Leveling Masked Edges with Createx UVLS Gloss Clear

[@douglasperry1226]

Thank you for the sticker swap! Yours are on the way! Cool beans man! Nice brush work brother! 🙌🏽

[@wickedartstudio]

You bet! Thank you for the kind words!

[@ethereal.airbrush]

Great tips!

[@route22totalcustom49]

As always great info and step by step

[@wickedartstudio]

Thank you!

[@guyverney3606]

Nice tutourial my friend. I liked the 2k clear explaination about solvent entrapment and drying times. I assume this is air dry times and not baked? Good to see you back. Guy

[@wickedartstudio]

Hey Guy! Even when baked, a 2k (clear or single stage) still takes about a month to fully cure and the paint is still off gassing for about a week or so once sprayed. Baking the finish reduces the time to cut and buff, but I still wait three or four days if color will be applied over fresh clear.

[@robertsoulier4736]

Very informative video, brother. I just finished base coats on a pair of bookshelf speakers that I designed for a specific room at my house. I painted a 2.5" skunk stripe down the center of the speaker boxes and done a marbleized effect in the stripe. Saw your video about 30 minutes (literally) before moving to 2k clear for leveling before my candy coat. I now think that the 4050 will be a better choice for this purpose, which I have plenty of. Do you agree with using 4050 / level sand / candy coat / then 2k clear / cut n buff method of my thinking, or should I consider candy coat THEN 4050 to start leveling before 2k?

[@MichaelProstka]

That's pure dynamite right there, sir! Thank you for showing us this before I sand through yet another topcoat! 😂

[@wickedartstudio]

I'm glad you found the content helpful!

[@jeffsimon3114]

Very informative video, thanks. Have you tried using a plastic razor blade to knock down those edges?

[@wickedartstudio]

A plastic razor blade works well for knocking off little remnants of masking tape and/or little flecks of dried paint that stand up along the edge. I normally use a fingernail to knock the paint off and/or lift small pieces of tape left behind, but a plastic razor blade works well too. Other than that, a plastic razor blade won't knock down the masked edge without physically removing some of the paint along the edge. Due to the fact the last coat on this particular project was UVLS Gloss mixed with pearl, removing paint along the edge was not an option because that would remove the pearl layer and clearly be visible once the final clear was applied. Even with a solid color, removing paint along the edge will help to level the edge, but there's still a high spot where the paint was applied. I would still use a clear in order to level the entire surface if further artwork is required. If the artwork was finished on the project, I would use two sessions of the final 2k clear to level the surface. Again, all of this depends on how many layers of paint are applied while the mask is in place. A quick base coat of black will create a minimal edge compared to two color coats followed by a coat of UVLS Gloss mixed with pearl (UVLS Gloss has a good solids content which is why it works well for leveling the entire surface after spraying graphics, but it also contributed to a more profound masked edge in this case).

[@djpenton779]

Question: are createx products available in large (e.g. quart sized) quantities? Here in Canada I can only seem to find 2 ounce bottles, or for some colors 8 ounce. This does not seem practical for large areas.

[@wickedartstudio]

Yes. You can purchase the vast majority of their Wicked line of products by the quart and even by the gallon. I believe the largest bottles you can buy for their Illustration line is 8 ounces.

[@danmaher7947]

Have you ever used Transparent Autoborne Sealer for leveling or as an intercoat? I know it’s low build but it won’t clog your paper, it powders when you sand which I’m sure you’re familiar with. Just wondering.

[@wickedartstudio]

I have sanded AutoBorne sealer and agree that it does sand better. UVLS seems to sand better if given more time to fully cure (it still balls up on the paper, but not quite as much). AutoBorne Transparent Sealer is normally my choice for an intercoat to protect artwork, especially if I think I may need to sand the surface. The downside to Transparent AutoBorne Sealer is it doesn't have the solids content that UVLS has. It would've taken far more product in order to bury the masked edges on this bike using Transparent Sealer. Excessive overall mil thickness on any paint job can greatly affect the paint durability. Based on that, I choose to use a product that requires the least amount in terms of application for the desired result.

[@michaelcohen3564]

Do you have a ventilation set up in your garage, or just use the protective ventilator mask?

[@wickedartstudio]

In my garage, no. I do have several fans with filters going and leave the overhead door cracked about 8 to 12 inches when I'm spraying though.

[@PopsiccDesigns]

I got some texture on my helmet I'm working on, I did 4 coats of UVLS 4053 high gloss. Would I be ok to light sand with 800 and send it off to get 2K urethane cleared after? Will it show sanding marks after clearing?

[@wickedartstudio]

It depends, did you spray the four coats of UVLS with a spray gun or the airbrush? If the coats were sprayed with a spray gun you should be good to go. If the coats were sprayed with the airbrush, I would advise adding a few more layers of UVLS prior to sanding. The airbrush, being a much smaller needle/nozzle size in comparison to a spray gun or a mini spray gun, can't put down the same volume of paint comparatively. Make sense? Four coats with the airbrush would realistically be about one coat, maybe two, when compared to a spray gun. 800 grit sandpaper will not show sand scratches after a 2k clear. I normally use 600 grit for the same purpose.

[@PopsiccDesigns]

@@wickedartstudio Thanks for the info! I put down 4 coats of the UVLS with a LPH50 1mm mini gun, but I don't think I reduced the 4053 enough because my gun was struggling a bit. I reduced with the recommended 4011 at 10%. I did put them down quite wet until I saw a milky blue haze and gave it a good 25 min between coats. I'll light sand with 800 tomorrow and hopefully it goes well. Thanks again!

[@PopsiccDesigns]

@@wickedartstudio Got my helmet back from the autoshop where they did a 2k urethane clear overtop my 800 grit sanded down 4053 and it came out amazing!! Thanks for the help!!

[@wickedartstudio]

@@PopsiccDesigns Awesome!

[@craigoehme3428]

That bike is looking killer………..

[@wickedartstudio]

I'm definitely glad you approve, my friend!