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Hey TucsonJay, how the heck do you do this custom paint?

5K views 57 replies 13 participants last post by  MARTINSR 
#1 ·
Jay, we have this Monte Carlo at the shop and need to replace the front bumper so we need to paint this, how is it done? I looks like the old laying the plastic over the paint trick but what about all those little line patterns? :confused:

I was thinking you spray the black, then after it's fully dry you spray the silver then spray solvent droplets over it,then blow those droplets with air, then lay your plastic over it. That is this NON-custom painters idea. :sweat:

But one of the painters is a great guy who has been dabbling in custom paint and wants to jump on it but we wanted a little guidance if you have the time.

Brian





 
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#3 ·
It's definitely done with marblizer and saran wrap.

I know that if you shoot marblizer too heavy, it acts "sloppy-funny" when the saran wrap is used. I would try a test panel or two to practice how to get a similar texture.

If you shoot the marblizer heavier than normal, then arrange the wrinkles in the saran wrap, and immediately pull the saran wrap off to one side, you might get something close. If you don't get the tentacles, I would spray it even wetter, and try again.

I don't think blowing with air is what they did, but... If your experiment is not close enough, I would have an air hose close by, and immediately try your idea for blowing the wet marblizer to enhance those little "tentacles". :)

The nice thing is that the marblizer can be wiped off... (with mineral spirits I think)... so if you encounter a problem, wash the marblizer off of the base coat, and try again.

Good luck.
 
#4 ·
Thanks so much, I will pass this on as I won't be doing it and my co-worker is chomping at the bit to dive in and start experimenting.

Thanks again guys very much. :thumbup:

Brian
 
#6 ·
Hey Brian. THAT is some SICK work man. Yeah I'm still around :rolleyes:. And that is more than simple wrap and air.I would "try" and find out "who" did it and get with them.I was "thinking" some stripe brush end work for the "worms" and "spots".Man,THIS is NOT something to play around with.Your looking at some "one off style" work and not soon to be replicated,especially from a rookie.NO offense to your man.It looks like only the very front of the lower stripe on the cap is wrecked,and,"if" possible,try to keep it there.Otherwise,Do the cap and "try" best as you can to replicate from there.Good Luck.
 
#7 ·
We have a renowned custom painter near by we will probably have him take a look at it and see if he can do it or tell our guy how to. :D

Brian
 
#9 ·
I just happened to think of something.

I have used the technique many times, and noticed that if the saran wrap lays on the marblizer very long, it starts to wrinkle a little. That would cause the paint to accumulate under the wrap in little ridges... which when pulled might produce those "worms".

Again, I think spraying it heavy is part of what produced the pattern.

I think some test panel work might just reveal the key to the mystery.
 
#10 ·
Hey guys I marbelized a bike tank & fender and used a hair drier held different distances from the seran wrap and the seran wrap wrinkled and had the lines like tree branches and the worm look was simaler to that!
The seran wrap wrinkled and drew up tight in patterns and wrinkles depending on the distance and direction you moved the gun!! But bike tanks are easy LOL:thumbup: Big areas on cars and to match it :pain: :drunk: :eek: LOL I don't envy the work that thats going to take !!!:evil: How many brands of saran wrap will you have to test to see what brand will react like the origenal brand that was used did LOL :drunk::pain::eek::(

Talk him into a lace job LOL:thumbup:

Jester
 
#14 · (Edited)
Finding how to duplicate another person's art can be a puzzle, as things are used differently be each person, and maybe even some obscure creativity causes unusual artwork that the overall industry hasn't considered.

To get textures and effects I have used the usual lace and other fabrics... saran wrap for marblizing... cobwebbing... and all of the other common trends popular since the sixties.

Stepping a little, or a lot, outside the lines, I've used screen and mesh... netting... sponges... wadded paper... string... spray guns with no air cap... dribbled paint off of a paint stick... flicked toothbrushes... dry brushing... raffia... rhinestones... torn paper, and more. Always in search of a new technique or concept. I still have graphics ideas I have never seen used by anyone, but I can't find enough willing "victims". :)~

This sort of thing can make it a problem duplicating an effect. This particular thread is just trying to figure out how to finness a very common technique. It could have been much worse! :)

Here is the last marblizer job I did on a Synergy Green bagger. As you can see it was shot kind of wet, and is similar in pattern.
 

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#15 ·
an oops

In the 60's I had my car all ready to paint and it got over 100 ", I had a rented gun and compressor and was shooting Laquer, and was blowing cob webs at it. I followed advice and kept thinning and couldn't get it to lay on right. finally just said I'll just lay it on and try to finish it later. when It cured I started wet sanding with 400 and It looked like gold sand under glass, I rubbed it out and everyone asked how I had got that look, the top clear as glass and the sand underneath.
 
#16 ·
Nice work Jay. Brian,You also realize the cost of marblizer as well,so good call on the "expert" analysis. As Koz told me years back,This is why it's called Custom Painting son.I give you the "product",It's up to YOU as to WHAT you do with it.Surprise me someday.Still working on that one. Still dig those big girl FISHNET panty hose....
 
#18 ·
Just an observation :I dont think this was done by a probut more someone thats done it a few times and learning as they go because a pro would have laid out the stripes equally from the center line,clearly the drivers side stripe is closer to the body line than the other so think, how would an amiture do it ???To much paint is a good start...
 
#20 ·
Good point, it doesn't change a whole lot, if we do it we still need to figure out how. We have a custom painter we work with who will probably end up doing it but this co-worker is such a great gu and he loves doing custom paint, we are slow, I was hoping I could push to have him do it. He has done some outstanding stuff just not this particular thing. He is more of a traditionalist but he has a lot of heart and likes messing with things so I have pushed to do it in house.

Brian
 
#21 ·
About 30 yrs ago I had a car come in that had damage on a couple of scallops and (what I thought was) acetylene sooted scallops! I couldn't match it no matter how hard I tried the soot just wouldnt lay or look the same so they paid to have all the scallops re painted and I re painted and re sooted them all with acetylene and the customer was happy! A few years later at a show the car was there I was talking to the owner when a guy came up who said "that used to be my car" and he was talking to us about the repainted scallops he said that they used the soot off of burning pieces of plastic from model car kits (like AMT)Well LOL:confused:thats why I couldnt match the patern, boldness or thickness of the soot LOL! By the way that plastic soot was a really cool affect :D!!!!

Jester
 
#23 ·
Thanks Ray, my co-worker has a lot of passion on the subject. I know in the few times I have done custom repairs where I sanded the clear coat and the mid coat candy or the pearl off exposing the base coat. Matched the color on of the base then just as our painter is going to do spray a bunch of samples to come up with a user. Of course, some worked, some were "close" but doing this a number of times produced real good matches I was thrilled. One time I remember it was a van conversion company and I called this company to see what pearl they used. It was "Murano" (Sp?) and it wasn't available anymore. This was a REAL nice pearl that I guess had some EPA problem or something and the stuff was just discontinued, wham, gone. I went to a local custom painter to see if he had some. I think the dude had a problem with the hard stuff, he buzzed over to his pearls and poured off some of this gold Murano pearl into a cleaned out little bottle and asked me for five bucks. It turned out great and was down the road. I still have it on my "garage God" display in my garage. :D

He wasn't there long, don't remember his name at all, like I said I believe he had some serious demons.

Brian
 
#25 ·
Many Painters seem to have demons like that, I don't know if it's stress related because the painter is the last line of defense when it comes to doing a repair or if it's all the chemicals that they've been exposed to. One painter told me that he drank a bottle of Vodka every day just to clean out his system...I asked if he ever tried wearing a mask when he painted. I've known many a painter that either had to leave the trade or got sick and left us completely, mainly due to inhaling all the poisons related to painting cars. It seemed to be the old school lacquer painters that often refused to wear any breathing apparatus to save their lungs.

Up here in Canada, we have a Poly Urethane paint called Endura. One of the toughest paints I've ever seen but, deadly. The reduction ratio was 1 to 1...1 part paint to 1 part of the nastiest Isocyanate Hardner I have ever see. This product was used to refinish Semi's and a lot of guys would paint their trucks with it as well. One day I was making my usual sales calls and went to a local Semi repair shop and walked into the booth, all I could see was a black paint fog lingering in the air, all I could feel was that uncured paint sticking to the bottom of my shoes and I'm calling the painters name, nothing, no response. Finally I saw a pair of legs sticking out from underneath the cab, the painter was out cold. He had been painting part of the frame with Endura by crawling under the truck...no mask on, he didn't even have the exhaust fans on. I drug him outside and finally got him breathing again. After that episode he had tingling on the left side of his body that never went away. The Doctors told him that he had isocyanate poisoning and that the last experience is when the body finally shut down. He died 5 years later of lung cancer...he always told me that he had built up a tolerance to isocyanates and didn't need to wear a mask and that he drank a Mickey of Whiskey every night, again, to clean out his system.

There seem to be a number of demons out there and I'm sure that many people have their own stories that would be similar to the one I just told...but to any young painter out there, it's serious and today there aren't any excuses for not wearing the proper equipment.

Ray
 
#26 ·
I had a bigger shop for a few years, and hired and fired a lot of painters. It took three years to get a reliable crew! I always blamed it on the paint fumes. :)~

I'm 64 and I've always worn a mask. About 8-10 years ago I made myself a blow-through mask using oil-less diaphragm style compressors for my total air source.

At 17 I was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis... but have no sign of any respiratory problems at all today! ...and that is after spray painting for fifty years!!!
 
#27 ·
I think a lot depends on the individual and how much tolerance they inherently have. The fact that you've been able to stay in the trade and thrive as a painter speaks to that. I've seen people that walk into a body shop front office, never having been directly exposed to some of the chemicals that are used in the shop and have a negative reaction. They have a hard time breathing, they get dizzy and just start feeling like crap and then there are some people that totally ignore anything to do with safety and not a problem. Sometimes it seems that people get worse and worse off the more they are exposed. I know of a body man today that over 15 years, became allergic to body filler dust. I found that strange but, he can't get anywhere near the dust today or his whole body breaks out in hives.

I've been painting for many years, just like you Jay and I've taken the chance where my thinking was, it's only a small piece, I don't need to wear a mask. I'm sure most painters have done at least that but, as I got older and saw the problems related to doing it constantly, I even wear a mask now when I'm mixing a color in my mixing room. I think we're both fortunate and I won't take a chance anymore, I'm not nearly as invincible as I was when I was younger...LOL

Ray
 
#28 ·
Good to hear that Jay, it tears my heart when I look at the young guys spraying without them, and I see it every single day. I have grabbed stuff off the net and printed it out leaving it in the bathroom for them to read and mention it all the time. Some have gotten a little better but not many. One old dude just absolutely is pissed if I say anything, so no more and have gotten tired of saying to the young guys too, but like I said it just tears my heart to see it! I always say to them "You WANT to see your grand kids, I guaranty you WANT to see them".

Often when you are young you just don't get stuff like that, when you wake up in 20 years with your body wasted, there is no turning back. There are no do-overs, there is no magic medicine to fix it, that's it, that is all there is to it, over.

Brian
 
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