airbrush work and use of intercoat

Edgecrusher

Edgecrusher

Promoted Users
Well it looks like we're overdue for a post in this section so here goes. I think I had some discussion with Jim about using intercoat while doing airbrush work a long while ago and I think I want to expand on what I remember a bit.
This is mainly in reference to best practices and maybe not something that has to be done a certain way. I'm more curious what people have found to be the easiest way of going about it.
What I'm thinking about is what to do when you have a lot of surface you want to cover (I'm talking cages here, not motorcycles) and you have the body all straight. You spray your basecoat and then you have to lay out your artwork. Layout can take a long time and also involves a lot of tape and possibly cutting with a x-acto blade. Maybe some penciling. A lot of stuff that can be hard on your thin basecoat.
This is where I see intercoat coming in. I know if you can set up and do your airbrush work quickly maybe a layer of intercoat isn't required, but if you want to lock in that bodywork and basecoat and then be able to take your time with the art work and possibly have the option of removing said artwork when it doesn't work out, is it a good idea to cover the vehicle with intercoat? Would a coat or two of your regular universal clear be an alternative which you'd then have to sand before the artwork?
I just got a quart of intercoat mainly to be able to shoot some pearl for a design I had in mind, but I'm thinking maybe I want to put a coat over the basecoat first so that I can do my airbrushing over that and keep my basecoat from getting damaged or 'dirty' from sitting. I'm not working in a booth but a garage. A home workshop where it will be opened up at different times and things may be flying around that I don't want landing on my project...
 
#1 never use a coat of regular clearcoat then sand it to lay out your artwork. 2 coats...maybe if your careful. problem is you end up sanding and making that clear thin in a spot then you spray more base over it and it will wrinkle. avoid anything catalyzed between layers like that. 75% of the time, your ok but when it goes wrong, it goes wrong big. if your going to clear, then clear. a full 3-4 coats, let sit a few days, sand and continue your artwork.

as for intercoat, for me i almost never use it unless its a binder for some pearls or flake, etc. i have used it to protect, but rarely. there is no right or wrong when to use it. its when you feel you want a little protection. time should not factor into your decision though. you will have no more time with intercoat than without. there really isnt a recoat window with base even though a tds says there is so dont worry about it. only time i would typically use it for protection was when i would have really light or detailed airbrush work. i liked to lock that down when i was done. if not, 710 would ever so slightly wipe off any white highlights. i would typically wipe down with pure mineral spirits since its a little more gentile.
 
Thanks for your input Jim and I'm sorry if you were repeating anything. Knowing about the potential problems using clear is very helpful. I think in the past I said I may just clear it like normal and try to come back to it for artwork at a later date, but I know how I operate and later would never come. If it's gonna be done it has to be now.
Another thing I'm thinking about is if I'm doing artwork that will mean I need to put everything together on the frame for it. I was planning on clearing everything off the frame so I may have to disassemble for that later. That's a lot of work and the potential for something to go wrong in the process is increased. That's something I'll have to plan out.
 
yep, every bike i ever did was install, lay out the design, uninstall, spray, then do it all over again for the next step. i could do that up to 5-6 times on every job.
 
I’m no expert like Jim but have done a fair amount of airbrushing on cars. I’m not good enough to get it right EVERY time I go to airbrush, like maybe it spits or my shadows are wrong. I will spray 3 coats of clear - that way I can “erase” with 1500 sandpaper . AND if you’re using Kandy colors it won’t bleed
 
I would be using mainly AutoAir type Createx paint and some urethane where I want a pearl or metallic.

Is 600 or 800 what you sand the clear before doing graphics over the clear?

I suppose this scenario could be worked into the whole "Perfect Paint Job" tutorial where they do the clear in two sittings letting the first 3coats cure for an amount of time, sand it flat, then doing my artwork before applying the next three coats?
 
1000 is too fine. If you spray the artwork then mask it off, when you unmask there s a good chance the artwork is getting pulled off by the tape. Depending on what i was spraying i would sand the clear with 400 or 600 and in some cases 800 but never finer than that
 
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