White Primer or Sealer Tinting

Z

Zell

Hello everyone,

This is my first post on the SPI forums even though this will be the third vehicle I have used SPI paint on.

I am shooting Vitamin C Metallic on a 1972 Roadrunner, color code K2, (not an original color, but one of my favorite MOPAR colors none the less). Several people have recommended that I use a 'tinted' white primer or sealer (that is they recommend getting some white primer and adding a small about of base color or some other orange colored primer to tint the primer to a opaque shade of orange.)

Has anyone done this before and will it make a difference for the paint? Also, if you have done this with any SPI primers or sealers could you recommend how to do this (e.g. one shot of base coat paint p/cup or quart). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This is my first time working with a metallic color.

Thanks!
 
I haven't shot that color, but the first thing you do is to spray a test panel. Find some that look like this or similar:

cx_spray_panel_M6410_640x828.jpg


By counting the number of coats it takes to hide the pattern in full sunlight, you'll know if a similar color ground coat is necessary. Different brands of base cover differently, generally, cheap brands cover worse. If it takes more than 4 coats, you might want to consider doing something, but if it covers in three or less, you don't need to worry about primer color at all.
 
Thanks, crashtech. I have not heard of this method but it makes total sense.
 
Really not necessary to tint as nothing works better under a Yellow or Orange than a white sealer.
 
Thanks, Barry. This is the first time I had heard of such a thing, and it was mentioned more than once in the context of Vitamin C. (Never heard it mentioned for any other similar orange or red and they can't be that different!)

I will do the test spray that crashtech suggested to try it out and make gun setting etc. are all set before spraying. Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated.
 
all good info from barry and crash. havent painted your color but i have done a crap load of bright yellows and the best thing to go under it is always pure white. bright red, yellow and orange all get pure white under. i have also tinted the sealer many times HOWEVER the amount of basecoat that would be required to make a significant color difference in the primer/sealer would be too much and alter the makeup of the sealer. when i tint the sealer i use pure raw pigments. way more concentrated and only takes a small amount. keep in mind that no matter what goes under your basecoat, if its not covering 100% then your going to have problems down the road with matching or blotchiness in the sun, etc. this is the reason for the sprayout card that crash posted.
 
Sprayout cards are "Painter 101" as far as I know. For instance, in some shops, if a vehicle makes it out of the paint shop with a color match/coverage problem and the painter can't produce a sprayout card, they can be in trouble.
 
Thanks, guys I appreciate all the info on the sprayout cards. I spoke to a buddy of mine who is about to start a car paint business and he was also very big on the use of a sprayout card. I must have missed something when I was learning about paint and paint prep but now I am 'in-the-know'.
 
I was searching out some stuff I'd written a while back on the subject, don't mind if I copy/paste it into this thread, because I think it's somewhat relevant:

My suggestion, if the amount of basecoat color must be limited, or coverage is poor, is to find the right color primer that will give a very convincing illusion of full coverage under strong sunlight. The way this can be done is to first create a sprayout card that has full coverage of the color just by itself, no matter if it takes 8 coats, then clear the panel. Mark this as your reference sample.

Next, begin creating several more sprayout cards with various colors of primer. The current palette of SPI epoxy includes black, gray, white, and now oxide red. The oxide red in particular might present an interesting option under a red basecoat, especially when mixed with white. All of the SPI epoxy primers are intermixable, so you can create custom shades to suit the job.

Once these cards are made, make sure to label them as to what mix of primer they were shot with. Then apply equal amounts of basecoat to each one, however many coats you believe should be necessary to do the job, say 2 to 4, enough to look good but a number you know is short of true coverage. Clear all these panels, and examine them along with the reference sample in strong sunlight. If you have one that appears identical to the reference, you win! Otherwise, take the closest one, and decide how to re-create another test panel with a slightly different shade of primer, or one more coat of base.

If a perfect match to the reference sample can be achieved, you not only know the paint job will look the way it is supposed to, you also know what shade of primer to put over any future repair, and how many coats it will take to cover it!
Click to expand...

Link to thread from 2011:

http://www.spiuserforum.com/index.php?threads/basecoat-coverage-what-how-and-why.1173/
 
Thanks again, crashtech. I have found some test panels to sand down and test spray. There's going to be part of an air conditioning panel (steel container) that is going to be a few shades of orange in the not-so-distant future, based on your feedback. I figured I could spray a flat black crosshatch pattern before primer and basecoat to be sure.
 
Do you never buy any paint supplies from a local paint store? They ought to supply you with some of those sprayout cards for free, they are just coated cardstock.
 
I will ask the Sherwin Williams Automotive Paint store next time I'm in. All the times I've gotten paint from there I have never been offered any. I didn't even know what paint cards were until this thread.
 
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