New water based paints
- Thread starter bazzybtec
- Start date
Welcome! I've never used it. There were some posts on this a month or two back. Possibly you can use the "Search" field and see what you come up with.
You might want to try 'water' as a search term.
Possibly some of our other members can add to your thread. I do not too many painters use it...yet
You might want to try 'water' as a search term.
Possibly some of our other members can add to your thread. I do not too many painters use it...yet
quadracer92
New member
I've used auto air colors before on a snow blower and riding tractor (only to airbrush letters back on). The bottle's recommended conditions are 70° F and as little humidity as possible. I would definitely follow those as a guideline. I didn't use a booth or anything, just set up the pieces on horses in my back yard. If you have access to a heat lamp I strongly recommend it, I did not use any heat source and it took about 5-6 days to fully cure with each day being about 75° and humidity around 50%. Humidity is the biggest factor with using water based paints, because it takes longer for the water to evaporate with more humidity in the air. From experience I couldn't tell you if a heat source makes the paint job stronger, however I wouldn't doubt it.
I was very impressed with the auto air colors, they left a very durable and good looking finish, but you must paint it right. With water borne you want to put on very light coats, auto air calls for a 3 coat process, and only the 3rd coat is meant to fill in the entire piece. In other words, they stress over and over not to work with wet coats. This is directly from one of my bottles: "Initial coats have a speckled appearance. Additional coats fill in coverage producing even finish. Final coat should fill in field of color and serve as the "orientation" coat."
I was very impressed with the auto air colors, they left a very durable and good looking finish, but you must paint it right. With water borne you want to put on very light coats, auto air calls for a 3 coat process, and only the 3rd coat is meant to fill in the entire piece. In other words, they stress over and over not to work with wet coats. This is directly from one of my bottles: "Initial coats have a speckled appearance. Additional coats fill in coverage producing even finish. Final coat should fill in field of color and serve as the "orientation" coat."
Trashcan Stan
New member
quadracer92 has it right. I've been using autoair stuff for **** close to a decade, if not more, at this point. The only difference between Quad's and my experience is that I don't see the dry time taking as long. I can usually throw down a design in a day and clear it the next day without any troubles. Humidity defininetly has something to do with the drying time but so does heat. I normally just use quartz type lights on it. And that is just more for me to see what the hell I'm doing moreso than anything else. Quad has it right, light coats to get to where you want to be color wise. The AutoAir is a bit tricky in this respect; it will look awesome in the sunlight but in a shop light situation I have found you don't get the "kick" you may be looking for. That being said it is easy to over do your painting. Water based colors are bad ass, in my opinion, and as I mentioned I have been using them for a long time. You just need to get used to the nuances that the paint brings to you. If you are familiar with painting in general I believe you will be able to pick up on the nuances without a problem.
fiftyfourd
New member
My shop has been recently converted to waterborne paint using DuPont's Cromax Pro line, and it is not recommended to put a heat light on the basecoat, as heating it up will not greatly increase dry times. You need air movement to cure waterborne paints and it is by evaporation, that is why the shops being converted over are getting blowers retrofitted to their booths. You can shoot this stuff without a booth(as long as you're not in a regulated area) as long as you have the correct reducer/activator for the humidity conditions.
I started a thread on this a few months back after I got back from training at the DuPont Professional Training Center in Chicago, there may be some more info it that for you as well.
http://www.custompaintforum.com/forum/showthread.php/6394-Waterborne-Who-is-using-it-now
I started a thread on this a few months back after I got back from training at the DuPont Professional Training Center in Chicago, there may be some more info it that for you as well.
http://www.custompaintforum.com/forum/showthread.php/6394-Waterborne-Who-is-using-it-now