That sweet sweet automotive finish.

  • Thread starter Samantha Freeman
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Samantha Freeman

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So I have been racking my brain lately how I am going to progress and I loove to spray on anything. Rather spray on metal and plastic over a canvas (I guess to me anything could be a canvas)

Well watching videos of my idols such as Cory Saint Clair and Ryan Townsend I day dream of spraying that nice mirror automotive clear with my artwork underneath. I thought I would want urethane such as house of kolor. I know of people that use createx such as auto air and wicked in fact all my jobs have used createx with spray can clear finish over top. Should I continue to do this and step up the game to urethane clear with a proper gun and compressor? what are the benefits of using urethane for illustration, is it even worth it?

Also I wonder about is what if I just wanted to put my artwork in a small section that has already been cleared. could I add it and clear over it again and look like I sprayed the whole thing?

I appreciate your feedback. thank you :)
 
Urethane is great, but it’s evil stuff. I spray it all day long with HVLP and air assist. Also sprayed a water based urethane for cabinets and it’s pretty good stuff. Again, it’s designed for cabinets but gets pretty hard and is clear as can be. The thing with a good clear coat is you have to spray it almost to the point of running to get that deeeeppp clear
 
I stand to be corrected here, so take this with a pinch of salt and somebody will let us know if I’m wrong.
I think the main difference when it comes to Illustration would be the ability to erase waterbased as a technique, I’m pretty sure you can’t erase urethane like you can waterbased. I think that’s the main difference when it comes to using them for more “realism” type projects. If I’m watching somebody like Crag Fraser doing an automotive mural. He will “save” highlights and then add white for the final pop.
Again, I’m not 100% sure but I think when I saw a video of Ryan Townsend doing a photo real pinup girl on a tank, he used waterbased for that.
I’ve been doing some research myself and it seems that Urethanes generally flow better, there’s much less messing about trying to be the reduction right. And again “I believe”, they stand up better to being exposed to the elements on a car / motorcycle.
That’s my understanding, which does not make it the truth LOL. Sorry about all the “I think” and “I believe”, but I don’t want to shout my mouth off and give somebody the wrong info. :D
 
Some thing use to not be able to be done unless you used urethane like Tru Fire. But now that Createx has a true water based candy that is possible now.
The automotive custom paint world here in the USA is driven by California regulation, So when the big names in the airbrush world like Corey Saint Clair, Craig Fraser, Gerald Mendez, and Allen Pastrana all switch to Wicked , Candy 2O and autoair to do their art work most of the country follows that lead. It is not to say that some old school airbrush artist still only use urethane for their art work but with stricter VOC laws coming into play most are making the switch and only using urethane for the final clear coats.
Even the automotive industry has switched to a water based system on the newer cars.
All that being said I still will break out the urethane like HOK , PPG and SEM depending on the job and what the persons budget is. With the cool kids paints comes a lot higher prices You have flex additive for all the plastic parts on the cars like the bumper and trim , you have hardeners plus reducer , then you have intercoat clears and clear coats. It adds up fast.
But it comes down to the end of the day find you own path . If you want to try urethane paints make sure you are properly set up to use them and follow all of the safety measure you country , state or county has in play. Know the laws in your area for using them .
 
Beautiful write up mista. Thank you for the information guys it is always appreciated. This is definitely a step in the direction I want to go. :) <3
 
I think the main difference when it comes to Illustration would be the ability to erase waterbased as a technique, I’m pretty sure you can’t erase urethane like you can waterbased. I think that’s the main difference when it comes to using them for more “realism” type projects. If I’m watching somebody like Crag Fraser doing an automotive mural. He will “save” highlights and then add white for the final pop.
Again, I’m not 100% sure but I think when I saw a video of Ryan Townsend doing a photo real pinup girl on a tank, he used waterbased for that.
I’ve been doing some research myself and it seems that Urethanes generally flow better, there’s much less messing about trying to be the reduction right. And again “I believe”, they stand up better to being exposed to the elements on a car / motorcycle.
That’s my understanding, which does not make it the truth LOL. Sorry about all the “I think” and “I believe”, but I don’t want to shout my mouth off and give somebody the wrong info. :D

You can erase urethane with the right prep. There are a number of other tricks that can be used to remove urethane as well.

Erasing vs. adding highlights with paint are two completely different techniques. There are pros and cons to both. In the automotive world we generally use attention getting colors and designs rather than solid colors (erasing metallic, pearls, candies, etc. is never a good idea) . It all depends on the effect the artist is after as well as the clients budget. Sometimes using dissimilar paint is advantageous as well (using waterborne white to add highlights over urethane candy keeps your highlights white, whereas the candy would bleed into urethane white without taking any other preventative steps).

Urethane DOES flow better. Waterborne technology has come a long way in the last 10 to 15 years, but I don't think it will ever compare to urethanes. Unfortunately, the health risks are far greater than waterborne. That, and government regulations are why so many of us are using waterborne technology pretty much exclusively these days.

As far as standing up to the elements goes, there is no advantage to either system as long as there's a good 2k clear applied.
 
I day dream of spraying that nice mirror automotive clear with my artwork underneath. I thought I would want urethane such as house of kolor. I know of people that use createx such as auto air and wicked in fact all my jobs have used createx with spray can clear finish over top. Should I continue to do this and step up the game to urethane clear with a proper gun and compressor? what are the benefits of using urethane for illustration, is it even worth it?

Also I wonder about is what if I just wanted to put my artwork in a small section that has already been cleared. could I add it and clear over it again and look like I sprayed the whole thing?

I appreciate your feedback. thank you :)

Spraying urethane clear is an art on its own. If you're interested in learning that's great, but please go about it safely!

The benefits of using urethane for illustration in my opinion.... It sprays better, it covers faster and it's easier to keep the surface clean prior to clear. Having said that, I have used waterborne technology exclusively for almost ten years now. The risks associated with urethane aren't worth it in my opinion.

Yes, you can absolutely put your artwork on a small section that has already been cleared and then clear over it again. There are a number of ways to accomplish this.
 
Yes of course safety is number one. I realize it' an art and part of the reason I want to learn it so bad. But first things first the space I need and the ventilation/ respitory mask I need before I even think about buying a compressor or gun. Thank you for the information . I love how you push safety first btw ty ty
 
And ventilation is a whole different ballgame than water based. Explosion proof fans are not cheap by any stretch. Tyvec or another type of suit to wear as well is a must. That stuff will soak into your skin and cause you lots of health issues as well. However, it’s a blast to spray...lol
 
It's best (if going in the non canvas area) to clear coat everything. I clear it all....even the Tamco Intensity paints. Your SMELL is your worst enemy...of course wearing a respirator (and I have "clear coat" clothing that I wear). Excellent ventilation is required. Also, don' forget over spray. Blow up paint booths work for some, I've never needed one, always had a building. Also, if your gonna get into it that deep, better start saving, cause your gonna need an industrial air compressor. Mine was $900 on SALE...2 stage big boy! Why? Because you can't stop spraying the clear while waiting for the compressor to catch up...You CAN...but I don' recommend it. Because now your talking flash times, add in temperature control...all things are key factors. Then when you clear "in house", now ya gotta get a good buffing wheel, and I recently started using CSI instead of 3M compound...lots and LOTS AND LOTS to consider lol
 
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