Learning to paint....

Cuda416 said
Well it's not much, but we sprayed epoxy out of that purple gun and it didn't suck. It was only epoxy but hey, a win is a win. Part of this is getting the process down and getting comfortable with things.

My son says he wants to eventually paint the car "Maroon" and has give me an example of a 2018 Jeep with Deep Cherry Red (PRP code). Not really Maroon, but I think he's talking about burgundy so this is close.

I'm thinking of painting it as a surprise while he's away, If I can get it done before he comes home for boot leave, it means I'll have about 15 weeks from the time he goes away. If they are cutting leave from C19, I'll have longer.

For materials, I plan on getting...

1 gallon epoxy primer/sealer
1 gallon high build 2k primer
1 gallon of paint with appropriate reducer
1 gallon of clear (if I do a BC/CC)

Of course I'll get the mixing stuff etc.

Seems there are a lot of good products out there and some crap. I'd like to stack the deck in my favor so I'm looking for recommendations for "brands" to look for.

So far, I see...

PPG (king o fthe hill?)
- Shopline
- Uline (differences from S/L ?)
SPI (epoxy, other?)
Sherwin Williams (Nason?)

I think at this point, I'd rather go BC/CC than SS. My understanding is it's a more durable overall finish and if I screw something up along the way, it's more forgiving to fix?

Anyway, all input is appreciated.

Cuda416,

The 3 top Tier OEM and Refinish paint suppliers are BASF, Dupont and PPG (in alphabetical order). You can't go wrong with the quality and durability of any of them. PPG provides the best technical support of the 3. I don't know where BASF and Dupont's tech support went but it's nowhere near what it was when I was in the game.

I use the PPG Shopline bc/cc solventborne products. When BASF had the Diamont low solids bc/cc system line I used theirs all the time. Dupont had a good high solids bc/cc refinish solventborne system but it wasn't as forgiving as their competitor's products.

Sherwin Williams is catching up to the top 3 in refinish materials. The rest of the refinish paint suppliers I can't comment on. I haven't evaluated any of them in quite a while and their product lines have changed.

BTW- don't forget the catalysts when you order your paint. Material amounts needed may change depending on "black and white" hiding specs of your bc. And clearcoat usage for a complete repaint is normally around 1.5 gals, at least it is for me. If you use all the same name brand materials you are less likely to run into paint defects. Surface tensions differ between layers and down the road they may show up.

My 2 cents for whatever it's worth.

ss