Waterborne base coat compositions having a light metallic color

1. A waterborne base coat having a light metallic color and containing 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.

2. The waterborne base coat of claim 1 , wherein the light metallic color exhibits a lightness L* (according to CIEL*a*b*, DIN 6174), measured at an illumination angle of 45 degrees to the perpendicular and an observation angle of 15 degrees to the specular of 60 to 145 units.

3. The waterborne base coat of claim 1 , wherein the light metallic color is a silver metallic color.

4. The waterborne base coat of claim 1 , wherein the EVA copolymer wax having a drop point of 80 to 110° C. contains 6 to 14 wt.-% of copolymerized vinyl acetate.

5. The waterborne base coat of claim 1 containing a crosslinking agent selected from the group consisting of free polyisocyanates, blocked polyisocyanates, amino resins and any combinations thereof.

6. A process for the production of a base coat/clear coat two-layer coating having a light metallic color comprising the steps:

(1) providing a substrate to be provided with a base coat/clear coat two-layer coating having a light metallic color,

(2) spray-applying a waterborne base coat of any one of the preceding claims on the substrate only by electrostatically-assisted high speed rotary atomization to form the base coat layer,

(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 an object temperature at or above the drop point of the wax portion of the non-ionically emulsified EVA copolymer wax having a drop point of 80 to 110° C.

7. The process of claim 6 , wherein the substrate is selected from the group consisting of uncoated plastics substrates, precoated plastics substrates, uncoated metal substrates and precoated metal substrates.

8. The process of claim 6 , wherein the substrate is selected from the group consisting of automotive bodies and body parts.

9. The process of any one of claims 6 , wherein the electrostatically-assisted high-speed rotary atomization is performed in one single or in two spray passes.