Metal flake painting

i have been reading all i can on painting metal flake. getting the flake to lay down is in question. on one of the threads i read that in the old days they even took a kicthen rolling pin and rolled the flake flat. then i read a peice in a hot rod mag that said they used a pair of nitrile gloves to push down the flake. have any of you painters heard of anything like that?? any ideas will be helpful --- goufos

 

Why would you want the flake to lay down? I would think that the flakes "standing at different angles would give the best effect. I sprayed flake back in the 60's and we just buried it in clear, sanded, buried in clear, sanded, etc. Only thing is with colored flake, you don't want to sand through the color of the flake (it causes silver spots). IMO, flake, because it requires so much clearcoat, is rather unstable as far as tending to chip and/or delaminate.

 

Kills the effect, forcing the flake to lay down flat.

 

Yea the whole effect of flake is to get the different reflections from the individual piece, the only way you can get that is to have the in all different angles... if you want them to lay flat you might as well be sticking tin foil on the car!!

 

I, like the OP, am reading everything I can so why I get home I can try it. Stu D Bakers response is right on par with everything my friends, that have done it, say.

 

Ya gotta bury in clear. The bigger the FLAKE, the mo' clear ya need....to have a flat finished surface to wet sand and buff to a DEEP, DEEP luster.

 

Flattened flake looks surprisingly good. If the flake isn't rolled flat it takes a LOT of clear to cover it. If you go that route, apply many thin coats rather than fewer heavy ones, and let the clear firm up sufficiently between coats.

 

House Of Kolor makes a midcoat clear that is made specifically for spraying flake, I think it is SG150 if I'm not mistaken. It's sold by the qt. I've used it many times with great results. If your area is small enough go with the fast reducer as you'll be putting on several coats for a better effect. Spray multiple coats of standard clearcoat after the midcoat clear. Wet sand/buff after its setup and done.

 

so if im using the roths monster flake how many coats of clear do you think i will need to use- and how much is too much? ------goufos

 

It may depend on the 'flake size.

 

BIG difference, spraying flake wet or dry.

Dry gives the most dramatic effect, and takes the most work to smooth.

Wet, mixed in clear, is less work, but not as dramatic.

 

well here is what i was thinking on doing-- spraying over the base coat of gold will be a clear coat of wet smaller gold hollowgraphic flake mix in with the clear- then while that is wet- spray -( using a flakebuster) dry roths monster flake - same color. then a third light coat of clear mix wet with again the smaller flake.- then all the other plain clear coats,- do you guys think that might work out ??? ---------goufos

 

spray the flake wet and when you like the way it looks start clearing ,and sanding and clearing and sanding and clearing!

 

Ive Sprayed .008 purple flake over black. The top of the roof has flake sticking straight up.. on the sides it laid a little flatter. I have shot 3 coats of clearcoat and ran out of clearcoat. It still did not bury the flake completely under the clear. Looks like one more coat would of done it.. I cant sand it cause it'll catch the flake... I will not be able to get more clear for another 48 hours.. Any ideas? would brown scott pad damage the flake if I scuffed before shooting a 4th coat?

 

I would love to see what that would look like.. Test panels first?