Titanium vs Raptor: which protective coating is better

Polymer paints are of great interest to drivers who are actively exploiting their equipment or using it in off-road conditions. Rubber Paint's “Titan” paint and similar materials will appeal to those who wish not only to give the machine a reliable protective coating, but also to provide an original appearance. If you want and the availability of equipment you can paint the car with your own hands, it is only important to clarify all the nuances of the instructions.

Content:

• Protective coating "Titan"
• Protective coating "Raptor"
• General characteristics
• Differences between Titan and Raptor
• Advantages and disadvantages of Titan paint
• How to paint a car "Titan"
• Titan coverage reviews

Protective coating "Titan"

From the point of view of typical coatings for cars, "Titan" is not. This paint is not traditional due to its composition and appearance. It is made on the basis of polyurethane - a hetero-chain polymer from the urethane group, which belongs to synthetic elastomers and acts as a kind of rubber substitute.

Polyurethane paint "Titan" allows you to get heavy-duty coating of the body, very hard and quite thick. Compared to other materials, such a "shell" will be more resistant to damaging external factors. The principle of operation of this car paint is simple: in the process of application, a reaction begins with the hardener, causing rapid solidification of the paint and the formation of a protective layer.

The most attractive property for motorists is the ability to prevent damage to the body from the influence of mechanical factors. The coating has no analogues in strength and ability to withstand the appearance of cracks, scratches, chips. Also, body parts will be protected from:

• UV rays;
• moisture
• chemical substances.

A unique feature of the paint is the creation of a raised surface. Coating “Titan” helps to make the so-called shagreen leather with different grain sizes, and this indicator depends on several factors:

• application technologies;
• the amount of solvent in the paint;
• spray nozzle devices.

As a result, the coating can be as the owner wants, although this imposes certain difficulties on the restoration work. If you want to tint only a small area, it is not always possible to pick up shagreen leather in strict accordance with the original version.

Protective coating "Raptor"

Another aerosol polyurethane composition "Raptor" from the company U-Pol (England) has long been competing with "Titan" in popularity. This two-component tool protects body parts from harmful external factors, helps to eliminate damage when driving in extreme conditions. With proper preparation, it gives a high degree of adhesion to metal and plastic, so it fits any part of the car.

The advantage of the tool is the ease of application without the use of a spray booth with a gravel gun or a device included in the kit. It is only important to strictly follow the step-by-step instructions:

1. Step 1. Pour the hardener 3: 1 into the container with the main composition, add a special color of the desired color (you can leave the white paint).
2. Step 2. Shake the container well, continue mixing for 2 minutes.
3. Step 3Attach the container to the gravel gun, apply paint to the car or perform all the steps using the complete nozzle.

It will take 21 days to fully polymerize the paint, but you can start accurate operation after 8 hours: you need so much to dry the coating in the chamber. If a scratch appears on the body during this period, it is warmed up with a building hairdryer, after which it is leveled off on its own.

General characteristics

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

• enhanced strength, hardness of the hardened coating, an order of magnitude higher than that of oil, acrylic and other types of paints;
• unusual relief surface - shagreen;
• the presence of dielectric properties;
• protection of the base from water, ultraviolet, abrasives, chemicals;
• long preservation of color, lack of turbidity with time.

Both paints have a rather high price, and the finished coating is far from economical (although “Titan” in terms of cost is slightly cheaper).

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

Differences between Titan and Raptor

The Titan paint is considered more durable, solid after drying. This is due to the presence of 70% of the polymers in the composition, while in Raptor there are only 30% of them. Other differences in colors are:

1. The base of "Titan" is white, so it can be tinted in any shade. For this paint, different brands of colors are suitable. For Raptor, only pigments recommended by the manufacturer are used.
2. In "Titan" there is a higher dry residue, and its consumption is lower than that of the "Raptor".
3. "Titan" should be applied with a gravel gun. Raptor coating is best done using a special branded gun that is able to adjust the size of shagreen pimples.
4. According to user reviews, “Titan” tolerates negative and even extreme temperatures, since it was developed specifically for harsh regions.
5. Raptor paint is sold on the market for 5 years longer than Titanium. Therefore, some masters are accustomed to the "Raptor" and have more confidence in paintwork. The first versions of the paint were slightly worse, but then the composition was improved and became ideally suited for metal, plastic.

In general, the difference between these two coatings is not critical, because both paints are widely used in auto repair shops and do not have an obvious advantage over each other. It is only important to properly prepare the base, to observe the number of layers and the time of their drying, and then any material will last a long time, will reliably protect the car from damage.

Advantages and disadvantages of Titan paint

Polymer based paint has many advantages:

• high elasticity, which allows the protective layer not to crack, not to burst during bending, deformation;
• metal protection against rust and deterioration with reagents;
• lack of surface burnout - you can paint a separate area, and the new segment will not stand out against the background of the old ones;
• the absence of destruction of the paint layer from frost, temperature changes, the action of other aggressive factors;
• the ability to use paintwork materials only to protect the thresholds, underbody, interior of the car, if the user needs it.

Many people mistakenly believe that shagreen leather enhances the contamination of the body, and after getting dirt it will be more difficult to clean it. In fact, even a dirty car with a relief coating looks cleaner with a standard surface, and any dirt is washed off very easily.

The disadvantages of the Titan coating are few. You need to paint the car carefully, having certain skills. The full polymerization period is quite large, and it will not work to reduce it.If you need to remove the film with shagreen, you will have to contact the professionals: doing it yourself is difficult.

How to paint a car "Titan"

All the above paint properties are true only with high-quality preliminary preparation of the base. If you do not pay enough attention to this, paintwork materials can leave in layers, because its adhesion is high only under certain conditions.

The main point in the preliminary works is the so-called matting - applying a network of grooves, scratches to enhance the adhesion of the paint to the material. To do this, wash the body well, then process it with sandpaper or a grinding machine with large grain. Such a microrelief is created in each section, without missing a single centimeter of the body. Even a small piece of surface left smooth can cause peeling of paint in the future.

After the end of the matting, the Titan's painting of the car is carried out as follows:

• sweeping or blowing dust;
• fine washing;
• removal of foci of corrosion;
• body degreasing;
• removal of elements that will not be covered with paint;
• pasting openings and non-removable fixed elements;
• priming the base.

Only after such preparation can you start applying the paint. Usually 25% of the hardener is added to 75% of the base. Pigments are introduced in the amount required to obtain the desired shade. The first layer of "Titanium" serves as another adhesion promoter, therefore it is made thin. After drying, another 2-3 layers are applied with intermediate drying for 30-60 minutes, then the car is left for final drying for 8-12 hours.

Titan coverage reviews

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

1. Unusual, catchy look of the car. The coating with shagreen leather gives even inexpensive cars an exclusive look, and on large SUVs it looks luxurious at all.
2. Surface protection. The paint really saves the car from scratches and other defects with frequent driving on impassable roads, bushes, tall grass. Even exposure to sandblasting or deliberate scratching with nails causes only slight damage to the coating.
3. Ability to eliminate scratches. In the presence of defects, they can always be eliminated. Small scratches disappear after a normal wash with water under pressure, more serious ones can be removed when the site is heated with a construction hairdryer.
4. Reduce training costs. If the machine has an integral layer of old paint, it is not necessary to remove it before staining with “Titanium”. It is enough to perform high-quality matting, cleaning and priming, and the paint will lie in an even layer.

Among the negative reviews there is a local exfoliation of the coating, which is associated with ignoring the matte or skipping areas during its implementation. It is from this zone that the paint can begin to exfoliate. In addition to an untidy appearance, such defects have more serious consequences. Water, air penetrates beneath them, and the ability to protect against rust at the Titan is seriously reduced.

Corrosion processes can develop secretly, invisibly to the car owner, and some areas can rot quite strongly. In this case, you have to completely remove the coating and carry out serious car repairs.

According to most car owners who have tried such paint, it is great for frequent use of equipment on rough terrain. "Titan" is an order of magnitude better resistant to mechanical, physical, chemical influences than conventional paints. In the conditions of the city, it is easier to use traditional coatings, since in a thick relief coating there will be no sense.