Ceres Megashift | Gloss Liquid Wrap
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CERES MEGASHIFT
I liquid wrapped my 2022 BMW 430i 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 I did it.
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REMOVE
I’ve had this Acid Green AirWrap on my personal car for about 3 months now and, if you know me, that’s about 2 months too long. I was itching to change up the color. I had a color in my head and since this was my own car I was just going to wing it and not spray a sample before hand. First up we have to take off the old wrap. AirWrap peels pretty easy especially when enough gallons are applied. Looking back I could have put 1 or 2 more coats on this one but still no problem peeling. I used a pressure washer to get in the cracks and crevices. A quick wash with water and Dawn dish soap and it was good to go.
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MASK
We had 2 guys visiting from Arizona on Saturday, David and David, so I wanted to have the car all masked up and ready to spray when they got here. Masking is genuinely my favorite part. Its almost therapeutic working my way slowly around the car making sure ever tape line is perfect. This car was pretty straightforward although I did use J-Tape to pull back the rubber trim around the doors and create more of a gap. This lets the paint separate naturally instead of bridging. Pretty much everything we use for this vehicle in included in our Starter Kit: Pro Bundle.Â
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BASE
I used the Wagner Pro 130 Airless sprayer to lay down about 2 gallons of black base. I seriously love this little thing. It saves so much time and the AHS (AirWrap High Solid) coating lays down so smooth.
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COLOR
Next up is the color. I saw this green with a gold hue on a BMW a while back and had an idea of how to do it in my head. I went with combination of Fir Green, Hunter Pearl, and some Ghost Green Sparkle. I then put Europa Megashift over it for a gold hue but that’s when it all hit a brick wall. I hated it. It was no where near dark enough, the gold wasn’t what I was looking for. I just wasn’t feeling it. I started thinking of other colors to do right away.
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COLOR
I decided to do a complete 180 and spray a Purple Megashift called Ceres. I quickly covered the green with some more black basecoat and mixed up the pearl. I added a Violet Color Booster for some extra purple notes but also to help spray the pearl. This pearl is white in powder form and if you are not careful you can get stripes from spraying this pearl alone. Color Boosters help smooth out the coverage and avoid imperfections. I almost always use one when spraying now just because it is that much easier.
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CLEARCOAT
Once I was satisfied with the color coverage I switched guns for a 1.3 tip and put 2 medium/wet coats of gloss on top. At this point the car had close to 7 gallons on it which is definitely overkill but at least it should be easy to peel.
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FLOWCOAT
After the gloss dried I wasn’t happy with the finish so I busted out the DA sander and some 800 grit paper and smoothed the whole car out for a nice final coat called a flow coat. I don’t exactly have the best environment so achieving perfection is very difficult.
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UNMASK
After about 5hrs when the coating had dried I unmasked and cleaned up any overspray with a rag and some mineral spirits. This color turned out even better than I imagined, though, and I will probably keep it on for a while. I love the dark almost black shift through purple to near orange at certain angles. David and David definitely learned a lot and were excited to get started back home. As always, everything I used is listed below and if you are interested in getting your car done give me a call!
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