attn:painters! input please!

soo..i wasnt about to jack vip-ucf's painters thread but i had a question for all you experienced painters..
when you spray a pearl on black at what point would you mix or dust the car with the pearl? mixed in the base, dusted over the base, or mixed in the clear? ive heard a few different responses, some say the black paint will eat most of the pearl if its in the base and some say mixing it in the clearcoat makes it difficult and has a higher chance of runs and unevenness. 
also if theres some other method of adding the pearl please let me know as i only am aware of the ones listed above. 



second question about the pearls...what is your favorite pearl mix? (preferably on black paint because thats what im going with)  ive been thinking of silver,blue, green, red.    i know the silver turns the black gunmetal sort of, the blue seems to make it turn somewhat lavender looking in direct sun, the green is pretty cool but homeboy agi got the dark green f50 on lock already, and bryan got the burgundy kbreak f50. 

i know everyone says go with what you want and it doesnt matter what other people have blah blah, but i guess out of respect to them and also to be different just cause i want to.  
so anyway im leaning towards silver and blue but am looking for nice combos and other color suggestions. 
if any of you guys have pics of any jobs youve done in the past with a pearl that u like please, feel free to post up any pics i dont care if its a lexus LS or a ford model T :biggthumpup:


pictures make the thread better!:dance:  thanks in advance.

I got a black w/ green pearl sample you can see in person if you like. Might give you an idea of what it can look like (depending on how much pearl you use). This one was 03 toyota tacoma black w/ green pearl; Not sure how much pearl my friend used but I can find out. Night or Day looks black unless the sun/light reflects, then it reflects dark green. Pretty crip! Maybe I go take some pix if get time....

never put the pearl in your clear...you won't even be able to wet sand/cut/buff the topcoat...if you're using a flake, then yes, you can put the flake or microsequence pearl in the clear but you'd have to burry it with 2 more coats...you risk having a lot of flaws...i.e. build up on the edges and corners, runs, sags, etc...
 
you can mix the pearl with your basecoat...most people will go this route because its easy to shoot...its not critical for the overlap to be perfect therefore any ameteur can pull this paint job off...the pearl won't look blotchy unless you have some really serious overlap issues...really easy to shoot...
 
it depends on what you want out of the paint job...for example,
 
when i shoot my car black with red pearl, i will shoot like like a tri-coat...base the car with the deepest richest black and then 2 coats of pearl...when i say 2 coats of pearl, i'm not talking straight pearl with basemaker...i'm talking 95% binder and 5% pearl...the pearl should be shot like candy...perfect overlap and you'd have to walk the whole car...if you overlap too much, you'll see spots basically ruin your paintjob...white pearl is not as bad because you have a bright white groundcoat that esentially masks the overlap of the topcoat...with black, its a lot more difficult because you have a dark color that amplifies the way the pearl lays down...
 
my favorite is black/red...it will appear almost like a rootbeer color but very subtle...the color will also depend on how much pearl you decide to add...the more pearl, the more cloudy the car will look, especially with a black basecoat...
 
there's tons of difference color pearls...the crystal silver, radiant red, etc.
 
check out violet pearl, that's a dope color too...
 
no black/red for you...

pearl on black (or any other color) goes after the base coat and before the clear. You can use any methods and I have tried both:
1- Mixed with clear (very reduced clear). After the clear/pearl is sprayed, let it dry a bit then Clear the car like you would regularly do.
2- Use a transparent base speciallt designed for the pearls.

The best one for me in my opinion? The transparent base method works best  in the paint booth hands down. That is what this base is designed for. But I have used the clear/pearl method when illumination is not the best (garage project) because you actually see the pearl how it is going to look with clear and I don have to second guess the pearl coats applied. Also, using the clear/pearl method you will use a lot more clear than estimated and it is impossible to tack the car after the pearl coat using this method (clear takes more time to dry than base coat) so any dirt you get during this spray proccess is going to be there.

Just my two cents

thanks for everyones input so far. 
anyone got pictures??

pearl is mixed it with a mixture of binder and balancer, the same stuff basecoats are made of-minus all the colors. the problem with spraying pearl mixed in with ther clearcoat, clearcoat is thick, its like youre layering the clear on top of each other. each coat will be suspended above each other.  when sprayed properly in a midcoat or in binder balancer and reduced,  it has a very thin viscosity (like basecoat) so its sprays on like basecoat. because its reduced or has reducer in it, after each coat, it will burn itself into the coat before it. 

when i spray pearl, my spray technique changes. fan width wider, psi up a bit, and i spray a bit faster, all to prevent tiger stripes (or streaks).. who do you plan on taking your car to..? imo, over a black base, maybe chameleon pearl looks nice-changes from blue to red, to green, to yellow depending on the angles you look at it.  red, or blue would look pretty sick too.  go to a bodyshop and check out some of their color catalogs they have. or even check out hi-line by the airport, a friend of mine told me they do free spray panels so you can see what the color looks like first hand. they spray a small car model body with different curves so you can see how a color looks in the sunlight at different angles.

i think thats the place i was reffered to, but i went to REDline to check out pearls on accident. haha.. 
im leaning towards crystal silver and possibly another color mixed in.
im either going to ken sum or joe ono, idk yet. 
i havent seen the chameleon pearl that sounds interesting but i dont care for the blue/purpleish to green/yellow it normally changes to.

tell ken sum dennis said hi...haha...haven't seen that dude since he was layin his mack down at tsunamis

its common to mix more than one pearl...

which makes for a more unique cast when you roll in the sun. Some sweet colors you can obtain by doing that.

Go to your local paint store and check out a company callem SEM...they have some pretty unique pearls and are pretty cheaper than house of color if you want to go the custum route.

thanks ill look into it. they have this place paintwithpearl.com that seems like a pretty good family operated site. also my painter referred me to an outside paintsales agent who happens to be my neighbor. :truestory:   so i might end up buying it from him. 
whoever its from im gonna buy some shades of silver and blue pearl and pay someone to spray a load of test panels with all kinds of mixtures of the pearls over black. i wanna go heavy on the pearl so its almost like a color change.

there's a fine line with going too heavy with pearl...pearl will 'mudify' or make the car look dull and milky if too many coats of pearl...

Yeap, I have worked with SEM, HOK and Hot Hues. I hate how people overrate HOK; it has the worst clears (dieback) and the pearls are not different from cheaper companies like SEM or Hot Hues (DuPont). SEM is one of the nices ones I have sprayed and the colors they have are pretty awesome too.

yeah ive seen sem but theres not much available on island. also the 2 dealers i went thru are HOK guys so thats what i got. not using their clear though i think ppg clear since thats what they also carry..hok clear is too expensive and supposedly is harder to work with. although i like how hard it dries. o well.
soo i bought a bunch of HOK pearl and am f*cken around with different combos. pretty interesting how they lay out. im stuck between these 2 blues. one is a color shift and the other has a nice glitter effect. out of the 5 different pearls i chose im gonna narrow it down to 2 or 3. its so hard because if you spray a different color down first it alters the outcome a lot. need to make a decision this week though.

[IMG]http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs033.snc1/3247_551632861356_19513159_33464975_3173716_n.jpg[/IMG]
almost done with the fenderwork and taking out the various keymarks. kit n spoilers up next.

my rears arent coming out as wide as id like. ended up going for a more subtle look but without the bodylines on the fenders cause i dont like them. was gonna mold my handles but the new ones are on backorder and its fcken my sht up. i officially hate infiniti of honolulu. they have insane pricing on their parts and their service sux. i mean it could be worse but this isnt a kia dealership either.

Glad to see its in the shop.  I can't wait to see the outcome.  I'm on the same boat with choosing a color.  I have a few in mind but I can't pick out the exact shade that I want.

thanks im more than glad. had soo many parts in storage it was crowding my home gym i got fat! i can build a simpsons size cardboard castle with all the boxes i have now. :smiley-rofl: 

damn yo your going for a color change? i like your color! i guess you gotta keep it fresh huh?

LOL I hear you about the boxes. My garage is full with car parts so I basically had my car out in the driveway all winter even in the snow. I like my color too, I might just slightly change it by adding a few more different hues of green and blue pearl that's already in it it but part of me wants to go with something different. We will see. 
 
Anyway, this is your thread so lets get back on topic. Do you have another set of wheels or are you just throwing on those huge spacers for the time being to get the fitment ready for your next set?

yeah im unsure of what i want to do. moneys tight cuz im starting up some stuff on the side so new 3pc custom wheels are on hold. i might just look for some used 3pc and rebarrel the outers and spray it with hok alabaster pearl clearcoat. im not even sure if anyone can get me quality barrels n hardware for a decent price in hawaii. 

who knows i might see a used set in the specs i need? i doubt it with my luck though. especially because as much as possible i want true unwelded 3 pc so i can constantly modify it the way i see fit.

what about going with a dry pearl i believe its called ice pearl. this will make a drastic color change once hit with the light.

i am using a dry pearl but not the ice pearl, they do shimmer like crazy in the light but i dont like how much brighter it gets. its more like a fine metal flake than a pearl, especially because you can see them even in very low lighting. i thought i wanted ice pearl before until i saw it in direct sunlight. bling bling aint my thing. 


i wish i could change the title of this thread cuz i already got the color picked out. anyway thanks to all that chimed in.

so what did you decide to go with?  and pics of a let down panel?

I agree with the ice pearl statement.  It would work better on a low rider then it would on a vip car.

mmm i dont think the color will be captured without proper lighting. ill just post a pic of my kit painted sometime this week or something.
its actually similar to  sickassspankys color but its more of a midnight blueberry but the alabaster white in it makes it seem steel blue at certain angles.:coolugh: ill see soon enough

[IMG]http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/87/l_40771e1c15204f659de59bf99c408846.jpg[/IMG]
black to blue to gunmetal to white. sorta.

[IMG]http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/97/l_434f17faebc24e898d5539d996ea1fa5.jpg[/IMG]
in cloudy late afternoon sun

better pics would be nice or of car finish color looks nice !

cars still in the shop. bad lighting and cellphone camera dont help either. 
having problems with my foglights and new turn signals. should be ready sometime next week will post better pics then.

looks like a nice color...i assume the just added the pearl in the color?

Wow I LOVE the dark blue. Did you block the car and spray pearl over the factory paint or did you respray and pearl? Either way I love that blue. When I bought my car I LOVED the color but now I wish during the day it looked like how it does at sunset.

I didn't know MP integrated angled license plate into their bumpers that is badass.

well my car got keyed hardcore. so they had to repaint the entire car anyway except the roof(yeah it was that bad) good thing hood n trunk are aluminum or they would have rusted. i just applied a ton of collinite in the keymarks to prevent rusting.

can't wait to see the car...mode parfume FTW!!!

[QUOTE=jaynick808;242991]well my car got keyed hardcore. so they had to repaint the entire car anyway except the roof(yeah it was that bad) good thing hood n trunk are aluminum or they would have rusted. i just applied a ton of collinite in the keymarks to prevent rusting.[/QUOTE]
 
wow, sounds like an insurance job...haha j/k

haha i wish it worked out like one. 
if i were to insurance job my car i wouldnt have done it so deep :shrug: also would have got the headlights for sure cause thats 3 grand im lookin at.

updated pics...now