Decorative sheet material suitable for use as a flexible weatherable paint film or decal

A flexible weatherable decorative sheet material useful as a paint film, comprising:

• a release liner,
• an adhesive layer releasably adhered to said release liner,
• a pigmented fluoropolymer base coat layer overlying said adhesive layer and adhered thereto,
• a substantially transparent fluoropolymer clear coat layer overlying said base coat layer and adhered thereto, and wherein said base coat layer has an elongation greater than said clear coat layer, and
• a film carrier overlying said clear coat layer and releasably adhered thereto.

A method for making a flexible, weatherable decorative sheet material useful as a paint film, comprising the steps of:

• coating a substantially transparent fluoropolymer clear coat layer onto a film carrier, the clear coat layer comprising an alloy of a polyvinylidene fluoride homopolymer and an acrylic polymer composition,
• drying the clear coat layer,
• applying to the exposed surface of the clear coat layer a coating of a pigmented fluoropolymer base coat layer, the base coat layer comprising an alloy of a polyvinylidene fluoride copolymer and an acrylic polymer composition, the base coat layer having an elongation greater than the clear coat layer,
• drying the base coat layer,
• coating an adhesive layer onto a release liner to form a releasably adhered adhesive layer, and
• laminating the exposed surface of the releasably adhered adhesive layer onto the undersurface of the base coat layer.