Urekem Paint vs. House of Kolor Aerosol

[thackeral444]

I am getting ready to embark upon my first motorcycle paint job. I have been building a bobber for the past two years and will be ready to paint in a few months. The project has cost way more than I anticipated and I am going to have to do a relatively inexpensive paint. This will not be a show bike-just a personal ride. It need not to look like a show bike but I do want it to stand out and be very impressive. I have about a $300 budget for a small tank, small rear fender, oil tank, and battery box. I want a retro look with Root Beer, Gold, Black, and Metal Flakes. I have looked around for the best options within this budget and have narrowed it down to Urekem urethane from http://www.thecoatingstore.com/ and House of Kolor Aerosols with Spraymax Clear from http://www.coastairbrush.com/categories.asp?cat=11 Urekem paint will of course require an HVLP gun, compressor, water trap etc. (of which I will have to buy all but the compressor) and will only be able to spend about $75 on guns, new hose, and regulator/water trap, plus I have never used a spray gun before so there will be a learning curve. The HOK aerosols and Spraymax are good to go and should be much easier over all. The Urekem paint is extremely inexpensive and the HOK aerosols will actually end up costing more. My first instinct is that spraygun will always beat aerosol, but the Urekem is so inexpensive it makes me wonder whether the HOK will be the better choice.

Does anyone have experience with Urekem or the HOK aerosols and Spraymax 2k clear? Does anyone have an opinion as to which would be best?

THANKS!

 

[JT Airbrush]

Personally, I'm not a big fan of aerosols, but for small jobs and certain applications, they have their place and the HOK aerosols from Coast Airbrush are very convenient, but yea, they're a bit pricey. I tend to agree that HOK is over priced and I'm not sure how much you're paying for actual paint and how much goes toward marketing, trade shows, and sponsorship of certain big name painters. If you have a compressor that can handle a spray gun, I think that's a better way to go. I'll probably receive some flack, but I've used the Harbor Freight spray guns with great success and they may be a solution for your budget. You can get the water filter from them also. Also get an inline water filter that attaches to the spray gun as a last line of defense against moisture. Don't get this item from Harbor Freight as it's junk. Go to Home Depot or Lowes for it. Place your main water filter as far from your compressor as reasonable. 25' is the optimum distance, but if you can't do that, try for 10' or 15'. This distance allows the air to cool and drop the moisture. I've never used or even heard of Urekem, but based on the price difference, I think its worth a try. I tend to believe there's really not that big of a difference from one manufacturer to another when it comes to urethane paint. I think there are significant differences when it comes to the clear coat. I use Dupont Nason clear most of the time and really like it. I'm sure there are others that are just as good or better. A quart goes for $35-$40 and should be enough for your project.

 

[thackeral444]

Thanks for the reply. I was mostly concerned with Urekem's Clear so the advice to use a more established brand's clear is a good idea. I may use the Urekem primer and B/C and then clear with HOK or Nason. If I go with the Urekem it will indeed be Harbor Freight and Lowes all the way for the gun and filters. Good to hear you have had some success with the HF guns. You mentioned the compressor setup and that is one of the issues I have been trying to figure out how to resolve. Do you mean the hose running from the water filter should be 15' to 25' or the hose running to the water filter? I still haven't ruled out the HOK aerosols simply because this will probably be my only paint job for the foreseeable future and there just seems like there are so many more unknown variables with the spray gun than with the aerosols. I know how pros feel about my dilemma but I am not a pro--I just want a good paint job on a project that means a lot to me.

 

[chopolds]

You're really going to have to be careful about mixing paint brands, esp. if you are mixing spray cans, with mixed materials! They might not be compatible, and even if they do stick together, they might delaminate sometime later. I'd just buy a cheap touch up, or door jamb gun (about 30$) and use all the same brand material, at least paint wise....you can use a different primer if you wait and sand it out a few days later. I believe some companies, including West Coast Air, even sell HOK in small amounts, so you can still use the best paint out there, and not buy 10 times what you need for the job.