If you've ever tried to restore a beat-up set of aluminum valve covers that are gouged, chipped and deeply scratched, you know how it wounds your soul. Well friends, I humbly and with great humility offer this... *Prep your tortured, crappy valve covers, wheels, (or any other part you might feel like) for body work and paint. *Body work, prime and block them. *Spray a base metallic. In this case I used copper pearl. *Then mix up some metalflake in high build clear. I used 50-50 silver and gold, using my usual mini and ultra mini. However, for a less disco effect, you can use finer metallic to mimic real mag or aluminum. *Dust it on until it looks like freshly cast alloy. *Top coat with another light dusting of straight clear. I did not bury the 'flake. It looks (and feels) just like a raw casting, only it sparkles WAY more. I've called it "Funkesium", and I'm sorry for that. *After it's good and dry, take a DA with 80 grit and hi-light your fins etc. Go to progressively finer grit then polish 'em if you want. I don't recommend doing an intake as gas stains. But new automotive clear can take heat pretty well and will hold up to most fluids after it's cured. In the shade it looks like a new valve cover, in the sun...well...get DOWN. Yes, that's actually Stoner working on his car. Alert the media...
Hahaha...that's AWESOME Condor!!!! I just shot a T rpu 2 days ago black, with black metalflake and a little blue n' holographic flakes......looks really trippy man. Flips to flatblack in certain light. Couldn't have done it without some of yer advice..... Flake on man....
Looks cool. Stoner working?! Must have been staged. Shouldn't he be using a torque wrench on a valve stem cap or something?
a friend and i were messing around while painting his scooter and shot silver flake over gray primer but with matte clear. it came out this wierd velvet gray scheen. the flake would start shining when you got up on it but i was just wierd enough to make the scoot pretty cool.
Somebody makes BLACK flake? How big is it? Does it just reflect black or does it have a little color? I want to use this technique on a Harley motor and black (maybe it flips color like an oil slick?!!! or a raven feather?!!!!) flake would look awesome. Glad to hear I helped a bit, now you've helped me...HANDS ACROSS AMERICA!
Yes. You can get the black flake from Steve at AB in Fremont. Here is my buddy Scott's '59 that I shot with the black flake on black base. I got "lost" in it big time while shooting. Black flake on black base on a canvas that big was kinda odd to shoot. I went over it again with a pinch of green and silver added to the black flake to tie the roof in a little. Unfortunately, the clear reacted to the paint on the flake and melted it a bit. Hence the burgundy/root beer effect on the deck lid photo. Cool I guess, but not what we were after. Hopefully soon, we will do the flake scallop jobby. Great idea on the valve covers. They look good. Flake EVERYTHING, I say.
There's a guy on Ebay that sells straight black flake. The name of the stuff is Bling's Flake or something like that. I sprayed some of what he calls Goldmine (black and gold mix) on a little bumper car with gold scallops. Turned out very wild in the sun. Not very HAMB friendly so I didn't post pics. If I am not mistaken Ol Skool Flake sells black and maybe Roth too?
Hands across America.....hahahahaha!!!! Yeah...Rothflake has (or had) a black flake available in all 4 sizes (.004, .008, .015, .025). It's called Greazy Black. It's just black, no real sparkle (not really like a Raven feather)...looks like chopped up charcoal...haha!. I had never seen it before, but my freind brought it over for me to use on his hotrod, along with a jar of black Trippin' flake, ya know, with the random holographic shapes. I mixed a little of each size together. It turned out really neat. At first I thought my clear was F'd up, 'cause it looked DULL.....but it was the black flake......in certain light, the car flips from glossy black with random sparkles, to a satin black with no sparkles.... I'm going to be wetsanding the car tonight and polishing it.....I'll try to snap a few pics for ya!
i have used the "BLING" brand flake and it is really good and pretty cheap as well, i am not by any means an Pro painter but if an idiot like me can use it then anyone probably can LOL
When reading the title of this thread I though you had seen the same black lady cashier at AM/PM with the gode (gold) flake eye shadow
Yep, metalflake with lots of clear and candy on it has looked great on engines for what? 50 years? Crazy thing is, these valve covers have fooled even the most jaded car guys I know into thinking they're fresh cast. It'll scrub the skin off your knuckles...An iron block could look like aluminum using 'flake this way. Pretty cool...
Black flake is pretty sweet...I am using the bling flake with silver flake too for my cousins Schwin Stingray, Black base with the flake should be a pretty mean little bike...I've spent about 2 months shooting test panels to get shooting flake down (never shot it before). Langy...where did you get your valley pan for the 394?
I do all kinds of flake work, all done in powder. The tank on my bike is done with a black base and emerald/gold mad huge flake and an assload of clear over. My cam cover done in Duponts Emerald Illusions, this is a micro flake that changes from black to green to gold.
Dang Tim, looks like you're DOUBLY HUMBLE! I love stuff like this. You're not really TRYING to fool anyone, but it just happens to look like exotic metal AND I bet you felt pretty crafty doing it. Looks clean, like Carnation milk.
RUST COLORED FLAKE! (ok, WOW, what great ideas you all are giving me, thanks, all of these look great. One day, I'll be posting Before and After pictures.)
Funny you mention that, know a local car guy/painter round here that used actual rust scraped off cars, sifted, and ground, to do some graphic work.
The Jalopy Journal
