Sparks Blue

Lots of great questions. Many Metallic coatings especially light or bright colors like Sparks Blue UMB-1809 or even silver coatings like our line of Champagne colors are considered a base coat but often times need a heavier application to achieve substrate coverage (hiding). Some of this translucency can be eliminated by applying a primer of similar color or adding additional layers of the Sparks Blue. As an example: Sparks Blue over mill-scaled steel will have a different result than coverage over sand-blasted steel or over a primer base-coat. Applying a first coat of the Sparks Blue, bringing that initial coating to flow-out plus 2 minutes, allow to cool, then applying another coating of the same to achieve a good coverage is not unheard of. Each coverage you want a 2-3 mil thickness and using a mil gauge at the flow-out plus stages is a good way to determine how your coverage is coming along.

Depending on use a Clear Coat like PPS-2974 Clear Vision is recommended. This will provided added protection to those metallic flakes and prevent early corrosion.

We never recommend applying hot as this can provide hard to control thickness variations that are especially critical when applying transparent top coats. However, we also know that this is common practice and can be useful on certain Faraday laden projects. Assuring you have a good ground throughout the process, taking your time with the project including inspections at flow-out, partial curing base if applying more than one coating, gun setting adjustments, realizing that not one oven setting, gun setting, or cure time works for all coatings, and not panicking are all key ingredients to a successful powder-coating finish.

Testing prior to committing finished parts to the process is also extremely important.