Carbonda frame DIY paint: Raw Finish, or Standarde Matte finish?

[Kactusdog]

Planning on painting a green tinted raw carbon paint job on a new road frame I will be purchasing from Carbonda. They offer Raw Finish and Standarde Matte finish. Raw being from the mold (i've been told it needs to be "sanded and patched") and standard matte being sprayed with a bit of black over the raw carbon. It has been "sanded and patched".

Those of you familiar with the prep process or with Carbonda's finishes, which would you go for and why? Which is closer to my starting point? Looking for the least weight, and least sanding

[kbernstein]

As far as I know the people ordering the matte finish just want the cheapest "paint" that is not raw carbon and you will need to sand it down anyway. So go for raw straight out of the mold.

By the way, paint by carbonda is pretty cheap and good. I got chameleon green+ chameleon blue myself that didn't cost too much more than if I were to buy paint myself

[japjoe7]

I recently purchased this, https://thespraysource.com/collections/alpha-spray-cans/products/raven-super-colorshift-spray-can

I’ll be using this on my Carbonda FM1001

[Serge_K]

FWIW, i ghetto painted a velobuild frame that i got at "primer" stage. It was primer with high spots sanded. I ended up re-priming so that the primer would be a solid coat, because i was getting bleed through otherwise. Paint is finicky. Cost me less than 30 eur for primer, 2 colours (the black is metallic, it's quite nice) and a cheap top coat (couldn't find 2K locally).
Given the effort involved, i'm happy with the result. Barely any sanding needed, because i got the frame at primer stage.

Before, after, and the bike i wanted to emulate.

[Kactusdog]

As far as I know the people ordering the matte finish just want the cheapest "paint" that is not raw carbon and you will need to sand it down anyway. So go for raw straight out of the mold.

By the way, paint by carbonda is pretty cheap and good. I got chameleon green+ chameleon blue myself that didn't cost too much more than if I were to buy paint myself

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah I don’t need any “patching” done, since I want to see the raw carbon. It’s kind of weird that they body filler the frames as needed, I would think the mold and design would be sufficient.

I wish they would do my color, but they don’t want to. It’s the tinted green with some rainbow flake in it. I included photos of each of those separate here:

[Kactusdog]

FWIW, i ghetto painted a velobuild frame that i got at "primer" stage. It was primer with high spots sanded. I ended up re-priming so that the primer would be a solid coat, because i was getting bleed through otherwise. Paint is finicky. Cost me less than 30 eur for primer, 2 colours (the black is metallic, it's quite nice) and a cheap top coat (couldn't find 2K locally).
Given the effort involved, i'm happy with the result. Barely any sanding needed, because i got the frame at primer stage.

Before, after, and the bike i wanted to emulate.

Nice! Carbonda refuses to send me one at the primer stage. I have to pick one or the other.

[Pedaldancer]

Carbonda does raw carbon paintings. why do they refuse? Is it the special green or the rainbow flakes?
By the way: That's a very nice color scheme.

[Serge_K]

Nice! Carbonda refuses to send me one at the primer stage. I have to pick one or the other.

Well, given I ended up re-priming over their primer, I would have been curious to order raw carbon, I would have liked to see the layup.
I like raw carbon frames that have clear coat over, but i'm afraid of UV messing with the carbon over time. I feel that primer + paint is a good UV blocker. Given that clear coat is transparent, idk how well it blocks UV. If it's done by a real brand, it's one thing. But if it's me doing it, or an OEM seller, idk.