and so far, i haven't had any issues.. Also check out "Art Republic Melbourne" in Hoppers Crossing (www.Artrepublicmelbourne.com.au) . They stock Airbrush and Airbrush paints mainly Tridents water based and DNA urophane airbrush paints.products (base coats, candies etc).. you can buy online and they ship Australia wide..
Gilbert.