Custom Paint - Workshop specials.

CROP sells SprayMax 2k in a can. You pull the pin at the bottom to mix them. Sometimes there's a bit of jiggery pokery with the lid and a release function but the mixing is done in the tin.

Longevity of the primer isn't just down to the primer itself... its down to application and prep. Good refinishers can get excellent results with lots of different types of products.

For the sake of your learning curve, and that of anyone we teach in Dulwich, we recommend that they stick to the same brands of quality products over and over until they master them.

I wouldn't recommend that you prime directly onto a freshly sandblasted frame... you should key it first. The peened and undulated surface of a blasted steel substrate doesn't offer a sufficient enough key.

Etch is going to be commonly recommended online for steel... if its all you know, its all you can recommend.

Epoxy is my recommendation because...

1 - You're going to be working on refurbed frames... these will have potential scuffs and scratches and such which will be flooded out by high build epoxy. Etch doesn't build very high so it won't hide all marring. Obviously you can sand your steel smooth but that removes material... or you can use body filler but that's another product to get involved in and another stage to factor.

2 - Irrespective of your primer process, unless you're doing a "wet-on-wet" application (not recommended for a DIY effort), you will have a stage after primer which will involve you putting a key into the primer... ie, you need to sand the primer... if you sand a thin wash of etch primer, you can easily cut back to the steel and need to apply more primer. Epoxy builds higher so you have more forgiveness with this process.

3 - The viscosity and curing time and mixing method of a 2k epoxy makes it similar to a 2k clear in terms of application. Clearcoat is the "point of no return" stage... you can't practice it without potentially ruining painted work BUT doing plenty of epoxy primer will give you some familiarity with the way this stuff sprays.

All things considered... Etoe gets excellent results from rattle cans because of the experience they have with proper tools... a virtuoso will invariably get a quality tune from a toy instrument. The Etoe videos shouldn't really be indicative of what a newbie can look to achieve on a first attempt... we've all followed a recipe in a cookery book and rarely do our early efforts look the same as the finished pictures of the food...

The better products and tooling you can invest in will make your work better. Control as many variables as you can... this will help you understand where the mistakes are being made and what your flaws are.

I don't know if I mentioned this already in this thread but we hire our booth out... you could hire proper tools from us, buy proper products in smaller quantities than you can buy at retail and depending on what our tasks are on a given day, you can potentially ask us for assistance here and there.

In answer to your questions about numbers of coats and such... this isn't as exact a science as you might think. There will be enough coats on there, when there are enough coats on there. A bike isn't a flat panel so you WILL get dry spray, overspray and fallout where you don't want it and this will dictate how and where you should apply your next coats.

Reactions aren't exclusively as a result of poorly matched products... if you're too heavy at any stage with correctly aired solvents, you can create bonding issues and visible reactions. You'll only know if the products work together when you paint them.

Fully agreed with @Brommers here.

If you are looking to build up graphics with layering or specialist effects by stacking paints on top of one another, you will get product build. You can mitigate this in many ways but given that you're using rattle cans, you aren't in control of fan size, fan shape, product viscosity or pressure... in short, you'll sort-of get what you're given! You will have lips and edges and your product will potentially look a little peely at the beginning.

As a general rule, you don't sand basecoat (colour). You get a smooth finish at the paint correction and detailing stages whereby you work the clearcoat.

Making the colour stage smooth is not something you want... it would be like painting on glass and wondering why it isn't sticking together! Instead, be delicate in your colour application and aim to get as little product on as possible, then get a good clearcoat on there, then flatten it back with your preferred grade (I use a 600 Mirka goldflex pad and grey scotch), then I clearcoat again and on occasion, I'd do this once more.

The Etoe Supermeme video didn't have this stage but after clearcoat, you wet sand and compound and polish if you want a premium finish. If you don't do this, you're just changing the colour of something and you aren't crating a premium/luxury item. Some finishes don't need too much work but in my humble opinion, a "gun finish" is for a production paint job and any kind of premium finishing needs to be polished properly.

Your work will have peel in it... always... even those rare and mythical 'off the gun' finishes have peel. Look at every car you see in the street, it has peel... different brands and different colours and different product types all vary. In fact, on auto repairs, the trickiest part can often be putting the factory peel BACK IN to make it match! Peel isn't always an indication of poor technique, it's just art of the process and how you deal with it is what makes you a better refinisher... with that in mind, spend a few quid on some compounds and mops and a backing plate for your drill and learn to remove peel.

I realise I've half answered some questions and answered some you didn't ask... I hope that helps.

Also... the code for that Lechler epoxy is 29107, not 21907 as Brommers said... if you wanted to buy it from a paint dealer 'm sure they'd correct you but if you're looking online, you might get the wrong thing.