Painting a car with raptor: review of technology and photos

RAPTOR U-POL (Raptor) is a modern, very strong and durable protective coating for the car body. It is a two-component urethane material with increased durability against rust, corrosion, salts, mildew and extreme temperatures. With the help of RAPTOR (Raptor) you can restore the most worn surfaces of pickups and trucks.

RAPTOR (Raptor) forms a durable surface that is resistant to mechanical damage and ultraviolet radiation.

Ideal for the body of trucks and SUVs operating in extreme conditions, as the RAPTOR is very difficult to scratch or damage. The coating does not allow moisture to pass through, does not fade in the sun, and has excellent sound insulation properties.

RAPTOR to use and can be used by any motorist. No special spray booth is required for painting, so you can paint in the garage or even outside.

It can be applied both to old paint and to bare metal, having previously carried out all the necessary preparatory work before painting.

Does not require an additional layer of varnish after painting.

RAPTOR can be applied using any method: anti-gravel gun, spray gun, brush or roller.

Advantages of RAPTOR (Raptor):

• high strength of the material;
• abrasion resistance;
• resistance to most chemicals;
• easy to clean;
• does not fade in the sun;
• reliable surface protection against corrosion.

Disadvantages of RAPTOR (Raptor) :

• cannot be varnished, so the coating will always be matte;
• the surface has the appearance of pebbled leather, which does not always look aesthetically pleasing;
• If the painting technology is not followed, chips are possible;
• long time for complete polymerization of the coating (according to the instructions - up to 21 days).

RAPTOR equipment

RAPTOR U-POL (Raptor) is sold in a package of four 750 gram bottles with base material and 1 liter of hardener. The bottles are adapted for an anti-gravel gun. The kit comes with detailed instructions for use, technical recommendations and a safety data sheet. The composition comes in two colors: black and colorless (tinted in any color, even metallic).

Preparatory work before painting with Raptor

Before you start painting your car with Raptor, you need to carefully carry out all the necessary preparatory work. If you are painting the entire car body, then first you need to remove all the attached parts from the body: bumpers, headlights, turn signals, mirrors, etc.

Then traces of rust and peeling paint are removed from the body. It is recommended to etch areas of the body with exposed metal with acid primer. If necessary, the body is straightened and puttied in places of dents.

The surface should be degreased with anti-silicone.

Next, use P80 sandpaper to matte the surface (bring down the gloss). The surface to be painted with Raptor should be matte. All parts of the car that remain on the body and will not be painted should be covered with protective material, using masking tape as fastening.

Raptor application technology

Add 250 grams of hardener to each bottle of material, close the lid and shake thoroughly for several minutes. In order to reduce the texture (shagreen) of the applied coating, the company recommends adding 10% S2040 thinner to the bottle with the material and hardener.

It is better to start painting from the roof of the car using even movements. The gun should be held 40–50 centimeters from the surface to be painted. It is necessary to ensure that the layer is laid down without overflowing, since thickening the layer leads to a violation of its mechanical strength. Drying time for the first layer at a temperature of +20 is 30–60 minutes. Then you can apply a second layer.

After covering the car body with the second layer, the paint should polymerize within 5-7 days. The car can be used after 12 hours, however, without serious loads on the coating.

Painting "Raptor" in the desired color

In order to paint the car body in the desired color, you need to purchase a kit with a material of a cloudy whitish color, which is intended for tinting.

Next, you need to mix “Raptor” with the hardener in a ratio of 3:1 and add up to 10% of the base pigment to the finished mixture. If you have difficulty selecting the right color, you can contact a colorist and use the selection system to determine the right component. As a color you can use any acrylic paints and metallic enamels.

If the color of the car is light and the owner wants to keep it, you need to take into account that the Raptor itself is milky in color - this can give a peculiar tint.

Precautions when working with Raptor

Painting the body of a car with Raptor must take place while observing personal protective measures.

• flammable material;
• irritates eyes;
• open contact with the material leads to dry skin and causes it to crack;
• vapors may cause drowsiness and clouding of consciousness.

Therefore, you need to work in protective clothing and gloves, goggles and a respirator. The room where the work will be performed must be well ventilated; be sure to equip it with exhaust ventilation and fire safety equipment.

• Protective coating U-POL RAPTOR

  7 400 ₽

Russian car owners have already heard about Raptor paint. Today we’ll talk about it in more detail.

As a result, cracks, scratches, and chips often appear on the car body, where moisture gets in and, as a result, rust. There is no need to talk about off-road enthusiasts. Their cars are subject to even greater damage.

There are different ways to protect your car from corrosion:

• Galvanic coating.
• Specialized primer.
• Galvanization.

Unfortunately, all of them are short-lived and ineffective.

Raptor paint for cars

Raptor is a product of the English brand U-POL, which has been working in this field for more than 60 years. It protects the body from rust, impacts from stones, debris, branches, temperature changes, and mold. Designed specifically for vehicles operating in highly aggressive environments.

It’s difficult to call Raptor paint in the full sense of the word. Rather, it is a liquid polyurethane with enhanced protective qualities.

The composition is mainly used to restore individual, worn body parts: bumper, bottom of doors, sills, which suffer most often. But some car owners, tired of fighting rust, cover their car completely with Raptor.

After application, a thick, hard protective layer is formed that adheres firmly to the body. The coating is not afraid of strong impacts and can be used as additional vibration and noise insulation.

As an experiment, the Raptor was tested by off-road extreme sports enthusiasts. We applied the paint according to all the rules, waited the required time and went into the forest.

The route chosen was not the easiest, among trees that tore the body with their trunks and scratched them with branches. According to the results of the test, there was no damage left on the surface, except for small dents left from contact with the barrels, which disappeared after a little polishing.

Reviews about Titanium coating

After using a coated car, users give both positive and negative feedback. Motorists who are satisfied note the following:

1. Unusual, eye-catching appearance of the car. The shagreen coating gives even inexpensive cars an exclusive look, and even looks luxurious on large SUVs.
2. Surface protection. The paint really saves the car from scratches and other defects during frequent off-road driving, bushes, and tall grass. Even sandblasting or deliberate scratching with nails causes only slight damage to the coating.
3. Ability to remove scratches. If there are defects, you can always get rid of them. Small scratches disappear after regular washing with water under pressure; more serious ones can be removed by heating the area with a hair dryer.
4. Reduced preparation costs. If there is a complete layer of old paint on the car, it is not necessary to remove it before painting it with Titan. It is enough to perform a high-quality matting, cleaning and priming, and the paint will lay down in an even layer.

Among the negative reviews is local peeling of the coating, which is associated with ignoring the matting or skipping areas during its implementation. It is from this area that the paint can begin to peel off in layers. In addition to an untidy appearance, such defects also have more serious consequences. Water and air penetrate under them, and the Titan’s ability to protect against rust is seriously reduced.

Corrosion processes can develop hidden, unnoticed by the car owner, and some areas can rot quite badly. In this case, you will have to completely remove the coating and carry out serious repairs to the car.

According to the majority of car owners who have tried this paint, it is excellent for frequent use of equipment on rough terrain. “Titan” resists mechanical, physical, and chemical influences much better than conventional paints. In urban conditions, it is easier to use traditional paints and varnishes, since a thick relief coating will not make any sense.

Pros and cons of Raptor:

Advantages:

1. The main advantage of paint is that no special skills are required to work with it.
2. No specialized premises are needed. You can paint it right in the garage.
3. Does not require special preparation of the body before painting.
4. Depending on the volume of work, paint can be applied using different devices.
5. It is applied to any type of surface and adheres firmly to them.
6. Additional noise and vibration insulation.
7. Protects the car from corrosion and from all types of exposure to aggressive environments, does not fade in the sun.
8. Thanks to the extended service life, compared to conventional coatings, vehicle maintenance costs are reduced.

There are few disadvantages, but they exist. The following significant disadvantages can be noted:

1. When the body is completely covered, the surface becomes matte. This composition cannot be coated with varnish.
2. Due to the inherent roughness of matte surfaces, it is difficult to care for the appearance of the car.
3. The paint has a very strong adhesion to the surface and it is very difficult to remove it if the need arises.
4. The coating gains full strength only three weeks after application.
5. If the application technology is violated, there is a risk of chipping.

Recommendations

In the end, we note some useful tips for motorists:

• It is relatively expensive to buy a spray gun for a one-time treatment; the alternative is a manual spray gun;
• When selling a car, if the buyer insists on measuring the thickness of the paintwork, it is important to consider the surface texture. Due to the non-uniform coating, the results of using a thickness gauge will not allow you to draw a correct conclusion. The device for checking the thickness of the paint coating should be used repeatedly and only in an area without the Raptor. The result is the arithmetic mean;
• Liquid rubber for cars can serve as a replacement for Raptor paint; it has its advantages and disadvantages;
• if you are tired of the look of pebbled leather typical of the Raptor, painting with Xeralik will improve the appearance of the car;
• painting can be done either manually or in a specialized center; in any case, the price will be considerable, but the work amounts to a significant amount. It is worth considering the cost of a complete car painting, taking into account materials and labor;
• The matte effect of the body goes well with tinted windows. We recommend taking a closer look at LLumar athermal film and tinting.

Price

Raptor paint for cars is supplied by the manufacturer in the following set:

• Canister with hardener 1 liter - 1 pc.
• Cylinders with paint, capacity 1 liter - 4 pcs.

Important! The Raptor is available in only two basic colors - white and black. To obtain the desired color, buy white paint and dilute it to the required shade.

The price of such a kit: about 6,000 rubles.

With the kit, you can purchase a sprayer that screws directly onto the cylinders, then its cost will increase by about another 2,000 rubles.

This is enough to cover ten square meters of flat surface with one layer. To cover the entire car, you will need from 10 to 15 liters of the finished composition. Total: 3-4 sets.

The total is from 18,000 to 24,000, without a sprayer and without the services of a car painter. If you decide to take the car to a workshop for painting, then to this amount you will have to add another 10,000 - 20,000 rubles for the work of a specialist.

Painting technology

According to the official instructions, it is necessary to mix the composition with a hardener. The description indicates the proportion of 3 parts of the main product and 1 part of the hardener. There is a mark on each jar, it indicates the amount to which the container is filled, which is approximately 250 g of the second component.

After adding the product, close the jar and shake for 2-3 minutes to completely mix the mixture. The company offers a range of hardeners that differ in the drying time of the coating. For the warm season, they prefer options with longer polymerization, and in winter the process is accelerated. To reduce the severity of the texture, thinner S2040 is added to the composition; its concentration should not exceed 10%.

Rules for applying Raptor paint

Raptor painting is done in several stages. Let's look at them in detail.

1. We prepare the workroom. We free up space for comfortable work, remove unnecessary things, cover everything that can get dirty.
2. If the room is dark, you need to provide additional light. In bright light, all errors and imperfections are visible, which means the painting will be of higher quality.
3. We prepare the car for painting: we remove the mirrors, bumper, trunk, wheels, etc.
4. We remove paint and varnish from the entire surface of the body.
5. Areas susceptible to corrosion are thoroughly cleaned and treated with a special compound.
6. We putty the uneven surfaces and cover up the pre-treated rusty spots. Level and sand thoroughly.
7. Apply primer. After all these procedures, several hours should pass.

While the body is drying, we prepare the composition. Raptor paint for a car is mixed in proportions: for every 750 grams of paint, 250 grams of hardener are taken.

The jar with the mixture must be shaken well to ensure even mixing.

1. Before painting the outer parts of the body, be sure to test the composition on the inside and see if it adheres well.
2. After testing, you can paint the entire body. The paint is designed for different surfaces and applies equally well to both metal and plastic. Important! To paint large areas, it will be more convenient to use a roller or sprayer. For small details, such as thresholds, a regular brush will be enough.
3. After painting, you need to wait a few hours until it dries completely. After which the car will be ready for assembly.

During the first two to three weeks, the paint does not yet have all its properties, so it is better to take care of the car and use it only in urban conditions. But after this time, you can safely go to the fields and forests.

Summarizing all of the above, we can draw the following conclusions:

Raptor paint for cars is an excellent choice for car owners. The coating can protect the body from most mechanical damage and environmental influences.

Especially in regions with capricious weather conditions and a sharply continental climate. It will help restore a body damaged by corrosion, keep it in excellent condition and at the same time save your money.

Small chips, scratches and other similar defects are phenomena that every SUV owner encounters sooner or later. To eliminate them, you have to resort to the help of service station workers, which involves large financial expenses. If you need to protect the car body, you can use a more economical method. Painting a car with Raptor is a procedure that you can do yourself. The main thing in this painstaking task is to strictly follow the instructions.

How the paint works

The modern market of paints and varnishes offers many different products that provide reliable protection of the car body from the negative effects of moisture, ultraviolet radiation and mechanical damage.

One of the most popular coatings is Pol Raptor. This polyurethane substance creates an invisible, strong layer that prevents the appearance of defects on the car body and rims. In other words, after applying this product, the car becomes practically invulnerable.

This method of car body protection has many advantages:

• the paint does not fade under the influence of ultraviolet radiation;
• the product resists many chemical compounds;
• easy to clean from dirt;
• provides protection of the body from corrosion phenomena.

It is important to note the fact that after applying the paint, the surface of the body becomes matte and slightly bumpy. What it looks like is shown in the photo. Painting a car with “Raptor” is a procedure after which polishing work is prohibited to achieve ideal smoothness. Therefore, before starting to apply a protective coating, this point must be taken into account.

General characteristics

When comparing which is better: “Titanium” or “Raptor”, you must first evaluate the similar properties of these paints. Both products are suitable for those who want to give their car an unusual look and replace standard paint materials for cars with exclusive ones. Paints have common qualities:

• enhanced strength, hardness of the hardened coating, which is an order of magnitude higher than that of oil, acrylic and other types of paints,
• unusual relief surface - shagreen,
• presence of dielectric properties,
• protection of the base from water, ultraviolet radiation, abrasives, chemicals,
• long-term color retention, no clouding over time.

Both paints are quite expensive, and the finished coating is far from economical (although Titan is a little cheaper in terms of cost).

The exact composition of the paints is kept secret by the manufacturers, and apart from the fact that the base is polyurethane, little is known. In addition to large packages, the products are sold in cans for application to small areas.

Preparatory stage

Before applying a protective coating, you need to carry out a number of preparatory steps. The final result will depend on how well they are done.

So, the first steps involve removing parts from the car such as wipers, mirrors, and bumpers. Those elements that cannot be unscrewed must be sealed with paper or masking tape. This also applies to car wheels.

Then you need to prepare the surface for applying a protective coating:

1. First you need to remove any remaining paint. It is impossible to remove them manually. This can be done using a grinder with fine abrasive.
2. Next, using a compressor, you need to blow out the dirt and dust that has formed after removing the paintwork.
3. Then you need to treat the surface using a product such as white spirit or anti-silicone.
4. If there are defects in the form of chips and small cracks, they should be eliminated using putty.
5. As soon as the surface dries, the car needs to be blown off again.
6. The final preparatory stage involves applying a metal primer to those parts that will be painted.

Dyeing process

A product such as Pol Raptor is available in two colors: black and colorless. To obtain the desired shade, you can use colored pigments. The kit also includes a hardener and a gun for applying a protective coating. It is worth noting that you need to use exactly the device that comes with the paint, since it has a special nozzle for spraying the composition.

If you are painting a car with Raptor yourself, you need to remember that the mixed product is suitable for use for three hours. You need to combine the components in the same can of paint. As soon as the mixture is ready, you need to put a gun with a hose on the container and begin the staining procedure.

Pol Raptor should be sprayed onto the surface of the body at a distance of 40-50 cm. This way the composition will spread in an even layer. The paint must be applied in two layers, maintaining an interval of more than half an hour.

The product should be sprayed in a dry room, avoiding drafts. However, given the fact that Pol Raptor has a high level of adhesion, the painting procedure can be carried out outdoors on warm days when there is no precipitation. As for drying, a well-ventilated area is suitable for this.

Safety precautions during operation

All auto chemicals under certain conditions can cause harm to human health. To protect yourself from Raptor complications, you should consider that:

• the composition is highly flammable;
• with prolonged exposure to vapors or liquid contact with mucous membranes, irritation occurs;
• after contact with the skin, the paint provokes dryness and burning;
• inhalation of vapors leads to dizziness.

To protect yourself from the negative consequences of Raptor, you need to:

• ensure high-quality ventilation of the room. It is advisable to have a built-in ventilation system; an alternative option is to open the gate. During the painting process, it is recommended to frequently interrupt work for rest and a short walk in the fresh air. During work, a respirator and goggles must be used;
• avoid smoking over the new coating, the composition should be kept away from the source of fire;
• store all tools and materials that came into contact with the paint (rags, roller, brush) in a special container with water to prevent complete hardening and the possibility of reuse;
• protect against paint spills. During work, you should wear special clothing;
• store components in a separate dark place, out of reach of children and other people. The substance can withstand high temperatures; during storage they should not exceed 80°C. The container must be sealed tightly.

Means of protection

It is worth considering that Raptor is a highly toxic product that has a pungent, unpleasant odor. It will take 21 days from the date of application for the paint to dry completely. You can operate the car as usual within 7-10 days from the date of application of the protective coating. You should refrain from additional coating with varnish and other similar means.

We should not forget that this composition includes harmful chemical compounds, so all manipulations with it must be carried out in special clothing and a respirator.