Ghetto Flake

roachello · Post by **roachello** » Tue May 19, 2009 5:26 am

As a ghetto way of doing a flake finish, technically, can you clearcoat, randomly scatter some glitter on the surface, then clear coat again?

Just a random thought. I have no plans on destroying a guitar with this technique as of yet

mcconnachiea · Post by **mcconnachiea** » Tue May 19, 2009 5:30 am

You mean a sparkle finish??

I'd use some of that paint you use to spray pine cones silver at christmas

Ty · Post by Ty » Tue May 19, 2009 5:32 am

mcconnachiea wrote:I'd use some of that paint you use to spray pine cones silver at christmas

Wouldn't that just be a silver finish?
But Roachello's idea seems like a good direction to go.

mcconnachiea · Post by **mcconnachiea** » Tue May 19, 2009 5:33 am

No cause its sorta glittery. Very fine though

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Tue May 19, 2009 6:17 am

You might have to apply an ungodly amount of clear in order to overcome the incongruety of the sparkle spread.
One way of doing it might be to lay a base coat (let's say blue) clear, mist very lightly with silver paint, clear and repeat this process a couple of times until you get the desired result.

Post by **Mike** » Tue May 19, 2009 9:07 am

I think what you'd want to do is to clearcoat and then apply some sprayglue to act as adhesive for the glitter when you apply it, and you have to come up with a good glitter distribution system, maybe a sieve? Then lots and lots and lots of coats of clear.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue May 19, 2009 11:52 am

Interesting, I was experimenting with trying to get a decent finish yesterday on a coin, using glitter glue, for no other reason than I was procrastinating from proper work.

Don't use glitter glue.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Tue May 19, 2009 12:10 pm

Not even hot melt glitter glue?

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue May 19, 2009 12:22 pm

'stoo sticky, innit? It just sticks to itself and pulls itself around in globules. I think you'd be hard pushed to end up with an even finish, although, the prospect of putting down one colour, and then going over the top with a different colour, just filling in the gaps is appealing.

Plus, it's probably not hte cheapest or neatest way of doing it.

More Cowbell · Post by **More Cowbell** » Tue May 19, 2009 1:24 pm

I'd spray it the colour you'd like, then put a thick coat of clear on it and put some glitter in your hand and spray it into the air with an air compressor nozzle and let it naturally land on the surface of the guitar body, repeat until desired effect has been achieved, then clear over that until you're happy.

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Tue May 19, 2009 6:07 pm

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-de ... aster.html

I wanted to do a Dick Dale flake finish on my 80's Bullet and someone over at Reranch pointed me to this thread. It's a long thread but once you start reading it's hard to stop. Loads of info but you kinda have to dig for it. I think it's at 90 pages last count.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Tue May 19, 2009 9:04 pm

aen · Post by **aen** » Tue May 19, 2009 9:11 pm

SPANGEL FINISH IS SPANGLED.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Tue May 19, 2009 9:42 pm

I THINK I'M BLINDED BY AN SPRAKL

astro · Post by **astro** » Tue May 19, 2009 9:58 pm

The other day I saw at Canadian Tire that they had some clear paint with sparkles in it in a spray can. I think it was marketed as engine paint, can't remember. I also can't remember who makes it or what the product was actually called. I'm there pretty often, so if you want I'll note the manufacturer/product name next time I'm there.

If you were to sprinkle some dry sparkle particles onto something, you would probably blow them off if you're clear coating with a spray can or compressor. Maybe mix the sparkles in a pot of clear, brush on, then when dry you can sand or spray on more layers of clear?

mcconnachiea · Post by **mcconnachiea** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:03 pm

I'd stick the sparklies on top of wet primer, then they should dry into it and won't get blown away

luke · Post by **luke** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:07 pm

Here's a technique I found by accident. Use this:

It's glitter hairspray, but for all intents and purposes it's just solvent and lots of fine glitter flakes. We had a gig where we decided to wear silver bow ties (and I thought I'd use glitter to accentuate the glam). When it came to spray painting them with the shiny paint I had, I thought I'd spray some glitter on while it was still wet. Well that worked a charm, the glitter settled into the finish. Admittedly this was on bowties, but I don't see why in principal you couldn't use it on any other finish. Get some glitter hairspray, and spray it onto your finish and clearcoat. It comes out very evenly, just like paint.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:07 pm

mage wrote:

I THINK I'M BLINDED BY AN SPRAKL

Steel, brass, brass. Is this an mojo science happening for my face or an offence to concistency?

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Tue May 19, 2009 11:40 pm

the brass is more twangy. TBH, I would do it the other way around, brass brass steel. IMO, you need less twang on the high E and B not the low E and A. the twangy low strings is part of that cool fender sound.

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Wed May 20, 2009 5:00 am

Do you want a big flake or glitter/sparkles? They're not exactly the same and this thread is all over the place.