How To Paint With Water Borne Paint

Learning how to paint with waterborne paint is a great move for modern automotive builders. This stuff is actually easier to shoot than most solvent-borne paints. Transitioning to this technology allows you to successfully cross over your vintage colors into a new base coat, which was perfect for keeping the classic two-tone on a 66 Chevy pickup. By understanding a few key changes in setup and technique, you can easily achieve a professional finish.

Surface Preparation And Cleaning

Before you begin spraying, you must prepare the surface. Sand the panel with 600 grit. This sanding paper is finer than what is normally used. Waterborne base will show sanding scratches much easier than solvent, so take your time with this step. You also must use special waterborne cleaners and waterborne reducers to prepare the panels.

Mixing The Base Coat

When preparing the paint, remember that the colors must be stirred, not shaken. Pour the paint into a mixing cup with ratios on the side. Using disposable mixing cups is highly recommended because they cut down on cleanup time and supply costs. Add only 20% thinner to the mixture. This differs greatly from solvent base coat, which usually requires equal parts.

Once you blend the paint together, strain the mixture into a cup. You must strain the base coat to skim the bubbles off the top. When you are finished mixing into the disposable cup, simply turn the lever to the spray mode, and you are ready to spray.

Spraying The First Color

The first color to apply is white. For this off-white color, we used an LPH80 minigun from Iatada to get excellent coverage. Water must dry properly, so you must put dryers on between coats. These dryers are specifically for waterborne base. They function like a carburetor by using a Venturi to amplify the air volume and dry the base coat.

Apply medium wet coats just like you would with solvent base. It takes three coats of the off-white color to get full coverage. The dry time is only about five minutes between coats.

Do not mask the first color immediately. Instead, paint past your color break to prevent a huge buildup of paint on your color division line. Once dry, mask the area to cover it all up. You will pull this tape off later when you are ready to clear coat.

Spraying The Second Color

Now you are ready to spray the second color, which is green. Make sure to gently blend the base coat. Never expect full coverage out of your first coat of base, whether it is water or solvent. All you are after is an even medium wet coat. Your gun speed should be pretty fast, keeping a distance of 3 to 4 inches from the panel so you do not get the color too wet.

For this phase, use an LPH400, which is a waterborne compatible spray gun. Ensure yours is compatible. This is because waterborne base corrodes some metals and can easily ruin an incompatible gun. After applying three smooth coats of the green, pull the tape off the first color to reveal your classic two-tone color scheme.

Applying Clear Coat