PEARLS AND METAL FLAKE - WHAT THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY DO.

Most people in the kustom paint and airbrushing indus- try know the following products . In this article I will ex- plain what the products are and what they can be used for. I’m going to explain dry pearls, designer pearls, ice pearls, ultra mini flake, flake and the mother of all flakes, traditional flake. Although there are a lot of companies that sell these products we use House of Kolor so all the information given here is related to their products. This tutorial is more for the beginners in the field of kustom paint but I’m sure everyone might learn something. So here we go.

Dry Pearls: Are as the name suggests a dry form of pearl. They must be added to a clear basecoat (SG100 orSG150) (SG 100 is used for the finer flakes, SG 150 suspends larger flakes better, therefore it will spray more even) before you can spray them. They come in a wide range of kolors and can enhance graphics as well as solid base kolors. By their nature they are a very fine pearl and can be easily sprayed with a conven- tional spray gun and also an airbrush (.5mm airbrush is recommended). The fine pearls & flakes can be sprayed through a gravity gun with 1.3 or 1.4 set up and large flake will need 1.8 – 2.0 mil set up.

Designer pearls: As with dry pearls they come in a wide range of kolors. The may be applied over any kolor base but to keep the cleanness it is recommended to apply over a white base. Because of the ease of spraying we use them to enhance the insert kolors in graphics. The good thing about these pearls is that they are able to be mixed together to make a one of a kind kolor. If applying to large areas it is advised to apply two to three coats with a 75% overlap to prevent streaking.

Ice pearls: Are made from glass flake pigments, for this reason they are a very clean and bright pearl. They are larger in size then the pearls mentioned above and usu- ally will need to be sprayed with a conventional spray gun. These pearls are supplied in a dry form so must be added to a clear base coat SG 100 OR 2PAC Clear before spraying. The amount of pearl added depends on what you want to achieve, there are no strict rules here so experamtation is the best way to go. We use ice pearls to enhance kolors on graphics and to give them that extra pop. When applying ice pearls you want to apply two to

three coats with a 75% overlap to prevent streaking. As with all pearls and flakes they will be much more re- flrctive over a dark base, a general rule is 2 teaspoons added to RFU SG100 over dark base and 3-4 teaspoons over a lighter base. If you mix any more pearl in for faster coverage / effect you will more than likely get streaking and blotching.

Flakes: Are made from ultra thin polyester, and are sup- plied dry and must be added to clear base coat to spray (SG100, SG150) These are usually sprayed over a black base but can be even more effective sprayed over a base same or similar colour to flake, therefore eliminating the dark spots be- tween flake.

Ultra mini flake: out of all the flakes this is the easiest to spray as it is the smallest but still gives a really good pop factor. When used under a kandy coat they add a lot of life when the sun catches them.

Mini flake: these flakes are bigger than ultra mini flakes and are a little more difficult to spray. But once you have mastered spraying them they add a lot of pop to graphics and when used as a base for Kandy gives a really cool wow factor.

Flake: this is the largest of the flakes; each flake is 1/64th inch in size. For this reason they are the most difficult to spray. When spraying these flakes it is recommended us- ing a 1.8 nozzle on a conventional spray gun.

The above information is only a brief description about these products and their uses. I recommend that you ex- periment with each product to see what can be achieved. By combining together some of these products you are open to endless possibilities. Below are just a couple of samples of these products in use.

Todd Malcolmson owns and runs his company called kick ass kustom paint and airbrush , which is based in Can- berra, Australia. Todd is also a house of kolor accredited painter. To see Todd’s work visit his web site, www.kick- asskustom.com Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32