Spraying Kandy

danp76

danp76

Oldtimer
Hi guys, those of you that spray Kandy/candy paint, do you always walk the entire vehicle? My concern is how you mask the jamb areas, so that the kandy dye doesn't leave a darker line on the inside of the jamb. Is it ok to panel paint everything at once, but separated, off the vehicle. That is all panels in the booth, but off of the car, and painted in the same spraying session, or will there be a difference in appearance upon assembly? I'm new to kandy, and I'm looking for tips/tricks. Thank you.
 
Jim is gonna be the guy here who has done the most candy jobs so he may know some tricks that I don't. I've done about a dozen candy jobs on cars and trucks over the years and I'll describe what I do. It's a PITA and a lot of work to do one proper.
First maybe others have had success doing so but I will only do one where I can walk the car. I will never panel paint it. Can it be done? Maybe, but all it takes on a true candy to make it look off is you going slightly lighter or heavier on a coat. Side by side you'll see it. I will remove fenders doors trunk lids and mask everything with tape. 1 1/2 or 2". I try to backtape critical areas, the foam works well for some. I'm not crazy about the foam. Doing it this way yes there is a difference in color but unless you are doing the jambs there is always going to be a color difference.Once everything is masked with tape, I reinstall everything and proceed to finish masking the car, then paint it by walking it. There is another method I did a couple of times but it is super labor intensive and easy to totally screw up (ask me how I know :)) so I won't go into that. Like I said Jim and others on here probably have a better technique but that works for me and ones I've done that way have turned out real nice.
 
while i have done a crazy amount of candy jobs on bike, i have only done a small handful on cars or trucks. when i do sportbike fairings they are always done apart and hanging in the booth. once all the candy is done and parts are dry enough to handle i will take any of the parts that meet up to each other and hold them together to check color. 9 out of 10 times everything will match but occasionally i will have a part that is lighter and will need a little more color. at that point i just spray a little more on the light panel until the color is matching. on the cars i have done i did the exact same way. all the panels will be on the car except the doors which i have hanging. candy is very difficult so i am not sure i would recommend anyone do it the way i do. i am just so used to it that its not really a big deal. every bike i paint has candy on it somewhere. whats funny is even the garage doors that i paint the faux wood on has a waterbased candy topcoat. all the panels are sprayed apart then before i call it done i will put the panels together to make color adjustments if necessary.
 
I have done plenty of motorcycles, some graphics on trucks but never a complete car. The MC's were always in parts of course but it always works because the parts are usually not adjacent like say a quarter panel and a door.
One thing I would recommend is to use dye in intercoat clear (SPI intercoat works great) for the candy coats. Stay away from the two part candy like HOK Kandy. Those are top coat clears with dye in them, you end up with way too much film build. The HOK was real sensitive to recoat time, get that wrong and the next coat would wrinkle the previous coat, junk.
Generally I mix the dye into the intercoat with a ratio that will get me to the desired color in about six coats. If you make it too strong and your there in about three coats that might come out blotchy. You have to test that out.
 
Dan,

I was wondering how long it would take until you came back with Candy questions.:) You love the look (so do I on well done jobs, with well chosen colors) and that's that, in spite of the cautions expressed. I sincerely wish you the best experience with your Candy car and look forward to progress and finish photos.

Having only painted candy on two cars (and that was over forty years ago when I was painting bikes, but got talked into the cars by friends :rolleyes:), to the fine advice given above, I'll make two suggestions.... IF a section or panel needs a bit more color to match, cut the candy color with thinner (I ended up with perhaps 90% thinner on the second project) when blending. Too much candy color on the "blend" will make that panel stand out just as much as it being too light. I think it took me three very light, very thin coats before the entire car matched.

Also, should the paint ever be damaged, consider working tasteful graphics into the paint scheme rather than trying to match the panel in candy. Even pinstriping can do the job and not have the job looked patched...

All the best,

Lance
 
I appreciate all of the help! I'm still not 100% sure, ideally I'd like to find a color that looks like tangerine kandy, but without the hassle of the candy. I have also been told that kandy paint doesn't last as long as a pigmented paint...is this true? thanks guys!
 
candys are dye and wont last as long as a regular pigments so i really wouldnt recommend it on a daily driver that was down in the florida sun every day. with that said, using a good clear like universal it will be years before you see a difference in color from fading and it will be such a slow process that you may not even notice. it will also depend on how much candy dye you use on it. the more dye you put on the job the longer it will last. if your car is just a weekend driver that you keep in the garage then it will last the life of the car without fading. alot of motorcycles, especially the Japanese ones are painted a candy right from the factory.
 
no matter what you do, all the uv protection is in the clear. They use candies to blend most of the newer paint colors.

I dont really think you need to worry about the jambs though, the shadow line is going to change the appearance anyway. but blowing it apart will definitely allow that overspray to change the shade if you stop at each panel. Its just a suggestion, and even though it is hard to get used to, flipping the air cap and making vertical passes along the side will help the color stay most consistent where you dont need to walk the side.. You will end up with a horizontal pass at top and bottom, but the sun will hit the top harder and the bottom will always be shadowed anyway.
 
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