Mipa Paint

Bartman

Member
Well after being very unhappy with Valspar I have pulled the trigger on a Mipa mix system. I don't feel like writing all of the ins and outs of all of the paints I've used over the years but I will say my favorite was always Diamont and Glasurit. Mipa is a polyester system like BASF, sprays, looks, and everything else much like it. Why not go with BASF? Well, my jobber does not like to deliver this far out, he will be it is not often and wants list plus some and it is already very expensive. I'm one of few that don't like PPG. I just don't like the way it sprays and urethane bases add more texture than polyesters in my opinion. Anyway the deal being offered in my area is $1500 to cover the cost of scale, mixing bank and lids (which I don't think 1500 bucks will cover those items) and Mipa gives you the first set of toners. No consignment, no contract, no commitment. So $1500 upfont and they install a system with no stings attached. I'm going to give it a try. They have a alternate bank but I have not seen it, it does come with the system. Cost is about 30-35% of Diamont for the 7-8 colors I tested.
 
Well i can only speak for myself as not heard a thing about their base
So do keep us posted with what you learn.
 
Doesn't appear to be a new company, just new to the states, I always find it weird that all of these paint manufacturers are coming out however it is always from another country or derived from another country. Seems like there would be more paint lines from the USA.
 
Doesn't appear to be a new company, just new to the states, I always find it weird that all of these paint manufacturers are coming out however it is always from another country or derived from another country. Seems like there would be more paint lines from the USA.

It's not new to the US either. I sprayed MIPA 12-15 or so years ago but they only offered basecoat black, white, silver and a few others and did not offer the mixing system in the US. Now they offer the mixing system. I guess the start up cost are too high. Wanda I think is manufactured in South America and Auto Art is Barbados I think. I tried UreKem Paint and it's made in USA. It was OK for custom color.
 
Interesting. It's amazing that it would take that long to gain traction in the market.
From what I understand there are a lot of paint companies like these in other countries that are doing pretty good.
 
Well I've had the system in for 2-3 days and sprayed 4 repairs. So far so good, though too early to tell for how well it holds up. I like BASF Diamont and Glasurit. This seems exactly like them. The main difference between Diamont and Glasurit is pigment load and MIPA on these four colors is more like Glasurit. One of the colors I sprayed was Ford PQ Race Red and it does not cover great in Diamont but good in Glasurit and MIPA I think was covered in two but put a third to be sure. The color documentation is also very close to the BASF system and there are color spray outs for the majority of alternates but very much like BASF color chips in they are grouped by color and you search by chip number. Toners are liters and 3.5 liters. I have not figured out costing in the software yet but it is supposed to work. Almost all of the liters are $74/liter and the 3.5 liters are around $220. Cost is very good considering it seems to be a Glasurit copy or at least very, very similar. Although NO ONE has said that, that's my opinion. One thing different is they do say you "have" to use their basecoat reducer. But it's $65 for 5 liters so not that high. I've had alternates on all 4 cars, standard on 3 of them and alternate on one, STM on a KIA but it matched great and matched the chip. Only day 3 but I like it, but I like polyester base. Diamont and Glasurit were always my favorites and this sprays and looks just like it. I'll keep you posted.
 
To Bartman Was the Valspar the " new low voc solvent " system you were not happy with? Reason I ask as have a new jobber who is really pushing this base and I did do a demo on a tri coat color. Of course I used Euro clear over their base. The base smelled like latex house paint when drying ???? Not impressed and I also use Wanda, Diamont and Galasurit. Keep us updated on the Mipa
 
To Bartman Was the Valspar the " new low voc solvent " system you were not happy with? Reason I ask as have a new jobber who is really pushing this base and I did do a demo on a tri coat color. Of course I used Euro clear over their base. The base smelled like latex house paint when drying ???? Not impressed and I also use Wanda, Diamont and Galasurit. Keep us updated on the Mipa

It is (was) supposed to be their "best" basecoat. 999 series is what it is called I think. That's what you choose in the software and the binder is 999. Adhesion for me is an issue (along with other issues) Again, no peelers, but I have a number of customers that can't drive and I repair their cars sometimes within a year. Where there's two sided tape like on a flare or body side molding, it peels in sheets. And there is base on the clear and base on the car so it is base coat failure.
 
First, never have seen the 999 but in Canada a while back there were some adhesion problems over my 2K primers in production shops, that had done every thing right.
Finely one of the shops was told you must use a sealer under the 999 or it will have problems and this did solve all the problems.
Both the 6400 sealers and the epoxy as a sealer solved the issues, so far.
 
I had valspar adhesion problems over properly prepped OE finish and over primer. I solved the problems too, I don't use it...
 
What i used was the 100 low voc line and i also did a fender that I will keep around here to do a repair on. Funny the whole time working with Valspar I hear a tiny voice in head saying "Valspar makes great house paint " sounded like Shine.........LoL. I tried it out of respect for the salesman who use to sell Wanda for another jobber and has helped me over the years. Lets see what happens but will have to brake my arm to stop using SPI clears!
 
A few more jobs under our belt with MIPA. Color match has been good and color documentation is good, especially if you are familiar with BASF color doc. It's similar. So far so good. On a side note I have decided to keep my Valspar system as well but will NOT be spraying base with it. Valspar has 852 single stage polyurethane that I do really like so I'm going to keep it to spray single stage from time to time. We do a lot of our gloss cut-ins, jams, rear of hoods and trunks in single stage.
 
Well I'm pretty picky. As stated before I prefer polyester basecoats like Diamont, Glasurit (and even the old UTECH Polybase Plus). MIPA has been very good. The alternates deck is actual spray outs and have been matching both the chips and cars really well. I bought 4 liter cans of toner today and they were $74.06 each. Yes that is correct and not a "special" price. They say you "must" use their base coat reducer, not sure why yet. I have not done any investigating but at $60/5 liter, I don't mind. Has been working fine with SPI Primer/sealer and SPI UV and Euro2020. I have not had any issues yet. Of course they have been pushing their primer and clear but I'm not going anywhere. My issue is deciding between when to spray Euro2020 and UV not between SPI and someone else....
 
My hand wasn't very steady this morning. Pic of the system and alternate deck.
 

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This is interesting. I'm going to check into this. I also love Diamont. I'm with you on the polyester. I've switched to PPG mainly due to jobbers that I'm not interested in dealing with for the Diamont.
 
Here are you heavy polyester base choices that are real close to Diamont if we use diamond as standard.
Wanda, metallux and the mepa.
I know the wanda and metalux is top shelf.
 
Does Akzo Nobel no longer make UTech polyurethane? I used some a few years ago and liked it, smells exactly like vintage Imron (but not as tough)! Was Wanda made as a replacement? Just wondering.
 
Wanda was an existing company
In south America sikens bought.
You were thinking of the old 3.8 tech.
Don't exist anymore, replacement
You decide if worth it.
 
I'm confused. When I was using Utech 3.8 the dist had just gotten in Wanda, he told me something about Wanda being the owners daughters name? And I understood it was a newly formulated paint line by Utech to be less expensive.
So Wanda is unrelated to what was Utech?
 
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