painters...kandy koncentrate kwestion.

i'm working on a paintjob on a daily driver, trying not to break the bank on this job. it's gonna involve a little custom paint, i want to use some HOK kandy concentrate to mix up my own kandy, i'm curious to hear what other brands you've mixed the concentrate with? i know what's recommended, but i want to know what you've gotten away with. i'd like to use sherwin williams dimension clear, or ideally, just use mixing clear for the candy. trying to avoid jacking the price up by having to use gallons of HOK urethane clear just because of a tiny amount of kandy, dig?

 

I personally have put HoK concentrates in PPG (2082 Stratto clear) and once in Dupont (don't remember the number) with no problems. I really don't think that you will have a problem adding it to most any 2 part urethane clear, Hok stuff is pretty universally friendly. Really, I don't find HoK clears to be any more expensive than any other brands "quality" clear, but I understand those budget jobs too. I'm going to assume that by mixing clear you're meaning a intercoat clear. Both Hok SG-100 and PPG DBC 500 suggest not building up more than 4 coats, and to not use intercoat and kandy mixes for over all kandy jobs (i.e. the whole car). God knows I push the limits of "suggested use" on a regular basis and know that most of these suggestions are cover your ass moves on the paint co.'s part, but I would have to agree to using a 2 part urethane clear if your going to be kandying the whole car. On the other hand, if your doing a graphic only, there should be no problem with using an intercoat clear/concentrate mix. I do this all the time and have never had a problem (delamination, ect.), from simple graphic and airbrushing to as much of an area as a flame job. In fact, I pretty much use this combo for all my kandy airbrushing needs. The only word of caution I might provide is that kandys in intercoat can bleed or "slide" a little into other areas if you tend to hammer your final clear coat on, so I would suggest a couple of medium wet coats of clear before putting on a "flow" coat.

 

thanks lil toot.

i appreciate answers from somebody who breaks the rules on occasion, rather that someone repeating the cautions from the data sheets! the mixing clear i speak of, is basically basecoat without the toner. the kandy is only going to be some flamework, silver flake flames with kandy tips. that's why i'll be using mixing or intercoat clear, to keep buildup to a minimum. i realize not using HOKs clear that fading will likely be an issue, that's about the only problem i've heard about mixing HOK with other brands. normally i'd have no problem getting the HOK clear, i know it's reasonably priced, but i have a bunch of dimension product on hand already that i'd like to use.

 

The KK Koncentrates are probably just high quality toners. So they should be able to mix with just about any clear, I know personally that they will work in your "cut in" clear. I've also used it in Dupont topcoat clears, and all HOK clears.
Should work well in your application, ray, although it may be a little trickier doing nice color fades in the flames,. if that's what you are planning to do, as the basecoat clears set up fast, and don't blend together as nicely as topcoat clears. Use a slow reducer if that's the case.
Also I usually mix the KK in double strength for graphics, so the color comes on faster, with less film thickness. So you don't have such a thick paint edge at the tape.

 

thanks a lot guys!

 

Best to mix it with any of the intercoat clears (SG100 or DBC500) even if you are painting the whole car. WAY less material build up. But you must top coat with a quality clear or it will fail. And fast! Hope this helps.

 

I mostly use it in Intercoat clear SG100. Thats pretty much been it. I do agree with the above though. I don't think their clears are much more expensive when it comes to a quality clear. I'd just stick with them if it were me.