Repainted- is it necessarily"soft"

[allenk4]

I often see people referring to repaints as being "soft"

I understand that "fresh" paint that is a few days old is easier to sand and buff out

What about a repaint that is fully cured (30 days)?

Can a repaint be hard?

Are there specific brands of CC used in the refinishing industry that are harder than others?

[Mike Phillips]

Can a repaint be hard?

Yes.

Are there specific brands of CC used in the refinishing industry that are harder than others?

My guess is yes. I'm not a chemist or painter but the painter themselves can tweak how they mix paint to be harder or softer. There are slow drying, medium drying and fast drying reducers, there's hardening agents and probably more ways to affect paint hardness or softness on the spraying side.

[TurboToys]

Yes.





My guess is yes. I'm not a chemist or painter but the painter themselves can tweak how they mix paint to be harder or softer. There are slow drying, medium drying and fast drying reducers, there's hardening agents and probably more ways to affect paint hardness or softness on the spraying side.

i wouldn't say it's in the hardener either mike, they might use more or less reducer depending on how they want that paint layer to cure. more reducer to feather in coats, they might mix in some of the color and clear together to make a slightly opaque layer, giving it a different look, or they might use a straight 50/50 reducer and clear, but the final paint that is left should have the same properties in terms of hardness as one that had more or less hardener in it (as long as there was enough to fully cure it). too much hardnener and too quick of a drying/curing time can cause ripples or shrinkage in the paint too. theres a whole science behind it.

to answer that from a painters standpoint (or rather, a novice painter who has a few very exceptional painter friends). there are definitely paints that are harder and softer than others that are not oem.

take for example PPG paints vs Sikkens paint. all painters have their own preference as to what they like to shoot. and between those two the sikkens is worlds harder than the lower ppg paint lines. its not necessarily that you pay less and get a softer paint, there are a hundred other things that go into what determines the properties of a paint and how they get to the cost of it.

but generally, every paint is going to be slightly different, because in order to patent that formulation it has to be different enough to not be a copy of another. same as colors, which is why if you have ever seen color codes and what makes them up. you will find that different companies "black" is actually comprised of 4-5 different colors sometimes, but it's still "black", but they get the opportunity to name it and call it their own due to the difference in color, but one is still not necessarily better than another.

[allenk4]

Great explanation guys

[02xtreme07SS]

The brother of a close friend of mine had his front clip repaired on his Nissan Altima. His brother brought the car to me so I could teach him how to properly use the PC he recently purchased. I kid you not, the repainted areas were the hardest paint I've ever come across, original or otherwise. The PC with an LC yellow and an LC cyan did absolutely nothing except spread the Menzerna FG400. Rupes, same story. I started to get minimal cut with the Flex 3401, but eventually broke out the FLEX rotary to correct the hood and fenders. Everything else was cake with the PC and an LC Tangerine with FG400.

[Lowejackson]

I have no idea what was used when the bonnet (hood?) was repainted, maybe some kind of military grade materials but so far I seem to use wool pads on the rotary to make any difference whereas the rest of the car is nice and easy to work with

[lawrenceSA]

I have experienced both relatively hard and relatively soft re-sprays.... I think there are simply too many variables (as with OEM paint) to say it is like this or like that.

No matter the paint on the car, a test spot is always the best starting point.

If you own a PTG you can often pick up which panels have been re-painted (if not visually) and then you can perform a test spot on the OEM paint and another on the re-painted panel(s) to ensure you dial in the correct process for each type of paint on the car.

[allenk4]

The repainted hood on the Gallardo we did today was over 12mils in th middle and 7mils on the sides

I can visualize the painter standing in one spot and spraying the whole thing in one shot