Method of forming a coating on a substrate

A three coat two bake method of forming a multilayer coating on a substrate which exhibits reduced strike-in and mottling, said method comprising the steps of:

• A providing the substrate comprising a solvent-borne primer disposed thereon and subsequently baking the primer to cure;
• B. applying a solvent-borne basecoat composition directly on the cured primer, wherein the basecoat composition comprises a film forming resin, a pigment, and about 12.5% to about 50% by weight on binder of a cyclic lactone modified branched acrylic polymer having a hydroxyl monomer content of about 1% to about 65% by weight, and a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of about 10,000 to about 150,000 g/mol and that is a reaction product of:
• (1) the reaction product of 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate;
• isobornyl acrylate;
• and
• hydroxyethyl methacrylate;
• in the presence of t-butylperoxy acetate;
• and
• (2) gamma-caprolactone;
• C. applying a solvent-borne clearcoat composition directly on the basecoat composition in a wet on wet process, and subsequently
• D. simultaneously curing the basecoat composition and the clearcoat composition by baking to form a basecoat and a clearcoat, respectively, and to form the multilayer coating on the substrate;
• wherein the multilayer coating exhibits mottling of less than or equal to about 3.5 measured at 15 degrees from specular reflection,
• wherein the primer is free of the cyclic lactone modified branched acrylic polymer;
• wherein the primer, the basecoat composition, and the clearcoat composition are each free of a cyclic lactone modified linear acrylic polymer;
• and
• wherein the basecoat composition is free of a branched polyester.