There are clears that have blue or green tint. They do add them. I use to use the Dupont clear over my son's artwork and it was a lot clearer than other brands. House of color had the best and for wet sanding and buffing, they both had the best results. House of color even has a fuel resistant clear, which we used on motorcycle gas tanks ect.
A good quality single stage can be buffed to a glass finish. It all has to do with the amount of clear that they add to it. I'm not familiar with the new paints that they use out your way. I would imagine it's like trying to get a gloss from wall paint?
I haven't messed with the waterborne systems. The tint I'm describing is muddy brown, I see it in factory jobs all the time on the crowns in early am, late pm sunlight.
But good old PPG Ditzler Delstar & Sherwin Williams Akrlyd acrylic enamels of Yorn, single stage, I could cut & polish to ice. The finishes were durable.....15 yrs easy, normal exposure to elements. The factory jobs now hardly make ten, more like seven before clear starts turning. More money, more work, more stuff to go wrong,, less longevity.
I've worked House of Color. TransStar made a production clear that was pretty pristine clear, with nice sanding/polishing features. A Chevelle back in 2001 w/ transstar I did the cut/polish on I saw early 2016,, He had put 15k mi on car,,not a trailer Queen & not a daily driver. The finish still looked very good on it....I was surprised.
On the sculpture I think in terms of longevity, why I don't incorporate lights, motors etc auxiliary stuff. The metal itself has the most permanence on its own. This blade here is a deviation from my normal practice of Natural polished finish, since I encapsulated the blade w the glass filler.....this stuff is tough,,,. barring some kind of accident, this **** will last 100 yrs no problemo,, that's a conservative estimate...I know good old acrylic enamel single stage indoors would make that easily.....just have doubts that clear would.....it's just a film & I don't think it's as durable as straight pigments.
So that was a long way of saying that the metal on its own is going to far outlast any thing added to it in nature of plastic, paint, electronics Yata. If it corrodes, it can be sanded & polished.
