Waterborne base coat compositions having a special-effect color

1. A process for the production of a base coat/clear coat two-layer coating having a special-effect color comprising the steps:

(1) providing a substrate,

(2) spray-applying a waterborne base coat having a special-effect color and comprising an aqueous microgel as binder, 0.5 to 2 wt. % of poly(meth)acrylic acid thickener and 2 to 7 wt. % of non-ionically emulsified EVA copolymer wax with a drop point of the wax portion of 80 to 110° C., the wt. % in each case calculated as solids and relative to the solids content of the waterborne base coat,

(3) spray-applying a clear coat composition on the base coat layer formed in step (2) to form the clear coat layer, and

(4) jointly curing the base coat layer and the clear coat layer at a temperature at or above the drop point of the wax portion of the non-ionically emulsified EVA copolymer wax.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is selected from the group consisting of uncoated plastics substrates, precoated plastics substrates, uncoated metal substrates and precoated metal substrates.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is selected from the group consisting of automotive bodies and body parts.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the spray-application of the waterborne base coat is performed by a spray-application method selected from the group consisting of (i) two spray passes (two subsequent spray operations), the first of which being performed by electrostatically-assisted high-speed rotary atomization and the second by pneumatic spray-application, (ii) electrostatically-assisted high-speed rotary atomization performed in one single spray pass and (iii) electrostatically-assisted high-speed rotary atomization performed in two spray passes.