Anybody using the water based paints? If so, whos brand and how do you like it?

Played with it some. I would use either Sikkens (autowave) or PPG (Enviro-base) The only problem is that its not that DYI friendly yet. You need some serious air turbulance to make it dry.

I've used the water based paint by Matrix. Sprayed very well and flowed out even better, but the clear coat is a whole different ballgame. Be sure and use an ample amount, cause I found it's a lot easier to burn through than with the acrylic based paints. It's yet to be seen how long the shine will hold up as it's only been done for a couple of months. All in all, I'd use it again. Another great thing is that the yard natzee's can't shut you down for sprayin in your own shop,,,,,,,,,,YET!!!!!

i use PPG water based base coat at work.
you can't use this stuff at home without really good equipment. especially your air compressor. you have to dry it about 1% humidity. the air dryer to do that is about $800.
when using the hand held air dryers i can make the stuff dry FASTER than solvent based paint. on larger jobs without using the hand held air dryers it drys as fast as solvent based paint.
one thing to keep in mind you MUST surface prep the panel much better than for solvent based job. this is because water based paint is much thinner than solvent paint.
also you can't mix solvent and water based paint waste. YES water based paint is a hazardous product, and MUST be treated as such.
hope this helps
i spray solvent based clear coat on top of water based base coat.

How would a DIY be able to use waterbourne paint?
How would you ever get it to dry between coats?

Dont you need heat and air for that?
not just air?

Also, your undercoats are still all solvent based.
Your clearcoat is probably going to still be solvent based...
if not...
how will you get it to dry in your home garage?

Evaporation !!!!!

How long will that take between coats?

Can the home DIY guy even do the water borne without his own temp/humidity control system?

To the best of my knowledge
the answer is NO he can't...

but people on this thread seem to think you can..
I'm just wondering where they are getting this info from and exactly what are they spraying at home successfully?

I dunno, I have to wonder. I think it's sometime in the summer of this year that Canadian regulations will prohibit suppliers from selling solvent-based automotive paints. I *think* there is a small loophole that allows the diy guy to import solvent-based paint for his own personal use but I'm not positive on that.

I understand the importance of having a decent temp for the waterborne paint to dry, obviously it will need at least a reasonable temp for the water to evaporate. But how exact does the temp and humidity need to be? I don't think the average home guy really is going to care if his paint job takes a little longer to dry, so long as it still comes out alright. But the question is, will the finish be acceptable and durable if it's done like this?

Water base house paint dries OK. I know we're talking a different animal here, but shouldn't it have somewhat the same drying characteristics?

FWIW I have a friend who does loads of small stuff - helmets, guitars, etc. in his backyard shop in ALL kinds of weather. This is not a bodyshop or spraybooth, just a regular ol' garage. He uses AutoAir Colors products.

I don't understand what the big concerns are. From what I've read the coats have to be very light or the product will run/sag. The moisture should evaporate under normal temps, humidity and airflow conditions in reasonable amounts of time.

Environmental impact would be more from the pigments than from the water.

http://www.autoaircolors.com/index.htm

I agree that it sounds like a horrible idea for automotive paints, because it's new and we don't know how to use it yet, but if they have water based exterior paints for houses that last 15 years when exposed all the time, surely it wouldn't be too difficult to add some sort of catalyst to make the paint harden so you can sand and buff it, and use it on metal. even if it only ends up lasting 10 years--that's still longer than the average life of your typical daily driver--my big block dakota is just over 10 years old, and the factory clear coat, solvent based paint is starting to lift already...

if you put it on a hotrod toy vehicle that's garage kept, that "10 year paint" will probably last a LOT longer.

I wouldn't be afraid of this stuff, but it's awfully new, so I'll be waiting until it's been around for a few years before I'd consider using it on my rides

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I agree that it sounds like a horrible idea for automotive paints

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Really ?!?!?! Why ???? No harmful solvents, less environmental impact, easy cleanup ... what's "horrible" about it ?

It still gets clearcoated with standard solvent-based clears and that's where the durability is. The water-based product is just the color - nothing more.

Waterbourne clearcoats are out there...
I don't think they've quite caught on yet for automotive but in time I'm sure they will..

There are also waterbourne primers in the works as well...

Google "Waterbourne Paint" there are some excellent writeup's on this subject...

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What about single stage paints?

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Yeah, I got some downstairs in the basement ... Sherwin-Williams outdoor acrylic latex. Comes in flat, semi-gloss or gloss. Apply with brush or roller. For use on wood or primered metal. Available at Home Depot for $25 a gallon !!

we use water-borne paint at our collision facility...if you have the right equipment (blowers, blowtherm or equiv. spray booth) it is actually a better product....we use dupont "cromax"....color matches are much more consistent to factory finishes...as far as speed goes we are currently doing between 5 to 8 vehicles per day...the do it yourself will have a hard time with this product without proper air flow...clean airflow is more important than temp.