The AM Forum

I tracked down some Datakote and see it comes in two bottles. One is the Protective Coating and the other is Thinner. Did a trial full strength with the coating and it obviously needs to be thinned. Has anyone used this stuff and can give some suggestions on a Coat/Thinner ratio? I've also used clear nail polish which works well on vinyl letters but not so much with the dry transfer types.

I've never used the Datakote stuff myself. But I'd suspect based on my experiences with dry transfer
labels years ago that putting anything shiny and clear on just the letters never look very good... So, my
best results have been with coating the entire panel/chassis.

I think if I were doing this sort of coating these days, I think I'd try air brush!
Harbor freight sells 'em pretty darn cheap too...

Wish I could've saved you a few bucks, but you really don't need it. If you're putting the datak lettering down on a painted panel, just fog on a clearcoat 2-3 times so the lettering doesn't lift and start floating around, then hit it with several good coats. Works great, but I'm running out of my white datak pre-made words. Also, the older the stuff gets, the more hateful it is to work with!

Datak has a spray-on product called Hardkoat but I'm thinking just spray it with a clear coat.

Just lightly fog the clear coat over the letters a couple times allowing enough time for it to tack up before putting on a heavier coat.

acrylic floor wax works too.