Transparent paints?

[Subvamp]

Hey folks,
I've been looking for some transparent paints, and can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I tried Reranch, and all they seem to have in the way of transparents is the 3 tone strat sunburst. I'm looking for an aerosol can of transparent blue or red, hell even black might work. I'm trying to mess around with painting some flames over an existing silver flake finish, and I figured a transparent paint would be the way to go, so the flake underneath would still be visable. Anyone have any ideas?

[YetAnotherOne]

Re: Transparent paints?

ReRanch does have a transparent blue but it's a dye and not a paint so I don't know if it'll work for your purposes. It's about 1/3 of the way down on this page.

[sully]

Re: Transparent paints?

if you want rattle can, you can get candy blue, red, and i think green... auto parts stores should carry them. duplicolor is one of the manufacturers.

sully

[YetAnotherOne]

Re: Transparent paints?

Good point. IIRC the color-shifting coats of Duplicolor's Mirage paints are either transparent or semi-transparent as well.

[Subvamp]

Re: Transparent paints?

Excellent, thanks guys. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Now, I hope if I paint a transparent blue over an existing gold/yellow metallic finish that the blue doesn't turn green.... [img]/images/graemlins/what.gif[/img]

[sully]

Re: Transparent paints?

shoot a coat of interclear over the existing gold/yellow before you do the candy coat, and you'll be all good.

[Subvamp]

Re: Transparent paints?

Damn, you da man Sully! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] The guitar currently has a clearcoat that I was just going to go overtop of, hit it with a transparent color and then clearcoat again. Should I still use the interclear just to be safe?

[sully]

Re: Transparent paints?

oh! so this is a previously finished (buffed, etc) guitar, yes? if that's the case, then i wouldn't worry about the interclear because you'll already have a layer of clear coat between the yellow/gold and the blue candy that you're gonna spray. when you do multiple step paint jobs (masked stuff for flames, and stuff like that), it's a good idea to put a layer of the interclear over it before you move on to the next step. kinda like if you were writing a long document; you kinda save as you go, know what i mean?

sully

[Subvamp]

Re: Transparent paints?

Gotcha. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] I'm glad I asked! That's exactly what I'm planning on doing: Doing a masked flame using the existing metallic yellow/gold finish for the flames, and using the transparent blue for the negative space, so essentially the guitar will look metallic blue with the metallic yellow/gold flames. Sort of like this:



It sounds good in theory, I sure hope it works! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[sully]

Re: Transparent paints?

yep. get yourself some 3M striper's tape and have a good time! also remember to pull the tape while the finish is still a little soft (less chance of chipping out).

sully

[Subvamp]

Re: Transparent paints?

[ QUOTE ]
pull the tape while the finish is still a little soft (less chance of chipping out).


[/ QUOTE ]

More good advice! Thanks for the help Sully. I'll post a pic when it's finished. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[mm2002]

Re: Transparent paints?

Just my 2 pennies: if you pull the tape too soon (or while the paint is very soft) you risk stretching and peeling the top coat away from the substrate. It's a common myth to think you need to un-mask while the paint is still soft, but the real trick to a nice clean edge is not building the top coat too thick, letting it dry at least overnight, and then pulling the masking off parallel to the surface.

[Subvamp]

Re: Transparent paints?

Pulling the masking off parallel....like using an exacto to get under the edge and try to lift it straight up? (as opposed to puling the tape at a 90 degree angle)

[mm2002]

Re: Transparent paints?

That's pretty much the idea. Never pull the tape up at a 90 degree angle. That's when you cause chips or peel away stuff you didn't want to peel away! Always remember this: a good paint job starts and ends with a good masking job.

[FusionFarmer]

Re: Transparent paints?

I shot the red and blue on this Patriot with Duplicolor metalic semi transparent, its not the easiest paint to use, its kinda thin and runs easily, a little practice on a prepainted surface and you will get the hang of it, I like to strip off the tape about an hour after I spray, these paints dried fast.