[chandler]

anyone read this part of the info link thread

http://www.streetfighters.com.au/ASF_HT_cust_paint.asp

i want this crystal look as a base coat but, using fertalizer ? it sounds easy to do but im not up to speed on the technique or where to find eurea fertalizer. it also says epson salt and stale beer ? i can get some epson salt and i have beer but i aint wasting my damn beer unless i definately know how to do this. id like the crystal look as the base coat in red and blood and skin on top kinda like your looking at the muscle and tissue underneath. i wonder if i can use that cheap non alchoholic piss beer? no sense in wasting good coors.

 

[endo]

good...coors...oxymoron...

However, that's a sweet paint effect. I'm lovin' it!

 

[The Green Lantern]

good...coors...oxymoron...

bahahahaaha OWNED
dam endo your startin to act more like me everyday,i knew you had a bit of green in ya:rock:

 

[endo]

lol...we're the real Canadian CF Tag Team!

 

[The Green Lantern]

were takin over :metal:

 

[endo]

Sorry for the threadjack Koko...the process itself sounds simple enough, it's just a matter of trying it. You should be able to get Urea fertilizer at any garden supply store.

 

[chandler]

i was also liking this idea but with more dried blood and "red rum" instead of the bloody mary. and maybe if my wife will let me put my 12 day old baby's handprint dipped in red paint and kinda have it looking like its dripping blood off of the handprint. non toxic paint of course lol


and i love this bandit

 

[endo]

shit, you're good at finding cool paint schemes! Those are cool too! The baby handprint would be awesome for sure, and that Bandit is sick!

 

[929_adam]

the polished rims dont look right on the bloody mary bike. :twocents:

that crystallized technique looks bad ass...hmm i wonder if you can do all green with some red/orange accents?? hmm

 

[chandler]

according to the article the color is just from the candy you apply to the top before the clear. its a basecoat to give it the black or grey color under the lines , then the fert. and a candy for color and tons of clear. so if you masked the candy you could have all kinds of colors.

 

[dogbreath]

Almost as cool as putting green wax under black paint.

So when the sun shines your bike bleeds green.

 

[Dudad]

Well you can buy this stuff called crazer. A company makes it and its an additive that you mix so that it does that.

http://alsacorp.com/products/crazer/crazer_show.htm

http://alsacorp.com/products/crystalfx/crystalfx_prodinfo.htm

 

[cammy9r]

ok, i have used this paint technique before. the crystal solution can be bought from alsa corp but it works out at £80 a pint to get it over here but will no doubt be cheaper for you guys. For the various effects you use different amounts of solution, mostly lots.
There are 4 ingredients to the solution.

Water
Urea
ammonia
neocryl (dont know what this is or where to get it, but is used as some kind of colour transfer. Anyway i dint use this).

Water from your tap, ammonia from hardware store and Urea from a cleaning supply store. Urea is also used as a form of cleaning agent and is easily available in prill form (small balls/granules)
Im sure that where you get your Urea from will supply ammonia.

Now you need to create a super saturated solution. To do this i got a pint of water and added the urea untill it stopped disolving in the water. Then i heated the solution in a pot and added more urea until it stopped disolving. Boil it for a few mins to reduce the water content and then cool it down.

This was good enough a process to create a super saturated solution(a chemist might have the right way to do it, so feel free to inform us )

Ok that is the crystal solution ready but if you pour this over fresh dry paint it will bead on the surface. To stop this we add the ammonia, this acts as a surfactant to break water tension and allow the solution to pool over the surface and stick a tiny bit better.
I used 70% crystal solution to 30% ammonia. This worked for me but experiment for yourself as you may need more ammomia.

 

[cammy9r]

Now apply your base coat, this will be the main colour of the finish depending if you candy or not.
once dry there are a number of ways to proceed.
you can clear over the base as this gives a good surface to key up heavily in many directions. This way you can almost control the forms of the crystal.
Or you can key/scuff up the base coat itself OR you can just leave the base coat. It is up to your self to try this out.

Now apply the the crystal, i just pour it on as it is cheap as if you make it your self £2 ish a pint. Others use a spray bottle to apply it. Either way is good. A thin layer of solution will give a thin crystal form and a thick layer will give a thick crystal form.
Now leave to air dry in a warm room for large finger fromations or force dry for tighter smaller formations. I prefer air dry.
As it dries you will see the crystals form, quite cool to watch the first few times.
Let it dry out fully about 15 mins to an hour depending on the temp and thickness of application.
Now it is time for the contrast coat, i use black as it seems to be more dramatic. This MUST be applied in a light dusting fashion, NO heavy application as it will melt the crytsal and make it difficult to remove later.
1 light coat will give a shallow 3d contrast and a few light coats will give a deeper 3d contrast. For the best result i found that NOT applying even coats of black is best for giving varing depth of finish. Once the top/contrast(black for me) coat has dried you can then remove the crystals by washing with water and a soft cloth, try not to rub to hard. If the crystal is being stubborn to remove then LIGHTLY wet sand with 1500/2000 grit.
Now that it is clear of crystal and dried you can apply your top coats be they candys, pearls or just clear coat.

 

[cammy9r]

just a quick note that the crazer effect can be replicated using fine rubbing compound over a base coat then contrast coated washed down and top coated/cleared
Might not be as good as the crazer but well worth the effort to try. Another cool effect is the marbilizer from HOK (house of kolor)

Note that all of theses effects need shit loads of clear coats to build up the layers as they are tactlie finishes. Lots of clear allow you to wet sand and polish and create fantastic and unique paint effects.

Another note is that the crystal finish is organic in style and almost impossible to create the exact same effect. So it is best to do large adjacent panels at the same time as the air flow and temp will be the same.

 

[chandler]

thanks alot cam. thats the best wright up ive seen on the crystal style. im definately going to try it and that cleared up alot of confusion. thanks a ton.

 

[chandler]

what if also on the bloody mary bike. i was watching that show overhualin and a painter put down the base coat and misted water on and painted over the water and let it dry off to leave a water looking surface. but what about a red base coat and spray the water and paint black on top so when it dries it looks like red blood drops.