Clear coat questions

[Shoemoo]

So I bought a pound of 200% gloss clear coat powder from Rosey's. A couple of the other paints I bought aren't as shiny as I would like. What's the best way to make them glossy and smooth without causing drips and runs?

As an experiment, I painted 10 heads and clear coated 5 of them by dipping them in the clear coat powder right after I applied the base color. While I generally run the heads over the heat to solidify the paint, I don't keep them in long enough for it to gloss over out of worry of scorching the paint. The ones without the clear coat melted into a smooth finish, but on the clear coated ones I could see the texture of the original coat through the clear coat. I don't think the fish will care, but I'd prefer the smooth look. Should I have baked them first, then clear coat and bake them again?

I have a jar of Pro-Tec's ruby slipper, and I really like the solid glitter effect. I'd like to emulate it with other colors of glitter. What size glitter would I need to buy, and how much would you say is a good mixing ratio?

 

[Radtexan]

Shoe there's lots of ways to do it...I like to mix my clear in the paint,and make it a one step paint...the gloss will come out much more during the cure...I dont see any texture mixing that way.

The hobby store glitter,,,micro or extra fine is the best size.It really takes more than you might expect...Start with maybe a 1/4 tsp and add from there .

 

[Pepop]

Shoe there's lots of ways to do it...I like to mix my clear in the paint,and make it a one step paint...the gloss will come out much more during the cure...I dont see any texture mixing that way.

The hobby store glitter,,,micro or extra fine is the best size.It really takes more than you might expect...Start with maybe a 1/4 tsp and add from there .

Everything Radtexan said!!:icon14::icon14: IMHO, you can mix clear to color 2 or 3 to 1 (2-3 clear to 1 color) and it will not only gloss up the cured paint but I think it makes the color deeper.

 

[Lost Pole]

I'm not an expert BUT have been experimenting for a while. I get my paint from an automotive guy and he has been a lot of help. Seems to me they have to know their stuff bc a mistake on a car is a lil diff than a $2 lure. From what I've gathered, the reaaaally clear stuff is acrylic and not polyester. It flows really easily, meaning in curing. I'm working on it but seems best bet if you're picky is to do two deprecate cures.

 

[LedHed]

Like Rt - I mix my clear into the paint. For adding glitter I use embossing stuff or the holo stuff from CC.

 

[Fatman]

I'm with the rest mixing the clear in. There are a few like florescent orange glitter coat I put over new penny. All my glitter is craft stuff and comes from either Michaels, JoAnnes, or AC Moore and works fine.

 

[plateboater]

With FM....I am 50/50 on clear coat/color mix. After that dip I go right into second container made of clear coat and glitter from JoAnnes. I have found getting lead hot dip and dip does not melt the glitter. If you dip reheat then back to glitter clear coat sometimes the glitter melts. Usual start for 50/50 is 3 tablespoons of paint and 3 tablespoons of CC super clear coat. My glitter coating is 3 tablespoons of clear coat and about 10 teaspoons of glitter.

 

[Fatman]

Been lucky so far no melts!!!

 

[smalljaw]

I'm not sure of the source but somewhere on the web guys are getting this strange idea that you want the heads to be dull and not glossed over before curing, I've seen anglers on a few different sites asking for help and everyone was doing this, it is wrong. You should be heating the jig so that when you dip and remove it glosses over, if it doesn't just put it over the heat until it does, I've been doing that since 2003 and I never has scorched paint. What has happened is the clear over top worked like an insulation if you will and it melted but the coat of paint underneath didn't get hot enough to fully gloss so now you got a paint job that resembles what you would get if you rolled a wet paint around in crumbs, full of bumps. If you heat you jig and dip in the color and it glosses over then you can dip in the clear, the problem is that the jig will lose heat fast and normally the jig isn't hot enough to melt the clear coat but it is hot enough for it to stick and so you end up with an excess and when you cure the clear will adhere to the color and it will sag as the excess falls to the bottom. Take an extra jar and add 50/50 mix of clear to color and shake it until it is mixed and then dip in that but make sure the jig is heated through and do it fast, you'll get a good glossy color without getting nipples when curing.

 

[LedHed]

sj - not sure if you are refering to heating a jig up enough to add paint (low gloss). I try to keep a jig hot enough for the paint to stick when I'm adding multi colors. The gloss, for my jigs, comes out in the cure.

 

[smalljaw]

sj - not sure if you are refering to heating a jig up enough to add paint (low gloss). I try to keep a jig hot enough for the paint to stick when I'm adding multi colors. The gloss, for my jigs, comes out in the cure.

That is exactly what I'm talking about. I contacted CS about that after seeing a lot of other guys doing that and they told me that is how you powder coat using an electrostatic powder coating system but they highly recommend that if you use heat to make the paint bond that the heat should be high enough that the paint glosses over. The reason they gave me is that by partially heating the jig enough for the paint adhere creates a situation in which it is possible to have too much paint that when you cure it, the outside glosses and acts as an insulator leaving a layer of paint underneath that could possibly lead to the finish chipping quicker and easier than what would be considered normal. The first time I saw powder was at the opening of the Cabelas where I live, they had representatives from CS doing a powder paint demostration and after watching them I was sold and I've used it ever since but over the last year I've saw numerous people powder coating with limited heat and finishing it during the cure and a lot of those were having problems. I could see it working if you know how to do it but I think it just makes it more complicated.

 

[Fatman]

That's one reason I like the heat gun if I get one that I didn't heat enough I just put it over the gun real quick and shine it up. The paint that I had problems with was the CC dormant colors - didn't read enough when I was ordering it. You have to dip cure for 8-10 mins then dip in the high gloss to get the true color and as you saw I had some with paint nipples - needs to go on really light. I'll dip color then clear and cure I don't want to clear eyes twice.

 

[AtticaFish]

It only LOOKED like it was textured - not actually FELT textured right? My guess at what happened Shoemoo.......

You heated the jig just enough to dip your main color and keep it a thin coat. Then you re-heated it till the paint just started to melt but not totally flow and gloss over. If you have a nice thin coat of powder, when it just starts to get soft, sometimes it makes little gaps that look kinda like bubbles. Those gaps would close if you continued to heat it and gloss it over BUT then you dipped in to the clear instead. The clear filled those gaps and adhered straight to the lead. It left little bubbles of clear in the main color. If you are very careful about how you heat them, you can actually use this as a technique to create some interesting paint effects.

Hopefully all that makes a little sense.

Have not painted all that long myself, but have had my best results when i only heat the head just hot enough to get paint to stick, but NOT completely gloss over. I hang it bumpy sometimes and let the cure gloss it over. Never had a problem with a textured or bumpy finish after cure unless i just had way too much glitter in the mix but i have only used Pro-Tech/CSI paint and used the Orbit brand clear.

--- use clear as a filler - to add some bulk to when i mix very small amounts - more for testing purposes.

--- use it to create 'candy' colors - small amount of color to larger amount of clear

--- use it as a carrying medium for glitter top coat

 

[Shoemoo]

Yes, the surface of the jig felt smooth, but I could see the bumpy texture of the original coat underneath. The surface of the clear coat glossed over, but not the undercoat.

I will try mixing the clear coat in with the paint I want glossy, but I'll keep the heating in mind for when I start to experiment with glitter.

Probably should have bought another pound of clear coat, but maybe next time they have a sale.

 

[Pepop]

If you're mixing colors or even just wanting your powder's to go farther, you can't have too much clear. I bought 5# from Rosey's and I already had 1# I had gotten from CC and I have about 4# now and I'm not even close to finished experimenting & mixing. Once I bought in to Fatman's & AttacaFish's mixing ratio (LOTS of clear to a little color), the clear goes quick. Of course, I probably have enough powder paint to last the rest of my natural life but man am I having fun!

 

[Fatman]

Attica taught me to mix little quantities before wasting alot of materials. Rad had done a group purchase for clear from Orbit - but I don't see that one happening for a while as we all bought alot!!