Clear Mixing Base for use in automotive base coats, One Gallon SMR-3649

Idk what the one review was talking about, but this product is amazing. For starters, I am a stay at home mom and have no prior experience painting cars, but I am admittedly "handy." My teen daughter was gifted a pos 2004 pt cruiser and it did not look like it had 70k miles on it, so I decided to give it a face lift. Being a Dodge lady myself, I wanted to give a nod to my favorite plum purple while making this entire project not break the bank. In total, I spent right about $250 in all supplies, including a $15 pneumatic paint gun from harbor fr. Everything else was purchased on here, including the stripping car wash soap, super cheap pneumatic palm sander, a LOT of sanding discs, a box of scotch abrasive pads, metal prep, acetone, body filler, glaze, primer (also used as the sealer), THIS clear mixing base, and a 2k top coat. I opted for epoxy products (2 part mixing) as they have better longevity, I could adjust the ratios to the temperature I was working in, and I'm not trying to figure out a 3 part mixing situation. I chose this specific brand and the clear for the middle coat because I wanted to make my own unique color. One of my other hobbies requires me to have an abundance of mica powders, glitters, etc, so I have those on hand. Using those, I found the perfect mix to make the color you see in the photo. I believe it took burgundy, purple, and pink. Additionally, I used crushed shimmer (type of glitter) and a couple others, as well as a color shifting blue/purple in it as well as in the top coat which gives it an amazing effect in shade and in the sun. Making my own color, I was also able to adjust the opacity. Knowing I was going to do 4ish layers of color, I went a little lighter with the first ones color. I adjusted it a little warmer, and then went more solid. This allows you to see more layers of glitter instead of just covering them all. I did not have any issues with it not curing or being sticky. As long as you follow the instructions on speedkotes website as to how much activator to use, you're fine. Personally, I used smr-600 speedo basecoat activator, as it is touted as being stronger and having more longevity. You also have to be mindful of doing your layers within a certain amount of time of each other as paint does best adhering to itself at specific stages. Just some tips. We live in OH and the car has been parked outdoors, under trees for 2 years since I've painted it and it still looks amazing. Not only that, but my lovely daughter hit our jeep with the pt loser right after getting her license and, although it caved in her trunk, the paint was unscathed. If that ain't a testament to the strength of it, idk what is!

Works great and is half the price of other tints,, Speedokote is my best supplier on Amazon hands down !!!!

Seems to work pretty well

Terrible product!!! It's been a whole yr and the paint still hasn't harden it's gonna be a pain to strip down. There is practically no support for this product and it doesn't explain how it should be used.

This is not a base coat, or a mixing base, Speedokote finally informed me after returning this product that is is meant for a mixing machine, there are NO INSTRUCTIONS, NO MSDS on their website to tell you this before ordering, it is NOT the same as the other SMR-36xx products like the base coats, it does NOT flash, it stays soft and apparently needs a hardener that speedokote won't inform on how to use