Neon Paint prep and finishing...

Just wanted some feed back on finishing a rocket with neon colors. I painted a few myself, but didn't to go the extent of clear coated the top coat.

What's the best way to do it?

Can you wet sand the color and spray it with clear to get a smooth gloss finish or do you spray the top coat firts and then wet sand the clear coat?

BTW - A friend of mine used that Rustoleim cyrtsal clear and it works great. He apply two coats I'm assuming a lite coat and medium and it turned out really nice!!

To keep it as bright as possible you have to leave it flat. If you clear coat it I think it just looks like regular bright paint, So why go through all the hassle of properly painting a neon color just to clear coat it? If a slick shiny finish is desired just use regular paint and shine it up with Plexiglass polish. Ditch the silly acrylic floor polish. Oh no, I might have just offended a large number of Future lovers!

Cheez AB, the best is whatever way looks best to you, right ? I agree with Daddy that, to my old eyes, clear coating neon paint diminishes the fluorescence. Just say NO! to diminished fluorescence !!

Daddy,
I am mightly offended by your disparaging remarks about my beloved fruity Future. I'll have to take this into account when reading future posting from you. :wink:

samb said:

Cheez AB, the best is whatever way looks best to you, right ? I agree with Daddy that, to my old eyes, clear coating neon paint diminishes the flourescents. Just say NO! to diminished flourescents !!

Daddy,
I am mightly offended by your disparaging remarks about my beloved fruity Future. I'll have to take this into account when reading future posting from you. :wink:

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Feast you old eyes on this: My Future's so bright I have to wear shades! Yeah, those were the days when Daddy was a young buck, the BIG 80's. Although I could never even try to pull off the Rob Lowe look with the little pink neon hanky and ear ring that all the ladies dug at the time. At least I didn't ruin my neon paint jobs with any kind of clear coat. And how could Rob have known she wasn't 18? Don't ruin your Future!

That neon stuff is so transparent anyway, clear coat's redundant.

Daddyisabar said:

To keep it as bright as possible you have to leave it flat. If you clear coat it I think it just looks like regular bright paint, So why go through all the hassle of properly painting a neon color just to clear coat it? If a slick shiny finish is desired just use regular paint and shine it up with Plexiglass polish. Ditch the silly acrylic floor polish. Oh no, I might have just offended a large number of Future lovers!

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While I hate to disparage Daddisabar's post above:
I have to pass on that Many of Rustoleum's Fluorescent rattle can colors will go on nearly as smooth as standard paint colors. All Fluorescent paints MUST be applied over White base coats to really Pop. That said you can use a UV Gloss clear coat to enhance it's brillance outdoors or Pledge with Future (for tile floors).

Contrary to DaddyisaBar's post: You do NOT have to leave Fluorescents Flat anymore. Personally I like to use Pledge with future as it can be reapplied anytime you think handling or flight dings require a little retouching.
Remember All Clear Coatings...Every single one become Brittle and chip off taking a bit of the underlying paint with age and exposure to UV. This has not been as pronounced with Krylon UV Clears but we've only had about 8 years exposure to test.
Attached are a couple pics of an Old rusty 10gal milk jug we recently knocked the rusty flake off, Primed, and repainted with multi-color Fluorescents with ClearCoat. Even with the uneven flakey surface you can see how Brillant this can is. It's almost Blinding outside in direct sunlight Can't wait to get the Crabs, other Sea creatures, Shells, Bubbles and such applied.

Micro that's outstanding!