# Wax-it: Matt Nissan GTR - Swissvax Opaque



## Wax-IT.be

For those looking for pictures only:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wax-it/sets/72157624824500813/show/

or on our website (in Dutch)

http://www.wax-it.be/ons-portfolio/113-nissangtr.html

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Since a few years all kind of special colors are hot. Everybody has seen lots of expensive cars in various degrees of white. Dark brown or golden brown are seen more and more. Most recently matt colors are an upcoming trend, some brands even have them in there colorlist!
This can be achieved with a wrap or as a real paint. BMW has it's Frozen Grey, Mercedes-Benz has some colours, Ford has it's RS500 finished in a matt black wrap. All of those need there special treatment to protect the very delicate finish from gloss and other damage. A stain can't be polished out so you need to protect it very well!

A matt finish can be amazing to have your car a bit more out of the ordinary. Some people buy it as a protection for the real paint and easy maintenance. But that's not really the case! A matt finish or wrap is very prone to imperfections. Using the wrong products can lead to a glossy surface, greasy stains are easily visible, fingerprints, bugs,... On top of that the matt texture holds the water and the car is not as easy to dry!


Picture1: Flies died on the wrap leaving a long stain which damages the paint.
Picture2: the graveyard
Picture3: Rubber and tar stick to wrap.

  

It's not easy cleaning and protecting a matt car without making it shine. You can make it glossy by wiping and polishing it, even touching it too much can result in losing the matt look. It's important to use products without grease or abrasive, two things that make a regular paint gloss and shine! We're using the Swissvax Opaque set, it's fairly new but a lot of research has gone into making it and as they're still top of the market , we trust them. 
There's a shampoo, a cleaner, wax and a quick detailer, all specially made for matt finishes.

  

*Washing*

A traditional shampoo contains too much greasy ingredients like oil to be safe on this kind of paint or wrap. The shampoo's don't make your car shine instantly but can leave stains when drying. The oils in the shampoo stick to the paint as the water dries, so you can see the stain created by the residu.

It's important to use a shampoo that degreases. An oldschool washing soap will do this but will remove the layer of protection too... Using this you should renew the wax layer every time you wash the car. Some of these shampoo's also contain abrasives that are good to do dishes, but not to wash any type of car.

The Opaque shampoo will clean and remove the dirt. It won't remove the wax by degreasing too much. The Swissvax shampoo is very concentrated, so you don't need a lot! One or two bottle caps is more then enough!


Picture1: Adding a little shampoo.
Picture2 & 3: washing is different, water sticks to the paint.

  

*Cleaning*

A second problem is actually cleaning the finish after washing. You can't use your typical detailing steps. Claying is impossible because clay actually contains abrasive which will make the car shine. It's not possible to polish a scratch out. Using your typical car wax is a no-go too because it has a lot of oil, stuff that'll make your car shine after a while.

All of this makes cleaning the most important step in detailing a matt car. Remove bugs and tar using a regular tar and bug remover if there's no wax applied yet. If this is the case they should come off while washing.


Picture1: Poorboys Bugsquash
Picture2: Wiping on Swissvax Opaque
Picture3: Wipe off

  

The car can't be clayed so we need another product to remove surface contamination. Dirt that was not removed while washing can be removed using the Opaque Pre Cleaner. A car that hasn't be treated yet will be quite dirty. It's an easy wipe on wipe off, but you have to do it carefully repeating a few times to make sure everything is gone.

Using the cleaner a lot of bugstains were removed, some fat and water stains were removed too. A stain because of hard water can be easily removed. All of this can be cleaned using the strong cleaner.


Picture1: drops sticking to the paing after washing.
Picture2: after using Opaque they're gone.
Picture3: The wing is cleaned, the hood not. An obvious difference in depth and contrast.

  

*Protection*

As said before it's necessary to protect the paint. A protective layer will make sure washing is easier. Water runs of nicely like a regular car and it doesn't stick to the paint (a matt finish is not as smooth as a regular paint).

Picture1: Working in the wax
Picture2: 50/50 not waxed / waxed. Just after applying.
Picture3: A quick test with water, a lot of beading and protection!

  

De wax adds a second layer which adds more depth in the matt finish. The cars lines will be more obviously shown, much more pronounced. A second important difference is the more even color. The paint doesn't suffer a variation in depth and color, it's a nice and uniform color.

The wax we used is Swissvax Opaque, this is drier then your typical car wax. You can feel this when applying it, it should worked in more and needs a nice and even spread. Achieving a perfect coverage is important and more wax is used then a regular carwax. It's harder then the typical wax too when applying.


Picture1: beading test and difference.
Picture2: drying test, water sticks on the left and leaves stains, drying is nice on the right side.
Picture3: The paint afte waxing

  

The rest of the car received our typical methods. The Akrapovic exhaust was cleaned in three steps using Briliant. Cleaning (restoring) on a chemical basis using Briliant Metal Restorer, polishing it using Briliant Hot Environment Polish and finishing using Briliant Premium Metal for protection

Windows were cleaned with Briliant Glass Cleaner and Briliant Citrus Cleaner was the choice for the doorsteps which were not finish with the matt wrap. Wheels received Blackfire All Metal Sealant as a durable protection against the Alcon brakes. Tires finished with Gloss-it Signature Tire Gloss resulting in satin finish, the perfect look in combination with the paint. It's the finishing touch! 

  

*Some before and afters*

*Before*



*After*


An obvious difference on the B pillar (or is the C pillar)

*Before*


*After*


You can see all the pictures on slideshow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wax-it/sets/72157624824500813/show/

or on our website (in Dutch)

http://www.wax-it.be/ons-portfolio/113-nissangtr.html

Thanks for reading,

The Wax-it crew


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## slrestoration

Nice write up guys, some great pics:thumb:


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## rodders

Great write-up! Superb looking car.


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## james_death

Oh the pleasure of Matt....:wall:

Great work a stunner..:thumb:


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## Wax-IT.be

Thanks a lot, it was a lovely car to work on!


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## Eurogloss

Nice work guys :thumb:

Great car to work on !

Lovely detailing studio very clean and organised :thumb:

Best Regards

Mario


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## amiller

Fantastic write-up.

Very educational and a stunning finish. :thumb:


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## HornetSting

Very impressed, well done. So does that mean that you cant properly polish a matt finished car? No machine polishing at all. What happens if it does get swirls etc?


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## Wax-IT.be

Eurogloss said:


> Nice work guys :thumb:
> 
> Great car to work on !
> 
> Lovely detailing studio very clean and organised :thumb:
> 
> Best Regards
> 
> Mario


We try to keep it as clean as possible but it's hard.  Thanks a lot!



amiller said:


> Fantastic write-up.
> 
> Very educational and a stunning finish. :thumb:


Thanks!



HornetSting said:


> Very impressed, well done. So does that mean that you cant properly polish a matt finished car? No machine polishing at all. What happens if it does get swirls etc?


Doesn't matter if it's painted or wrapped matt, you can't polish. Polishing it will result in bringing back the shine.
If it's painted then it's actually the blank top coat that is matt, not the actually color underneath. If there's a scratch in the topcoat and you polish it, then you'll smoothen the surface and make it shine again.
When buying a BMW with this kind of paint they even add some papers about maintaining your car.

_They say it is possible to polish a matt painted car using a polish WITHOUT any abbrasives (a cleaner actually), but we never had the chance to try it on a panel. _


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## andrew186

interesting

im guessing detailing of wraps and matt cars will get more and more popular


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## Dan Clark

Beautiful detail 

The matt finish on the GTR looks prefect.


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## Guest

very nice read :thumb: and cracking finish too

Q.Do you mind telling me what make lights and power your using in the studio.just what i've been looking for ?

Kind regards

Anthony Gannon
www.detailstudio.co.uk
[email protected]
07775770672


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## Wax-IT.be

DETAIL said:


> very nice read :thumb: and cracking finish too
> 
> Q.Do you mind telling me what make lights and power your using in the studio.just what i've been looking for ?
> 
> Kind regards
> 
> Anthony Gannon
> www.detailstudio.co.uk
> [email protected]
> 07775770672


They're regular Philips Master TL-D 90 if I remember correctly, I'll write down the exact name of the light if you want it. Because there are quite a few there's a lot of light. We are using laserled as a spotlight and are looking into buying some more to add to the ceiling.


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## Guest

Wax-IT.be said:


> They're regular Philips Master TL-D 90 if I remember correctly, I'll write down the exact name of the light if you want it. Because there are quite a few there's a lot of light. We are using laserled as a spotlight and are looking into buying some more to add to the ceiling.


Yes please if you don't mind :thumb:

studio looks great


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## onks

thank u god work i realy like swisvax stuff


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## Guest

Great write up, well explained and very interesting. Great work on the car aswell :thumb:


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## Joeya

Really good stuff, these are the sort of write ups I like to read. Even though its a really nice car and the pictures are good it has a lot of substance and information.

Also loved the clio write up :thumb:


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## dsms

Beautiful work and documentation!


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## black_civic_si

Great job!


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## Goodfella36

Really enjoyed that great write up and well laid out with great information 

Cheers


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## kempe

Lovely :thumb: Not a big fan of matt but that looks very nice


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## Wax-IT.be

Thanks a lot!

Tha car will probably come back as a pre-sale detail so we can get you guys updated with durability of the Opaque wax.


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## Filo83

Wax-IT.be said:


> Thanks a lot!
> 
> Tha car will probably come back as a pre-sale detail so we can get you guys updated with durability of the Opaque wax.


no news?


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## RandomlySet

very nice work there fella


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## meraredgti

educational write up - thank you. very tasty motor with a stunning clean


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## himpe

Filo83 said:


> no news?


The owner is strugling to get the car available with his bussy schedual.

We have had it booked in 3 times but saw it canceled because of the timing ...

Should be in soon though :thumb:


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## tonyy

Superb..


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## AcN

That's a great job here !

I still don't get why Swissvax is the only manufacturer for a matte wax...


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## prokopas

Nice work


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## tehglu

looks sweet!

always loved the look of matte cars


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## twincamsir

class :thumb:


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