Createx clear - gloss or matte?

[VTBasser]

I'm asking about using the clear paint as part of the painting process not as a final top coat. I've been using Devcon 2T for that. Sorry if I was a little unclear.

I thought I have seen some folks mention using "clear" between layers of paint to add depth or lock a layer so you could wipe off a mistake or as a final coat or a scratch coat before epoxying. Just wondering which to use: gloss or matte.

[scottw]

final coat - ETEX, SYSTEM3, DEVCON two part epoxies

water based poly's- you can add clearwaterbased to any of your waterbased "painting coats" and then a final coat of clear to seal everything up and provide a surface to "scratch" to provide the final epoxy better adhesion without damaging your paint job

any of the polyurethanes will do the trick for the "scrach coat" that DAD mentioned or you can spray the envirotex as he does...it's simply a way to seal you work and creat a surface that will accept the finish epoxy and provide a good bond

[stripercrazy]

heres a question does the gloss dry harder than the matte...does it matter? there getting scuffed up anyway

[VTBasser]

Originally Posted by stripercrazy

heres a question does the gloss dry harder than the matte...does it matter? there getting scuffed up anyway

From some info at Dixieart:

Matte Top Coat – On most surfaces it provides a water proof crystal clear matte finish with UV protectants which remains flexible soft and will not crack or discolor. When sprayed lightly, it will remain somewhat supple to the touch when used on fabrics. However, transparent base is the recommended “Top Binder” to spray over your completed fabric design.

Gloss Top Coat – Same as above on most surfaces, except not recommended for use on fabrics (does not remain as supple to the touch) and it will dry to a gloss finish.

[scottw]

gloss does dry/cure harder in most instances, you can use any of them depending on what kind of finish you are going for, the more gloss coating you add the deeper and shinier the final surface will appear, the only reason to use matte or a flat finish is because you desire that effect but a heavy coat of a two part epoxy at the finish will erase that I think, you could...I haven't done this, but if the intent is to end up with a flat finish on the plug, you could try adding a flattening agent(gloss flattener) to the finish epoxy...I think it is mentioned in plugology that the flat finish on certain plugs was more desirable...I don't know if there is a discernable difference in appearance once the plug hits the water....

gloss, satin or semi probably dosen't matter as a binder while painting the decoration or using it as a scratch coat because the heavy two part epoxy finish coats are going to be thick and shiny no matter what you put them over, they do vary in their adhesion qualities so it's good to provide a surface that they like....

sorry if that's wordy but I spend all day in my work trying to figure these exact things out..sometimes it's just finding the right combination of products... but then the humiditiy and/or temp changes

[numbskull]

I'm an idiot about this stuff, but after a succession of nightmares using System Three Clear Coat epoxy over scratch coats I finally contacted System Three and they told me there was no need for a scratch coat, just apply their stuff right over the Createx, which has since worked pretty well (not perfectly, however) for me.