Army Green | Gloss Liquid Wrap
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ARMY GREEN
We liquid wrapped this Hyundai Palisade in Raail Spherical with Gloss Clear Coat for a scratch resistant, gas resistant, more durable finish. This peel-able auto paint will last 5+ years, protect the factory paint, and peel off easier than vinyl. Here’s how we did it.
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WASH
We always ask the customer to wash the car 24hrs before hand but we usually end up doing it again just to be safe. Nothing fancy, just water and Dawn dish soap. A quick wipe down and dry off with the air hose then we let it sit overnight to completely dry.
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MASK
Masking is usually the most important part of a project. We make sure to use the best tools for the job. In this case we are using the Starter Kit from DrPigment including Plazmask on the windows to make things easy, then high quality tape and paper for the trim. Almost everything you see in this video is from DrPigment.com and the links are below.
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BASE
For the base coat we are going to save some time and use the Wagner Pro 130. This unit is an airless sprayer meaning it is spraying straight fluid out of the gun. More paint=less time painting but you have to be on your toes with this thing to avoid getting runs…which we were not. No worries though, since this is the base coat we can scuff it smooth and keep on spraying. We put about 3gal of base coat down on this SUV. The Wagner Pro 130 will ONLY spray a special formula that we have, called, AHS (AirWrap High Solid). Make sure to use that coating if you are also using this spray unit.
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TRIM
The trim is going to stay black so we now we need to mask it off. In order to not peel the paint we just laid down, we make sure to use low adhesive tape (delicate). This stuff wont rip up our black paint when we remove it BUT it also wont stop more paint from seeping through. This tape is NOT solvent resistant. To counteract this, we put some blue painters tape over top. This blue tape is too sticky to go directly on the paint but will keep the solvents from seeping through. If you have a brand that does both in one please let us know.
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COLOR
We are just calling this color Army Green. It has no official name yet. Just a custom mix we made for the customer. RAL Chrome Green + 8g Army Lust Pearl + 25g Sunflower Yellow Pearl (per gallon). This is going to give it a nice metallic effect in the sun. We are using the compressor and HVLP gun to apply this color. Technically we could spray this through the Wagner but in order to be more precise and get smoother color coverage we are going with the compressor. We put down about 3gal of color on the car and let it dry over night.
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CLEARCOAT
Next up is the gloss so we unmask the trim. Gloss paint will show any imperfections in the surface so getting this right is imperative. Some factors working against us here: we don’t have a spray booth. A proper downdraft spray booth will minimize dirt, dust, debris, and overspray from landing and sticking to the vehicle. Unfortunately it is just not feasible for us yet. Another thing, I’m not a painter. I have little formal training and only started doing this 10 years ago. That being said I have some idea of what to do and I have the means to produce quality work. When mixing Raail Spherical Gloss, mix at a ratio of 1:1 (clearcoat to activator). We use designated paint mixing cups for precision (drpigment.com). Once these are mixed you have about a 20min pot life or time till the paint starts to dry and gum up. You NEED to spray this out of an all metal HVLP gun with a compressor (60gal+). A turbine just wont cut it. Use a 50/50 spray pattern and try to go panel by panel so the coating is still wet on your overlap pass. Do this for 2 full coats on the car.
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FLOWCOAT
Since our environment is not ideal, we like to sand down the clearcoat the next day and put one final coat on (flowcoat). This lets us get the surface just a little bit smoother and also perfect the technique and gun settings. Once we are pleased with the result, we let it dry for 6hrs then unmask.
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UNMASK
After the coating has dried we unmasked and cleaned up any overspray with a rag and some mineral spirits. The color came out looking great and the customer loved it. I had also sprayed a yeti water cup along with the car to give to the customer just because I thought it would be neat to have a color matching cup. Little did I know she actually collected them and almost enjoyed that more than the car. As always, everything I used is listed below and if you are looking to get your car done, give me a call!
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