Experiment how long will it last??

RosharonRooster

RosharonRooster

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Good morning. I had some left over materials so i decided to paint my mailbox. My process was.
1. Scuff 400 dry
2. 1 sealer coat epoxy
3. 2 coats silver base
4. 3 coats urekem candy red
5. 3 coats spi production clear
6. Cut 600 wet
7. 2 coats spi production

I didnt want to use my universal clear for this. It was kind of just a father son project. Curious to see how long it lasts in direct weather 24/7. Im thinking maybe 2 years??
 

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I guess I was thinking more about when the clear will fail than when the candy dye will fade. Honestly the candy fade begins almost immediately, it's a gradual process. Having a lot of clear on there helps. It would be interesting to see how long the clear lasts in the Texas sunshine, I would guess based on my experience with SPI that it might be 8+ years before any loss of gloss occurs.
 
crashtech said:
I guess I was thinking more about when the clear will fail than when the candy dye will fade. <snip>
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Me too. Thanks for the professional perspective. I have a friend with a 50 year old candy apple paint job on a Nomad. The gold fading through is striking.

We expect yearly reports, Rooster!
 
rdransman said:
Me too. Thanks for the professional perspective. I have a friend with a 50 year old candy apple paint job on a Nomad. The gold fading through is striking.

We expect yearly reports, Rooster!
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That 50 year old candy would be something that I would like to see. Probably still mesmerizing.
 
My one mailbox is now 12 years old and still looks like day done, but universal and production would look the same if used.
The only issue you have is clears can only help protect candy or cheap pigments to a point.
Id say look for ten years because of the candy colors.
BUT all we can do is guess as we dont know brand or type of candy the manufacturer used nor the colors
 
elwood said:
That 50 year old candy would be something that I would like to see. Probably still mesmerizing.
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That car is under wraps in one of my buddy's cubby holes about 35 miles from here. He painted it while in high school and he's close to 70 now. I'll try to get a picture.
 
I combined all the various cups of different test mix ratios of HOK KK11 APPLE RED and S2-FX63Blushing Red FX mixed into SPI intercoat.
I made my own base coat this way, which I later painted the Mustang in my avatar with 5 coats then 3 coats clear (non-SPI).

I think I only did 3 coats of color on the mailbox and used 2 coats of some other brand of clear. This after about 5 years, it looks a little like cinnamon color on the southern side of the box. You can see the original color where the door closes.
 

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Ya know, that mailbox is doing it's best to look good and make you proud. It stands guard protecting your mail from all the weather elements.

Have a heart and claybay / wax that faithful beautiful servant once a year.

She'll love you long time, maybe 10 to 12 years with a little caring love.
 
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It should go 10 more anyway. The S2 is the difference. KK's will fade fairly quick but mine went at least 10-12 before the fire went out so to speak. It really only started looking really bad about 4 years ago. About time for another.
I used the old MS Clear which I really liked for these kind of projects,Lot quicker and easier than Universal and the Clear is great shape outside of the Postman Rash on the door. It was 06 but sure wasn't January 1. More like May I think.

Looking good and some Father Son Time well spent.
 

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