Leadfoot Grey | Satin Liquid Wrap
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LEADFOOT GREY
We liquid wrapped this F150 Raptor in Raail Spherical with Satin 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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REMOVE
Back in the booth with another truck. This time its a Ford Raptor looking to trade in its matte black vinyl wrap for a satin grey liquid wrap. First we had to get this vinyl off. We knew this would be annoying but man did we underestimate it. It was professionally installed and they used good quality stuff but it still took us (two guys) two whole days to remove it. We had to disassemble a lot of the truck just to get to some of the vinyl. We decided to draw the line at taking the bed off and just left some of the vinyl on the back of the cab. Two days and two very sore hands later, the truck was finally ready for a wash.
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MASK
After drying over night we start masking. Since we already disassembled half the truck we decided to keep the parts off and spray them separately. Normally we wouldn’t take this much off because it takes more time but also because the owner doesn’t want to disassemble his truck in 5yrs when he goes to remove the wrap. It all comes down to personal preference of the owner and painter though. The accents and trim on this truck are going black so we leave them unmasked at first then cover them later when we spray the grey.
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BASE
First up is the basecoat in black. We brought out the Wagner Control Pro 130 for this just to speed up the process. This unit sprays a special coating called AHS (AirLess High Solid) that is much thicker than normal Spherical. That means we can build up a thick basecoat in less time and when spraying a big vehicle, like this truck, that is a big benefit.
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COLOR
After about 4 gallons of basecoat we switch to the compressor, mask up the trim, and start spraying Leadfoot Grey. We are using Spherical basecoat with the tint mixed in, 60gal compressor, Spectrum Black Widow HVLP gun with 1.7mm tip, and around 25psi. We put about 3 gallons of Leadfoot down on the truck. Now that we are happy with the color and the coating is thick enough we can move on to the clearcoat.
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CLEARCOAT
his truck is going with a Satin finish. Little bit glossier than matte but not quite gloss. I like to switch guns for the clearcoat. We need a 1.3mm tip and I find it easier to just use a clean gun with the right tip size already in so I don’t have to clean and change by basecoat gun right away. I’m using the Anest IWATA Kiwami 4. This gun is a steal, very good quality for a great price. We mix the satin clear with activator (4:1) one hopper at a time and spray 2 medium wet coats down on the truck then let that dry over night.
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FLOWCOAT
As usual, we decide to flow coat. That means sanding down the clearcoat and spraying one final wet coat on top. We do this mainly because we spray out of a garage instead of a paint booth and we want to minimize imperfections in the finish. We like to give the customer the best finish possible. We use 600-800 grit sand paper and a DA sander with a foam pad and hit the truck hard. This satin clearcoat is pretty tuff so it takes a while. We then go over with 1200-1500 grit just to get the surface a little smoother. A quick wipe down with denatured alcohol and water and we spray our last coat.
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UNMASK
After about 6hrs we unmask and start putting the truck back together. This truck turned out looking pretty good. I went a little too wet with the satin clearcoat and ended up a little more glossy than I would have liked but the customer was happy and that’s all that really matters. As always, links to our stuff below and thanks for following along. Check out our other social medias for new content and information. If you are interested in getting your vehicle done by us or starting this yourself, give me a call (904) 994 7808 (Alan).
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