Drop Coat?

[Nochain]

Do you guys use a drop coat to start out when clearing? If so do you go wet afterwards with two coats or go medium then full wet?

 

[El Toro]

With the SPI clears spray the first coat the way you want the last coat to look when finished so no I do not and this is from the manuel.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Do you guys use a drop coat to start out when clearing? If so do you go wet afterwards with two coats or go medium then full wet?

Never. Not just with SPI, but with any polyurethane or urethane clears. You'll never get the texture out of it if you do.

Read the SPI Technical Manual.

 

[hapcj7]

Never. Not just with SPI, but with any polyurethane or urethane clears. You'll never get the texture out of it if you do.

Read the SPI Technical Manual.

The little i know, i agree with you 100%... However, the Feller on "paint Society"...( you tube) says to go easy on the first coat, dont worry about a little bit of peel,or dry spots,; you will get rid of that later on with subsequent coats- Perhaps he uses a different type of clear?

 

[jcclark]

I've tried it both ways many times and haven't ever noticed a difference in the final coat.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

The little i know, i agree with you 100%... However, the Feller on "paint Society"...( you tube) says to go easy on the first coat, dont worry about a little bit of peel,or dry spots,; you will get rid of that later on with subsequent coats- Perhaps he uses a different type of clear?

Heck man if it's on youtube then it must be true. Guy you are referencing is not one of my faves. He really doesn't know how to spray.

Doing a blend, some best practices please?

I need to do a blend on my sons Mazda 3. Please remind me of the best practices, I paint about every three years and always an all over so this is new to me. I'm going to blend the basecoat (I have SPI intercoat) and clear the whole panel. q1: If I'm using universal clear, what is the...

www.spiuserforum.com

Answer me this, why do you want to use a drop coat? What are you trying to achieve?

It is a holdover from the acrylic enamel days when spraying light on your first coat helped with not getting runs on your subsequent coats. I don't know if it really worked even then, but it was taught in the "textbooks" at the time. 40 years ago. It is not relevant today.
If you get texture in your first coat of clear you never really get that texture out with subsequent slick coats. Hence why Barry and every other clear manufacturer says spray your first coat how you want it to look.

 

[elwood]

Higher solids clears don't level out as much as lower solids do because there is less solvent to evaporate to give the leveling effect. Hence the spray first coat the way you want the last one to look like advice for higher solid clears.

 

[Nochain]

Thanks guys. I was curious if anyone was doing this to aid in preventing runs. It seems obvious now that @Chris_Hamilton mentioned that it could cause a rough surface. We all know if you shoot over a rough surface you’ll see and feel it with subsequent layers. Also a dry spray is probably the worst thing that one can do. I’ll stick to the advice here and in the guide.
Thanks for all your responses!

 

[jcpettit]

It might just be me, but if (when) I get runs in my clear it always seems to be on my first coat of clear. I am not sure why this happens, but rarely do I get runs after the first coat. This is the reason I have never tried a drop coat, because I do not worry about runs as much after that first coat.

I also agree with everyone on this. If you get texture in the first coat it always seems to be there after the final coat.