Painters, a quick question. What is the difference in acrylic enamel and acrylic urethane and which is preferable? I like simple.
Urethane is more resistant to chipping during assembly or from road debris. Also a bit more flexible during the first week after application. Enamel can be sanded and buffed flatter for a more traditional look. Urethane looks "plastic" on cars in dark colors. Too modern. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Cheep!!!!!! Eastwood has it for about the same price.. TCP has free shipping but Eastwood sends 3 quarts plus a quart of activator or whatever. TCP sends 4 quarts plus the quart of activator. Yep, cheep! LOL
Ya ever use that JUNK? Had a customer supply it, and I told him I didn't want to use it. He said shoot it, I did. 2 days later he sees it and asked me to re shoot it with real paint (PPG DCC) He spent 3 days re sanding and preppin, I spent 2 hr's pullin the trigger, He's still got a smile on his face, And his wallet is still $250 lite from buyin the JUNK If ya ain't gonna do it right , don't do it
This is PPG commercial grade single stage urethane-sanded and polished Cost is less than $200 per gallon-really quite a bargain After all your hard work to get the body straight-why take a chance?
what about those of us who don't bother getting the body straight? I did acrylic enamel on the last couple, it still works....and it has that nice old timey look, like when we were young.
I am not a 'pro painter'-but I do like to see the paint when I buy it-so I buy locally from a jobber who knows his product and can help me if I have questions or a problem,Or can refer me to one of his Customers for advise. I can also color match additional paint if needed when the person mixing has a sample to go from and not just a code. TCP could be a good product-many have obviously used it or they wouldnt be in business-I personnally would be concerned buying paint mail order if it is a custom mixed color-having it arrive and the color not what you want.
I can't speak badly about acrylic enamel-If that is what someone wants to use-use it. I am just saying you dont have to spend a ton to get a good quality durable easy to spray urethane.
The one thing I can say for certain is the label on the outside of the can makes a huge difference to what pros think of a product regardless of what is in it. I work for a company that private labels products for the auto body industry as well as sells branded products and I constantly get told by guys at shops that the product in the brand name can is better than the no name product when I know they are the exact same product with different labels. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I'm not a good painter at all. I used TCP paint once in Midnight Purple Pearl. It was a single stage paint that made even my spraying look good. I'm assuming that nobody can say why it's not good. If so, I'd like to hear it. Squirrel, I'm with you, my body work ain't so good either. LOL
I agree-Just because something costs more or has a better marketing campaign-doesn't make it better. But-I do believe people get used to certain products and how they work and are reluctant to change.
It does. I have had guys argue with me that they are not the same product. Now I am not saying that there are not different qualities of product just that there are guys that are as influenced by what is on the can as what is in it. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
This is TCP with SPI clear..... my 4th paint job in the last 35 years, done in my garage....seemed to paint OK.... this is my doors prior to cut and buff.... I know it's BC/CC and not a single stage, but did seem to lay out nice and it covered in 2-3 coats of base....FWIW
I am not a painter, only a amateur tinkerer who has sprayed less than 10 cars before. But I do think that the brand has some bearing on the outcome. I have used PPG before and used Sherwin Williams enamel twice. The PPG cars came out a lot better than the SW. I could not get the shine out of the SW that I could out of PPG paint. Maybe its me, I don't know. But I liked the PPG better.
I used SW paint once. Sanded it all back off and used the TCP. The Sherwin Williams didn't shine at all. Never figured it out but didn't matter. The TCP worked just fine.
Using TCP Flatz on my sedan delivery now. Goes on even, and lays down nice. Using a cheap hvlp gun from wally world. Sure is good enough for my driver. Normally use DuPont bc/cc, but decided to give the Flatz a try. Will use it again if I don't want a glossy paint job. Time will tell the whole story.
Gearheadbill, that works for me. I just didn't know the difference in Acrylic enamel and Acrylic Urethane. Still don't so I think either one will work for me ok.
been painting for over 40 years. shot every kind of finish. Stick with ppg single stage dcc. as far as the end result, I don't get the old look, verse the new look stuff. What type of finish do you want to get? flat, orange peel, cut and buffed? It's all in the hand of the painter. but in the end, if you really like the project and have some pride in your work, you want it to last and not blow off the rig! Take some advice from a pro, and don't mix and match your products either, follow a system.
Painting a long, long time acrylic enamel with urethane hardner is fine. My longest lasting base clear job was with Dupont clear 23 years parked outside. My own truckwith cheaper Finishline clear 8 years and faded and ready to repaint. Painted a Ford fairlane hood today in acrylic enamel. Then the bugs landed. Who knew the freezing didn't kill them all. Will re shoot tomorrow. have fun. Gerry in Colorado
Acrylic enamel does not require hardener, urethane paints does. I'm not goina type it out... here is a good read for you ... http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2007/11/01/hmn_feature8.html Acrylic vs. Urethane
Just because you had a problem with it, doesn't mean it isn't any good. I use Dupont and HOK almost exclusively, but wound up using SW on this 58 for some reason. The car was built, and painted in 1987 or so. Picture taken in 2009. Even though I dont' usually use it, it's held up fine, and if someone requested it, I'd use it again. As for urethane vs. acrylic, both are good for differetn reasons. Acrylic is much older chemistry, but still works well. I always use it with a hardener, even though you can use it without. It makes it tougher in all ways, and easier to touch up or repaint later. Without hardener, you will have problems if you have to go over it for any reason. I still used it up until 10-15 years ago for solid colors, it does look like the old paint of Fords, and Mopars. GM used lacquer, different look completely. Urethane is more modern technology. More chemical and abrasion resistant. Faster cure, higher initial gloss. Some colors have more depth of finish (translucency). Usually a bit more expensive, but worth it IMHO. After spending hundreds of hours in stripping, cleaning, bodwork, sanding and prep, why try to save a hundred or 2 on materials? As for cheap paints...whatever the brand, there is a reason they are cheap. They don't perform as well as the premium quality products. Even in one brand, the lower cost paints aren't quite as good as the better ones...Nason vs Dupont for example. Reasons: poorer color coverage, less gloss, less UV holdout, more dieback (dulling after spraying), less abrasion resistance, more likely to chip, poor color holdout...take your pick. A cheaper brand might not have all these problems, but they will have a couple at least. Sorry, K13, gotta disagree, been painting for over 35 years, and have tried a lot of stuff. I'm sticking with the stuff that works, and holds up. Seen a LOT of cheaper stuff that didn't!
The Jalopy Journal
