Aerosol spray cans, type of paint?

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#1

What kind of paint is used in common aerosol spray cans, I know you can buy formulated 2 part aerosol paints from paint specialists but im talking about the regular hardware store kind. Would like to know its reactivity with resin systems.

For added safety I have just been spraying everything with pva release after run in wax, and are having great results, no sticking. Just curious on how to get a glassy surface finish, because the pva leaves slight orange peel. Thinking i could just spray many layers of clear from a spray can and cut it down till its glassy and shiny.

#2

Most spray can colours are waterbased acrylic colours. An if I am right you can not really polish them. Change to a 2k IMC

#3

I’ve never come across any waterbased aerosol cans, they are normally solvent based acrylics… They generally polish up very easily due to being soft.

You may get away with using them if you are using epoxy, definitely not a chance with any styrene based resin. It’s not something I would recommend though, acrylics are very poor quality paints in comparison. You will end up with peeling paint in only a few years.

#4

Is it possible to shoot a colour topcoat of sub quality paint ( acrylic) and then seal it with layers of 2k clear?

What kind of paint is 2k, does it stand for 2000?

#5

2k means 2 pack, which means it is a resin with a hardener. They are much better because they actually cure and go hard, whereas acrylics are simply the evaporation of the solvents that the paint is suspended in. So they never ever actually go properly hard, which is why petrol or any solvents will dull them.

You will want to check for compatibility issues before spraying 2k over the top of acrylic. It’s generally not recommended, but I’ve done it before. You can get cheaper 2k’s though, better to use them.

#6

Thanks for the insight Hanaldo, 2k paint will be my choice from now on. What solvent would you use to clean up after working, acetone?

Just to consolidate in order from bad quality paint to good:

Nitrocellulose ( lacquer thinners )
Acrylic ( water or solvent based )
Cheap 2k ( hardener )
Premium 2k ( hardener )
Epoxy 2k? ( hardener )

#7

Epoxy 2k isn’t necessarily the best, it’s quite rarely used. I know it mostly as a primer, it bonds very well to bare metal so works very well for that. Otherwise it’s expensive and tough to polish and not UV stable, so it’s not great as a topcoat. I would rate a premium 2k polyurethane over an epoxy.

Also an enamel coating would go somewhere between a nitrocellulose and an acrylic. Acrylics are ok, they are just old and not great compared to what you can get.

Also yes, I always use acetone for clean up. Get yourself some gun wash to clean your guns out properly every few months, other than that just spray some acetone through the gun when you’re finished spraying.

#8

I use an epoxy primer as an IMC regularly. Quite a bit of testing went on to find the right product. Had a few stick-ups, and a few delaminations, during testing until I found the right one. The point I am making is to test everything. I am constantly surprised, by the problems people have in this industry, and when queried, they had a new product, or just a new batch, and didn’t make a test sample.

#9

I concur. Always test! The different chemical formulas we are playing with are endless, just because one polyurethane might work doesn’t mean they all will.

If you haven’t tried a combination of materials before, test it before using it on something critical. Will avoid a lot of drama this way.