Hammerrite clear coat suggestions?

[knealebrown]

Hey guys, just finishing off a few boxes and splashed the cash on some lovely red and silver hammerite 'hammered' finish paint. Damn this stuff is easy to finish with btw, makes me think about never using spray cans again 

However after spraying my ruby build and letting the paint cure for 4 days i used some plasticoat gloss laquer and the hammerrite wrinkled  (i liked the effect actually) however can anyone point me in the direction of a good lacquer that will have my build looking like its coated in glass (or at least nice and shiny) and wont ruin my.


I know John Lyons is a master with this stuff, John?.........   

[John Lyons]

Are you spraying a clear coat to cover or decals?
Hammer finish doesn't need a clear coat otherwise.

So you are using brush on hammer paint?

[aziltz]

i use regular Matte Spray Clear Coat (Rust-oleum) over their Hammertone Spray and it works quite well.  I imagine gloss works well too.

[jkokura]

I've been told that lacquer over any kind of acrylic isn't the best idea. Something about the chemicals interacting with each other...

Acrylic over acrylic, or polyurethane over acrylic have both worked in my experience.

Jacob

[knealebrown]

Are you spraying a clear coat to cover or decals?
Hammer finish doesn't need a clear coat otherwise.

So you are using brush on hammer paint?

thanks guys, im 'decaling' by using photo glossy paper laminating it then glueing it ontop using a spray adhesive. so im wanting to seal over the top. But to answer your question no, im not brushing as of yet i was using some plastikote super clear

[Speeddemon]

You can spray an alkyd-based clearcoat over an acrylic basepaint, but NOT vice-versa. Acrylic paints dry pretty quick (<2h), whereas alkyd-based paints need a day or 2 to fully harden and dry.

Acrylic clearcoats on an acrylic paint is no problem though.

[m-theory]

after spraying my ruby build and letting the paint cure for 4 days

Aerosol or brushed on paints do not "cure."  Curing is the term given for the chemical process in which an isocyanate hardener links up with paint resin/pigment at a molecular level to create an entirely different end result. Essentially, the hardening agent causes the paint to become a form of plastic that is not re-wettable with solvents. 

Non-catalyzed paints are ALL rewettable.  In other words, you can pull out your little red wagon from when you were a kid, lay a rag soaked in thinner on the surface, and rub that ancient lacquer or synthetic enamel right off. 

In the case of our pedals, anything that we spray as a color finish either has to be recoated within an hour or so, or you have to wait for, generally, 7 days minimum, or whatever you spray on top will eat into and dissolve the color coat.  Lacquer clears are particularly nasty for this, because they're high in solvent content, and lacquer is a highly aggressive solvent.  It's feasible that a lacquer clearcoat sprayed in wet coats would attack an acrylic or alkyd color coat even after it'd sat still for 7 days. 

And, while there's definitely something to be said for spraying like products over like products, the fact remains that the substrate you're spraying over is non-catalyzed, and is therefore succesptible to lifting/wrinkling when re-wet.

The answer is to allow 7-10 days for the color to "dry," and then start out with very light (we're talking ight dusting here) coats of clear, with ample time between coats to allow solvents to evaporate.  Once you've got fairly even coverage with multiple light coats, you can apply medium coats to finish.