Clear coat on flat black?

[zarb]

I painted my aluminum mountain bike frame with sandable primer then acrylic enamel in flat black. Do I need a clear coat on top for protection? I don't want to have any gloss or shine whatsoever.
Thanks

[Dupli-Color Specialist 2]

I painted my aluminum mountain bike frame with sandable primer then acrylic enamel in flat black. Do I need a clear coat on top for protection? I don't want to have any gloss or shine whatsoever.
Thanks

A clear coat will provide added protection, but it will also add gloss to the finish. The enamel finish does have a good level of durability on it's own though.

[zarb]

Is it possible/advisable for me to use a clear coat made by a different manufacturer? For example: Krylon Acrylic Crystal Clear in Clear Flat?
http://www.krylon.com/products/acrylic_crystal_clear/
Or another brand?

[TCRefinishing]

Im not a big fan of mixing paint brands, ive gotten poor results in the past. But if you must make sure to get a enamel clear or urethane clear in the flat sheen you are looking for. If I were you I would just skip the clear and put a few more coats of the flat black.

[Dupli-Color-Specialist]

Im not a big fan of mixing paint brands, ive gotten poor results in the past. But if you must make sure to get a enamel clear or urethane clear in the flat sheen you are looking for. If I were you I would just skip the clear and put a few more coats of the flat black.

If you put a clear coat over your enamel just make sure you use an enamel clear. If you use a clear lacquer you will ruin your finish.

Lacquer over enamel is bad
Enamel over lacquer is good

but just try to stick with like paints whether its the same or different brands.

[r0b0tc0rpse]

they do make flat clear.... when I use to build models of planes, specially spy planes i would do glossy black on first, then put the decals on (stick better to glossy) and then spray flat clear over it.