Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

BLACK is a ready deep black. You open it and put it on. COLOR is a tintable base: you add pigment and you get any colour from the RAL palette, and the pigment comes in the set. Apart from the colour, both versions are the same 2K formula.

No. On steel, stainless included, you lay down a 2K anti-corrosion primer first. Epoxy holds best, an etch or an acrylic primer will also do. Only then does ARMOR go on. Straight on raw metal the coating holds poorly and chips off.

1. Mask off everything that is to stay unpainted.
2. Degrease with a silicone remover.
3. Sand the steel with P120-P180 paper.
4. Blow off the loose particles.
5. Degrease again.
6. Apply a 2K anti-corrosion primer (epoxy or etch).
7. Key the primer with P240-P320 paper, blow off, degrease.
8. Apply ARMOR.

On prepared 2K primers (epoxy, acrylic), polyester fillers, an old 2K coating once it has been keyed, and on plastics with an adhesion promoter. Steel always on a primer, never on raw metal. Match the grit to the substrate: steel P120-P180, old coatings P180-P240, primer and fillers P240-P320. Do not put it on the exhaust system, the engine or on 1K products.

Only if it is a 2K coating, properly cured and keyed. If you are not sure what is underneath, run a simple test: wipe it with a rag soaked in thinner. If the coating softens or comes off, it is a 1K product. That one you strip completely before painting.

Yes, down to clean metal. Rust, grease and loose particles are the most common reason a coating lets go. Once the rust is sanded off, protect the spot with a 2K anti-corrosion primer.

On plastics and on poorly keyed surfaces use an adhesion promoter before you put ARMOR on.

It can, for example to take off roller marks or to level the surface before the next coat.

But do not dry sand it without protection. Dry sanding a cured coating creates fine dust that should not be inhaled. Sand wet, or with extraction and a dust mask.

2K means two components, 1K means one.

1K is ready straight from the tin. It dries because the solvent evaporates or because it reacts with moisture in the air. Later it can be softened again with solvent. Simpler to use, but less resistant.

2K you mix with a hardener (activator) before use. It sets through a chemical reaction and once cured it no longer reacts to petrol, oils or solvents. ARMOR is 2K, which is why the layers under it have to be 2K as well.

ARMOR contains solvents that soften a weaker 1K layer underneath. The primer starts to "float", and the coating wrinkles and lifts. A 2K primer stands up to those solvents and gives ARMOR a hard base. Quick test: wipe the substrate with a rag soaked in thinner. It softens or comes off, that is 1K, strip it. Nothing happens, that is 2K.

The primer does two things. It protects the metal from corrosion, because it seals the panel off from moisture. It also gives adhesion, because ARMOR holds poorly straight on bare metal. Without a primer the coating comes off in time and the rust starts underneath.

These are two different layers, both made from 2K products.

The anti-corrosion layer goes on bare metal. It protects the panel and gives adhesion. You use a 2K epoxy primer (thicker, protects best) or a 2K etch primer (thin, it "bites" into the metal).

The filler primer, that is the 2K acrylic one, goes on only after the anti-corrosion layer. It levels out sanding scratches and builds thickness.

On bare metal the order is this: metal, then 2K anti-corrosion, optionally a 2K filler primer or body filler, and ARMOR last.

Apart from ARMOR itself, the two-component products are usually: 2K epoxy primer, 2K etch primer, 2K acrylic filler primer, polyester body filler (mixed with hardener) and, if you use one, 2K lacquer. Each of them has a separate hardener and cures chemically, which is why it bonds well with ARMOR.

Usually not. Single-can primers with no separate hardener are most often 1K, and ARMOR can soften them. For metal take a 2K primer with a separate hardener: epoxy or etch.

Base and ACTIVATOR at 3:1 by volume. The set is 600 ml of base and 200 ml of Activator. With ARMOR COLOR mix in the pigment first (10-15%, no more than 15%), and only then the Activator. You mix it right before you put it on, because this is a 2K product.

About an hour at around 20 °C. In the heat the mix stiffens faster, in the cold a bit slower. Once it starts to thicken and gel it is no longer usable and nothing will bring it back.

This is the most common mistake on bigger surfaces. Someone mixes one tin and tries to paint a whole car with it over two hours. In the second hour the paint is nothing like it was in the first: it will not spread, it drags behind the roller, it leaves ridges and thicker bands where the passes meet. There is no fixing that, because the surface has already started to set.

The rule is simple. Mix as much as you will use within an hour, paint all of it, and only then mix the next batch. Do large surfaces panel by panel, not all at once.

Yes, and air has nothing to do with it. ARMOR hardens through the reaction between the base and the Activator, not by drying in air. Here the Activator does the job that evaporation and air do in 1K paints. That is why the mix will set even in a tightly closed tin, and why you only get about an hour to work. Simple conclusion: mix only as much as you will use right away.

A UBS gun, a conventional spray gun, a roller or a brush. Roller and brush mean you can paint a car without a spray booth. Put on 2-3 thin coats with a 30-60 minute gap.

How coarse the texture is depends on the nozzle, the pressure and the thinning:

• Coarse: UBS gun, 4 mm nozzle, 2-4 bar, no thinner.
• Medium: conventional gun, 2.5 mm nozzle, 2-4 bar, 0-5% thinner.
• Fine (looks like plastic): 1.4-1.8 mm nozzle, 2 bar, 25-30% thinner.

A fresh coat is dust dry after about 45-60 minutes, touch dry after 1-2 hours, and reaches full resistance after 5-7 days. That is the drying time of the coat on the surface. Do not confuse it with the working time of the mix in the tin, which is about an hour.

Yes. Put the lacquer on after at least 3 hours. If a full day has passed since ARMOR went on, key the surface lightly before lacquering. ARMOR has no asphalt or bitumen in it, so it can be covered with acrylic lacquer.

At a temperature of +10 to +30 °C and humidity below 80%. Do not paint in full sun or onto hot metal.

With acrylic thinner, or a polyurethane one. The same thinner will clean the gun and the tools when you are done. How much to thin (0-30%) depends on the texture you are after. See the question about texture.

On the product page you pick a shade from the RAL palette. There is a search box and the shades are split into colour groups, and the pigment in the shade you pick comes in the set. Your colour is not there? Under the palette there is a field where you type in the code or the name of a paint, from a car for instance. We will match the shade exactly.

In the COLOR version you add 10-15% pigment to the base (acrylic or basecoat paint, 15% maximum), and then the Activator. You pick the colour from the RAL palette. Shades with weaker coverage, that is yellow, red, orange and green, come out better over a light primer: white or light grey.

With the COLOR version, yes. The substrate should be one colour across all the panels. The simplest way is a primer in a basic colour (white, grey or black) matched to the final colour.

To the weather (damp, frost, heat, UV, salt water) and to petrol, oils and water. It is mechanically tough and scratch resistant. Based on synthetic resins, with no asphalt and no bitumen.

Yes. It damps vibration and deadens noise, so the cabin gets quieter.

Yes. The texture of the coating does not slip underfoot, which is why it works on steps, floors and load beds.

Underbodies, wheel arches, sills, pickup beds, boot interiors, off-road and overland vehicles. Farm and construction machines, hitches, ploughs, trailers. Boats and boat trailers, because it takes water and salt. Plus stairs, gates, toolboxes, garage floors and anywhere that must not be slippery.

Yes, in the COLOR version, with a roller or sprayed, over a properly prepared substrate. The finish is textured, not smooth like factory paint, but far more resistant.

One warning, because this is where it usually goes wrong: do not paint a whole car from one batch. The mix lives about an hour, and you will not do a whole car in an hour. Work panel by panel. Take the bonnet and both wings, finish them, mix the next batch, move on.

A roller only makes sense if you can finish a panel in half an hour. If you have a gun, use the gun.

No. Do not put it on hot parts, that is the exhaust system and the engine.

Watch the units, because this is where people slip up most often. The data sheet gives coverage per litre, and the set is not a litre.

One litre of mixed product: about 4.5 m² at a medium coat.
One ARMOR set is 800 ml (600 ml of base + 200 ml of ACTIVATOR), that is 0.8 litre. It gives you about 3.5 m² at a medium coat, and if you lay it on thin, even 5-6 m².

And remember that this is for one coat. There are usually two or three coats, so multiply the material by the number of them.

BLACK goes further than COLOR. BLACK has a ready black base and covers strongly, so two coats are usually enough. COLOR covers less well and needs more of them. For how many tins a whole car takes, see the tiles "How many ARMOR tins for my car?" further down this page: we give separate numbers there for BLACK and for COLOR.

It seals tubeless tyres while you drive. The puncture seals itself, with no stopping and no wheel change.

Punctures up to 12 mm in the tread. It will not seal the sidewall.

For vehicles that run above 80 km/h: from vans and 4×4s, through buses, to truck and trailer combinations.

For the whole life of the tyre. Poured in beforehand it seals punctures as they happen and helps hold the pressure.

From -40 to +92 °C, so winter and summer alike.

Yes, it washes off with water, so you can clean the tyre afterwards.

Standard is 1 L. Larger sizes (5, 10, 20 L, and for fleets even 600 L) on request.