Painting over UD matte finish

[TIMDOR576]

Hey guys, I just got a LightCarbon frame in UD matte finish. I was planning to paint it myself since none of LC's paint color options appealed to me.

Unfortunately I don't know where to start with painting this frame! Do I need to sand down the matte clearcoat finish or can I just go for it with a rattle can?
I'm planning to add clear frame protection when I'm done - will the frame protectors stick to everything or do I need a special finishing coat for the protector to stick to?

Thanks in advance

[Wet Noodle]

I am not a painter. But if the frame already has a decent surface finish (which the clearcoat should be), I'd save me the hassle and just rough it up with fine sand paper. If you can get rougher scouring pad, that might work, too, and is way easier to handle wet.

If you want the paint job to last a while, finish with a 2-component top coat.

You could look for ETOE on yt to get some ideas. He shows how to do a lot of cool paint jobs, awesome effects and stuff, on the cheap (rattle can jobs). The first few minutes might be a bit cringe (with his very German brand of English, all the overacted enthusiasm and sometimes suuuper cheesy dance tunes), but you get over it and the videos are rather informative.

[JonMS]

I painted a VB frameset recently that was also in UD matte. I just sanded it with 600 and applied my paint. it came out great. You can see pictures in this thread https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,3650.705.html

[s3si1u]

Yeah, what they said. 
No need to sand it all down unless you specifically want raw carbon showing through. Scuff it up nicely and rattle can away, do make sure to clear coat it (2k rattle can suggested) and then don't apply any frame protection for a few weeks, once you're absolutely sure the paint is fully cured.

[00Garza]

I wish you better luck than I've had! I think its just too hot and humid in my area (most of the year) to spray paint without a climate controlled paint booth.

Share some pics when its done.

[Ludo]

what kind of carbon weave do you get under the UD if you remove it?

[jannmayer]

UD is the carbon weave. If you sand all the matte finish off, the stands will mostly be running in the same direction. I don't think the raw UD carbon looks nearly as good as the 3k weave that was so popular when carbon was new.

[svanimpe]

I've taken UD matte framesets into a professional paint shop, and asked about the work required to get it ready-to-paint. They said a light sanding is enough.

[TIMDOR576]

Thanks for all the help guys! I decided to go the lazy route instead: lots of frame protectors to add color to the frame, with the matte black background of the original finish.
Good to know for the future that a light sanding will be enough! This definitely isn't the last frame I buy.