Sanding Intercoats?

[Fan O' Zakk]

I'm currently working on a fairly complicated multi-layer paint job, and I'm putting clear intercoats between each color, so that taping is less likely to damage the already laid down paint. My question is, should I be lightly wetsanding the clears before putting the next tape on? My thinking is a smoother surface would release the tape better, but that could be wrong... Thanks for your thoughts!

[PaintIt]

I'm currently working on a fairly complicated multi-layer paint job, and I'm putting clear intercoats between each color, so that taping is less likely to damage the already laid down paint. My question is, should I be lightly wetsanding the clears before putting the next tape on? My thinking is a smoother surface would release the tape better, but that could be wrong... Thanks for your thoughts!

If you are using a automotive intercoat then it only needs to be sanded if you leave it open past the window. Most paint recoat windows are within 48hrs. If you go past it should be sanded or skuffed with a scotchbright pad. Most of the time I use intercaot to seal down the airbrush work because it is very light and has less adhesion than painting solid color. When Painting solid colors the only reason I would use intercoat clear is to bury the paint edge or to allow it to stay uncleared to allow skuffing later. The less you do this the better in my opinion. I like to bury my graphics with the final clear.

[Fan O' Zakk]

I'm currently working on a fairly complicated multi-layer paint job, and I'm putting clear intercoats between each color, so that taping is less likely to damage the already laid down paint. My question is, should I be lightly wetsanding the clears before putting the next tape on? My thinking is a smoother surface would release the tape better, but that could be wrong... Thanks for your thoughts!

If you are using a automotive intercoat then it only needs to be sanded if you leave it open past the window. Most paint recoat windows are within 48hrs. If you go past it should be sanded or skuffed with a scotchbright pad. Most of the time I use intercaot to seal down the airbrush work because it is very light and has less adhesion than painting solid color. When Painting solid colors the only reason I would use intercoat clear is to bury the paint edge or to allow it to stay uncleared to allow skuffing later. The less you do this the better in my opinion. I like to bury my graphics with the final clear.

Alright, thanks for the advice. I'm using this clear as a means of helping bury the paint edges where I've pulled up tape, since there's gonna be a few different layers of color, and I don't want huge differences between the lowest paint layer and the highest. So there's no forseeable problem with the tape sticking more or less with sanding or not?

[PaintIt]

I'm currently working on a fairly complicated multi-layer paint job, and I'm putting clear intercoats between each color, so that taping is less likely to damage the already laid down paint. My question is, should I be lightly wetsanding the clears before putting the next tape on? My thinking is a smoother surface would release the tape better, but that could be wrong... Thanks for your thoughts!

If you are using a automotive intercoat then it only needs to be sanded if you leave it open past the window. Most paint recoat windows are within 48hrs. If you go past it should be sanded or skuffed with a scotchbright pad. Most of the time I use intercaot to seal down the airbrush work because it is very light and has less adhesion than painting solid color. When Painting solid colors the only reason I would use intercoat clear is to bury the paint edge or to allow it to stay uncleared to allow skuffing later. The less you do this the better in my opinion. I like to bury my graphics with the final clear.

Alright, thanks for the advice. I'm using this clear as a means of helping bury the paint edges where I've pulled up tape, since there's gonna be a few different layers of color, and I don't want huge differences between the lowest paint layer and the highest. So there's no forseeable problem with the tape sticking more or less with sanding or not?

Without knowing your paints that is hard to say but in general no. If you are using pearl or metallics the tape can sometimes pull some of the flake and make a mark so intercoating is good. I would sand on the edges after coating with clear or it is not really working since the stripe and background get the same amount of paint. you need to remove clear from the stripe to let the background catch up.