If you're searching to give your latest project a bit of additional pop, adding some silver metal flake is probably the easiest way to get that head-turning sparkle. You've certainly seen it before—maybe on the vintage lowrider cruising down the street, an expensive bass boat getting the sun upon the lake, or even a custom made motorcycle helmet. It's that deep, multidimensional shimmer that normal metallic paint simply can't quite duplicate.
The cool thing about silver is that it's the best neutral. While gold or bright colors have their place, silver is the workhorse from the custom color world. It's extremely versatile because this reflects light so cleanly, and it also acts as the perfect base if you're about to spray "candy" colors over the particular top later. Yet even on its own, great strike of silver flake looks classic and aggressive at the same time.
What is this exactly?
Prior to you start bringing out, it helps in order to know what you're actually dealing with. All of us aren't discussing the craft glitter you used in elementary school. Real silver metal flake is usually made from thin, precision-cut pieces of polyester film that are vacuum-metallized. This can make them incredibly bright and resistant to removal or melting whenever they come straight into contact with auto solvents.
The "metal" part associated with the name can be a bit of a misnomer these days, because most modern flakes are high-tech plastics, but the impact is exactly the same as the particular old-school aluminum pieces people used in the 60s and seventies. It's tough, it's shiny, and it's designed to sit within a bed associated with clear coat without degrading over time.
Selecting the most appropriate dimension for the job
Size is everything when you're deciding on your flake. Most suppliers can list sizes within decimal inches, plus while it may look like a little difference in writing, this makes a massive impact around the final look.
Micro-flakes (usually around. 004) are subtle. They give you a nice, tight shimmer that looks almost like an extremely heavy metallic factory paint. If you're nervous about heading too "disco, " it is a safe location to start. It's easy to apply, it doesn't need just as much clear coat to bury, and it looks great on smaller products like cell mobile phone cases or bicycle frames.
Standard flakes (often. 015) are where a person get that well-known "bass boat" appear. These are large enough that you can actually notice the individual pieces or hexagons showing light. This size is the gold regular for custom car roofs or complete motorcycle tanks. It's bold, it's noisy, and it catches the sunshine from a distance.
Monster flakes (. 025 and up) are usually for if you actually want to make a statement. These take some serious skill to use since they're heavy. They want to sink to the bottom of your spray weapon, and they'll stand up on their edges if you aren't careful, making you with the surface that seems like 40-grit sandpaper until you place about an one gallon of clear coat over them.
Received it onto the surface
There are a few ways to utilize silver metal flake , and the "best" way usually depends on just how much gear you have and how much of the mess you're ready to make.
The wet technique
The nearly all common method for DIYers and pros alike is mixing the particular flake directly into a "translucent carrier" or a "shave" associated with clear coat. You basically turn the particular flake into a paint. You'll require a spray gun with a fairly large nozzle—usually the 1. 5mm to 2. 5mm tip—so the flakes don't get stuck and clog everything upward.
The trick here is maintaining the flake hanging. In case you stop relocating the gun with regard to a minute, the silver bits can settle at the end, plus your first aerosol will be a giant clump associated with silver accompanied by nothing but clear. A lot of guys will put a couple associated with heavy glass marbles in their aerosol cup to help shake things upward as they work.
The dried out method
After that there's the dried out flake gun. It blows the dried out silver metal flake directly on to a fresh, moist coat of clear. It's a great deal like the method people used to flock dashboards or even apply glitter to school projects, just on a higher level. The advantage here is that you may get a really "full coverage" appearance much faster. The downside? Your garage will be protected in silver glitter glue for the next decade. Seriously, you'll be finding parts of silver within your hair and on your dog intended for months.
Why silver could be the top secret weapon
A lot of individuals reach for shaded flakes first, yet seasoned painters know that silver metal flake is usually the smarter option. In case you spray a silver base, a person can then spray "candy" tints (transparent colors) over this. This gives you course of action more control. When you decide you need the car in order to be blue, a person spray blue sweets over the silver. If you desire it red, a person spray red.
Since the silver reflects the most gentle, it makes the particular candy colors appear incredibly deep plus "juicy. " In addition, if you actually need to perform a repair, coordinating a silver flake along with a specific candy tint is frequently easier than trying to find the exact shade associated with a pre-colored metal flake that might have been discontinued.
It's not simply for the garage
While all of us mostly talk about cars and bikes, people are getting innovative with where these people put these products. I've seen some amazing interior design tasks where people combine a little silver metal flake into epoxy botanical for countertops or floor coatings. It takes a boring grey concrete floor plus turns it directly into something that looks like it belongs inside a high-end showroom.
Musicians love this too. There is definitely a huge marketplace for "sparkle finish" guitars. A silver flake Telecaster or even Stratocaster under stage lights is a sight to behold—it practically glows. Also the fishing globe is obsessed; bait makers use tiny micro-flakes to mimic the scales of baitfish.
The few tips regarding an easy finish
If you're heading to do this from home, keep some things in thoughts so that you don't end up frustrated. Very first, endurance is your best friend . You aren't going to obtain a smooth, glass-like finish in two coats. Once you apply flake, the surface is heading to be difficult. You have to apply a number of "intercoat" clears, let them dry, sand them back smooth (being careful not to actually hit the flake by itself, or you'll boring the silver), after which clear it once again.
Second, mask off everything . And I mean everything. Silver metal flake is light, plus it travels. If you're working in a shared garage, your own neighbor's black VEHICLE will have the permanent silver shimmer if you aren't careful.
Third, don't be afraid to experiment with base colors. Bringing out silver flake more than a black base makes the silver pop with higher contrast. Spraying this over the white foundation gives it a much softer, "frosty" look. Each one of these provides its own vibe, so it's often worth spraying a few test panels before you decide to commit to the particular whole project.
Wrapping things up
At the finish of the time, using silver metal flake will be about enjoying your own craft. It's the way to split far from the boring, flat colors we all see every time and include a very little bit of character to your gear. Whether you're going with regard to a subtle shimmer on a motorcycle helmet or perhaps a full-blown disco ball effect on a custom vehicle, it's a technique that's stayed popular for decades for the reason. It simply looks cool.
So, grab a bag of flake, prep your surface area, and don't be afraid to get a little messy. The end result is almost always worth the extra effort (and the glitter you'll be vacuuming on with weeks). It's an old-school trick that will never really went out of fashion, plus once you discover that first strike of sunlight on a fresh silver flake job, you'll be hooked.