Who wants to learn to base,clear, and otherwise paint on multiple substrates?

IIRC Matthews was a one stage paint, I think the owner still clear coated them as we did I lot of huge signs, like hospitals, it would make sense PPG probably bought them out somewhere in the late 90's once base coat clear coat became the norm, if I ever painted something for outside that needed to last I would definitely still use Matthews, and great thing about matte is it hides all the dust and imperfections, as we had to paint the bigger signs outside of the paint booths.
Speaking of matte I remember what a pain it was to color match with a matte clear, you had to take in account what the matte clear did to the color, almost having to go 3 sheens(or whatever you call it:D) richer.
Yeah, I definitely wasn't aware of the brand back then, though the company was like 30miles from my house. I was probably more concerned with skateboards and the latest social distortion album at that point lol.
The matte doesn't seem to do that so much anymore but it will go glossy too if you put too much on unlike some older versions. I'll use Mathews for anything that doesn't have to have super deep showroom gloss , the UV abuse it takes is unreal. The gloss I would put as better than industrial but not show clear. Best part is , it will go over just about anything, we used it over latex, spray bomb, artist acrylic, wood,wood stain, anything.
 
Yeah, I definitely wasn't aware of the brand back then, though the company was like 30miles from my house. I was probably more concerned with skateboards and the latest social distortion album at that point lol.
The matte doesn't seem to do that so much anymore but it will go glossy too if you put too much on unlike some older versions. I'll use Mathews for anything that doesn't have to have super deep showroom gloss , the UV abuse it takes is unreal. The gloss I would put as better than industrial but not show clear. Best part is , it will go over just about anything, we used it over latex, spray bomb, artist acrylic, wood,wood stain, anything.

Matte was tricky to spray especially on a large flat surface as like you said put it on to thick in an area it would look streaky, you had to pull back and dang near fog it, I remember the matte additive too you put in a paint, it was like a wet chalky substance you really had to stir good and strain the hell out of it.

I really picked up some great experience at that sign shop, they had 3 different divisions - exterior, interior and a creative/robotic division that use to make all kinds of cool stuff, when the painter of creative found out I could bondo he had me helping him all the time, we did a huge dimensional globe for Coke and sculpted a bunch of Pharaohs heads for Luxor hotel in Vegas, it's a shame I was just some clueless kid that drank to much(didn't help they had a beer machine in the lobby), at the time it was just a job I never thought of taking pictures for a portfolio(this was before everyone had a camera in their phone), but looking back it tapped some creativity I didn't know I had.

Hey I still skateboard and surf and rock out to some musiclol
 
Matte was tricky to spray especially on a large flat surface as like you said put it on to thick in an area it would look streaky, you had to pull back and dang near fog it, I remember the matte additive too you put in a paint, it was like a wet chalky substance you really had to stir good and strain the hell out of it.

I really picked up some great experience at that sign shop, they had 3 different divisions - exterior, interior and a creative/robotic division that use to make all kinds of cool stuff, when the painter of creative found out I could bondo he had me helping him all the time, we did a huge dimensional globe for Coke and sculpted a bunch of Pharaohs heads for Luxor hotel in Vegas, it's a shame I was just some clueless kid that drank to much(didn't help they had a beer machine in the lobby), at the time it was just a job I never thought of taking pictures for a portfolio(this was before everyone had a camera in their phone), but looking back it tapped some creativity I didn't know I had.

Hey I still skateboard and surf and rock out to some musiclol
Basically exactly the kind of work I did all the time. Still do when I get the contracts....pretty cool! Were you around Orlando back then?
 
I actually have an animatronic tiki totem I did that's on a mini golf course in hastings UK. I keep asking @SiRoxx to get a pic w it lol. I dont think he's into mini golf lol.
 
I actually have an animatronic tiki totem I did that's on a mini golf course in hastings UK. I keep asking @SiRoxx to get a pic w it lol.
I will get that picture eventually! Lol. I definitely haven’t forgotten about it, just haven’t been over that way for a while.


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@Squishy , They do have this rather handy guide if you can't get to one.
http://www.matthewspaint.com/Fabricators-Distributors/Application/Substrate-Application-Guides.aspx
Most of the named products you could easily translate to other companies stuff.
The theme park substrate guide on that page is a gold mine of info for almost every type surface you can think of.
Haha been a while since I played on their site.​
Thanks for this Robby, I'm kinda ok-ish with a big gun, well mini hvlp anyway, as find it better for motorcycles, but more luck than skill I think lol. Any help gratefully received. Really fancy a crack at the scenex sometime.
 
Thanks for this Robby, I'm kinda ok-ish with a big gun, well mini hvlp anyway, as find it better for motorcycles, but more luck than skill I think lol. Any help gratefully received. Really fancy a crack at the scenex sometime.
Nah, no luck. You know it's like 80% prep 10% following directions 7% gun adjustments and like 3% spray technique. So you really only have 10% room to mess up if you look at directions first. Spraying is really pretty easy to pick up I think.
I have a feeling scenix will slightly challenge you though, aliphatic can be some of the more difficult stuff to spray smooth and not get an industrial look. I could be wrong, since I've not tried it but I'd be prepared for a few practice panels.
Of course in the video they did a cut and buff and that guy was a pro so , you may not be able to get around that step anyhow, it may not be able to be sprayed and just be good to go.
 
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Yeah I figure I would have to polish the crap out of it to get it to look halfway decent, but if I can use it at home, could be worth it if it looked good enough. Can't play with it right now though, so have to add it to my to do list lol.
 
Basically exactly the kind of work I did all the time. Still do when I get the contracts....pretty cool! Were you around Orlando back then?

Atlanta, my friend who worked at the sign shop was going to the Art institute and gave me very early versions of photoshop(think 4.0) and illustrator, I learned it and went more into design and graphics for smaller sign companies.

After a decade out of it I'm thinking ending my resurfacing business and starting a sign company at the end of this year, had I done it a year ago I'd be golden with that hurricane we had last year.
 
What hurts me is I'm a little shallow on the sign side of things. Strictly creative has been hard to maintain here.
Adding 3d sculpted elements to signs I'm trying to do for more consistent work and cooperate w some sign businesses now....we will see how that angle goes.
 
First day at class is going great. Just had lunch. About to go do some spraying. I will let you know how it goes. Also have the opportunity to attend the one shot class on Friday which is owned by Matthews.
That’s great Joe!! Glad your digging the course Buddy and it’s cool to have some feedback too.


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That’s great Joe!! Glad your digging the course Buddy and it’s cool to have some feedback too.


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The first day exceeded my expectations. I feel lucky to be attending the class. It is a wealth of knowledge. Looking forward to the second (final) day tomorrow. Be jealous. It’s a fun class.
 
The first day exceeded my expectations. I feel lucky to be attending the class. It is a wealth of knowledge. Looking forward to the second (final) day tomorrow. Be jealous. It’s a fun class.
Oh I’m definitely jealous lol. But happy for you to have made the class and have it be so good.


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This was the Mathews class?

Did they even ask about your industry association?

Yes, it was the Matthews Paint class. I was the only one in class that wasn't directly associated with a sign company. I told them that I was self employed as an artist that does murals and some signage. They welcomed me and everyone was very friendly. And I even got a cool certificate.

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