METAL FLAKE: Colored VS Silver

So Ive read through alot of threads and articles. And it seems to me that the pros use a silver flake in clear with a candy color over top.

I dont understand why someone would use colored flake, and heres why.

Once you lay flake, you need to bury it deep in clear layers so that when you start to wet sand it smooth, you wont sand the flakes.

If you accidently sand too deep and scrape some flakes, it wont matter with silver. With colored flake, itll look like silver freckles mixed in with your colored flake cause you sanded the color off the flake (personal experience).

My question is: Why use colored flake when silver flake is virtually impossible to mess up when sanding. Even if you blow through your clear, its not noticeable.
And I understand that silver with candy "pops" more than colored flake over base.

Why so many Roth flake colors when silver is more forgiving when sanding and pops brighter with the reflections?

What are your comments on this? Thanks

 

Maybe cause some people are better at sanding than spraying candy?

fwiw, I'm with you on this one.

 

You know that is a great question. I did my car that most backasswards way I actually used two colors of flakes to do my car. (Against the advise of other hambers) I had to be super careful not to sand the tops off like you said and not mention ALL THE F*#&ING TAPEING I had to do. It has to be WAY easier to do silver with candy. OR unless you are stuborn like me and have to find out for yourself.

 

Yeah, that's probably the answer. Candy is a bitch to get right and very unforgiving. Candy is expensive too.

 

Well if your going through your clear your going to need to respray anyway. If you got through a candy good luck blending it. There is pros and cons to both ways. Some people dont want candy but want colored flakes on there basecoat. I know ive been aske to do a couple jobs that way. This is a good topic.

 

Haha, lol. So true!

I use both methods depending on the situation.

 

Why is candy so difficult? Is it just hard to spray because it is thin? Or is it trying to get it even? Or ?????

 

ever see tiger stripes

 

I have seen so many bad candy jobs that I have decided to swear it off.....due to lack of skill.

 

Real candy is translucent. So every variance in your spray pattern yields a different shade of color. More material in one spot than another makes a darker color. You have to be perfect to come out with a remotely good candy job.

 

So when you spray cand you cannot have any over lap in your pattern? That seems almost impossiable.

 

Correct. No overlap panel to panel. You do have your regular 50% overlap on your spray pattern though.

 

Im like you guys! I thought, dude, Im just gonna grab some brown Roth flake and paint my Harley a 60's style rootbeer brown with sick pinstripes. Well, Ive never done flake before, and my clear layer obviously wasnt deep enough.
So I go online and read all kinds of stuff, and I say out loud DUH!!!
Sand it down smooth with silver flake, who cares if you sand a number of them! Get it smooth, spray a couple more coats to seal it and then spray candy.

Who knows, Ill probably be posting a thread about how it sucks to spray candy next! lol!

 

Sometimes if you sand through silver flake it looks gray so silver flake is not always a cure all. Looks like gray specks.
Colored flake WITH candy over it.

Roth mind splitter with HOK green candy.









Red hok candy over some old 60's gold flake.





HOK red candy over HOK gold flake

 

RAD!!!! I really like the design on the red helmet. A-symetrical....very cool

 

One cool thing about colored flake in clear, is laying it down over a different color base coat, where you can still see some of the base color showing through. Like, Green flake over a Blue base, Red flake over a Goldish base, Purple flake over a pearl Silver base...you get the idea.

 

Real real nice Daddyo!

 

Daddyo, you have got some serious skills!!!! Those tanks are freaking killer. You guys are getting me all pumped up to hurry and paint my p.o.s..

 

Reckon, that top is going to be painted rootbeer flake , you think that will go good with my rusty cab? Its not a Rat, its just poor like me.

 

So what is the best way to suspend the flake? Use an intercoat clear like dbc500? Or do you have better results in the final clear? Just wondering how far you bury the flake.

 

Bump

 

I wish one of you good painters would do a tech post on how to paint helmets like you do. I can pick some of it up but when their is multiple colors and layers I get confused.

 

I used some of the shifty flake on my black roof on a '53 Oldsmobile. There would be no way to get it with a candy. That being said. I also sprayed silver under a green candy on my Ranchero and I love the way it pops in the sun. It all depends on the effect your after I guess.

 

Got pics? Man I love flake and candy!

 

another example is a bobber i helped a buddy build. on the tank we used a rainbow flake (like that roth stuff above) and covered it with candy rootbeer. the effect is phenominal due to the effect of the different colors coming through the candy. woulda been cool with silver but i think it turned out way better as is.

 

If I'm going to do a top in blue...I'll use blue flake....red top, red flake.
I like to use a base close to the flake color, that way you don't use as much materials...also there's the color-shift and holographic flakes...

Using silver for everything and then candy to get your color seems like too many steps.....unless of course you're doing mulit-colored tops and/or using lace, etc....but then, I'm not a "pro".....

 

Intercoat clear works best. It flashes alot quicker and also has less of a film build which is crucial when you're doing multiple layers. DBC500 is binder right? If so, then its the same. HOK has a pearl and flake carrier, SG150 that I haven't tried yet.

 

I was using colored flake but it takes sooo much to get good coverage.... im moving towards doing only silver under candy.....looks more uniform with less flake

 

Thats the thing on the green tank you can see the reds and blues in the flake showing through the green candy.

I don't know if I would be considered one of the good painters but Slowand Low 63 sent me a PM about my process for the circles on the helmet and this is what I wrote him back. --"I like it to be a solid flake job I don't like random flake with base showing through. First I spray a base that is as close as I can get to the flake color (Or silver if just using silver flake) that way if there happens to be small gaps in the flake I missed it's not obvious with another color shining through. After the base I start spraying the flake of course after multiple coat of flake I put three coats of clear over it and let it cure for a day or two. Then I sand it down then do my tape outs. For the circles and the lace on the green tank I used a overreduced black base spray very lightly. The circles were done with my airbrush using various size circles sparying lightly on the inside of the circles. I like to use ridgid plastic sheets for templates because it gives a crisper edge. Next comes the candies. Untape then clear flat sand clear the cut and buff. The gold tank with red candy lace is all candy on the lace. Moisten the lace slightly then it lays out nice stays and stays put a few coats of candy sprayed through the negative spaces until it's the color I want then pull off the lace and candy over the panel until the color i want then unmask and clears and such. Hope it helps!"

 

I use the dbc500 binder too. I figure the less mill build in color coats the better.