Alclad II Clear Coats

[porschercr]

I have some Alclad I clear coats, Matte, Light Sheen etc.

That have been sitting awhile and settled, my questions are:

Do they have a shelf life?

What would be the best way to mix them?

 

Trevor

[gman]

Glass bottles (really old stock) or plastic bottles?

I had some of the early Alclad in glass bottles, that came with small stainless BBs in the bottle for mixing purposes. I quickly found the point where vigorous mixing crosses the line into too vigorous. The bottle cracked, sending the contents streaming down my arm. While inserting a small stainless BB or two can work in the glass bottles provided you don't go crazy shaking them up, this technique works even better with the newer plastic bottles Alclad seems to come with now. In fact, it works well with most paint. The electric paint mixers sold by Badger (and even the Chinese knock-offs) work well also.

As for shelf life, I have had enamels and lacquers that are more than 20 years old but remained properly sealed in their bottles or spray cans work just fine. As a disclaimer, this doesn't apply to the newer Testors lacquers in spray cans, which seem to leak out the bottom to the point there is no more propellant or binders inside the can. I would try shaking up your Alclad and doing a test spray before running out and replacing what you have.

[porschercr]

Greg,

Thanks for the reply. I have both, the glass and plastic bottles.

Trevor