Pearlescent paint advice?

Don't know what specific color you need, but Testors makes a nice Pearlescent White which I have used on several racing cars.  Not sure exactly what defines pearlescent and how it differs from metallic, but there are many brands that have good metallic paints.

KnightTemplar5150

Gearing up for a push to get the Polar Lights 1:350 lit, which means I need to start thinking about painting the beast. I've picked up a few Tamiya rattle cans of pearl white and the pearlescent clear, but I also need to consider the pearl blues, golds, greens, and reds required for the aztec interference scheme. I have both the Aztec Dummy and the Orbital Drydock masking sets to assist. I've looked over things like taxidermy laquers, artists' pearl inks, and sets of PearlEx pigments as possibilities for this. Does anyone have any advice or experiences they could share before I can get to a stage where I can get things rolling? I normally model military subjects, so I'm a little leery of gloss paint in general, but pearls are new ground for me.

 

 

 

I love Pearls, Candys and Flakes!

These are the guys I get my pearls from;

https://www.paintwithpearl.com/

They sell dry pearls that you add to clear.

This is the way to go because you can adjust the mix to get any effect you want.

Just remember you have to treat pearls like candys because they are transparent.

So the final color will be affected by the base color you shoot the pearl over.

Call or email PWP with your questions also check out their FAQ's on their web page.

I'll also try to answer any questions you have, I have shot alot of this stuff over the years on hot rods and custom cars.

Also check out TCP Global for paint supplies;

http://www.tcpglobal.com/

And finally House of Kolor too;

http://houseofkolor.com/homepage/

BTY, I am a Templar, mt commandry is in wausaw, WI.

 

 

 

Thanks for the assist, Panzerjager. The system you linked to seems very similar to the PearlEx powders. They have you add the powder to a clear coat so that you have control over the effect. I looked those over at Michaels yesterday and I would be required to buy two full sets of powder to get the red, green, blue, and gold needed, so that's an investment of $60 for a dozen colors, eight of which would never get used. This alternative you've shared is a lot more economical!

I was warned that the base coat is all important because of the nature of this paint. The plan is to use Tamiya white primer, sanded and polished, then coverage with their pearl white and pearl clear. What I am worried about is some pearls need a black undercoat and tinkering with the masks to undercoat such tiny areas seems like a PITA. 

And, it's always a pleasure to meet up with fraternal brothers - best wishes to you from Great Falls, MT!

KnightTemplar5150

Thanks for the assist, Panzerjager. The system you linked to seems very similar to the PearlEx powders. They have you add the powder to a clear coat so that you have control over the effect. I looked those over at Michaels yesterday and I would be required to buy two full sets of powder to get the red, green, blue, and gold needed, so that's an investment of $60 for a dozen colors, eight of which would never get used. This alternative you've shared is a lot more economical!

I was warned that the base coat is all important because of the nature of this paint. The plan is to use Tamiya white primer, sanded and polished, then coverage with their pearl white and pearl clear. What I am worried about is some pearls need a black undercoat and tinkering with the masks to undercoat such tiny areas seems like a PITA. 

And, it's always a pleasure to meet up with fraternal brothers - best wishes to you from Great Falls, MT!

 

Glad to help, and I've got some ideas too for you.

Have you got any pictures you can post of the area you need to apply the pearls to? you say their small?

 

The masks for the interference scheme is pre-cut vinyl - Aztec Dummy uses a heavier material than the Orbital Drydock set, which is thinner and very much like the masking material used to paint full-sized cars. In both cases, a typical strip on the engineering section is around 2mm wide by eye. The patterns are intricate - pull off what you need to paint, airbrush, replace the strips, then repeat for all four colors, section by section. My concern with the undercoat is that unless I absolutely master the masking, there may be areas of black peeking out or areas where the paint is too thick or thin. But, plenty of time to think things through - still in the process of installing a Laserfire Creations window set and getting the acrylic sanded clear. I'll post pics once all of the sub-assemblies don't leave folks wondering just what the heck I managed to accomplish with my time. ;)

Don - looking at your option as well. Ran to my LHS and managed to find only the Model Master Pearl Clear. They had just one can in stock, so I picked it up. Thinking that after I take it for a test run up against the Tamiya base, I may be able to decant it and airbrush it over select areas to contrast against the Tamiya clear. Thanks for the tip!

Don't know how compatable they would be with acrylic clear (should be), but another option might be a local body shop that mixes their own paint.   Usually have powder pearl on hand and might sell you small quantities of what you need.  But like the rest of pearls, not really cheap.

Tamiya spray cans are what I plan on using, Goldhammer. I think that they are a synthetic laquer rather than acrylic, but you raise a good point about compatability issues that I had better keep in mind. If I foul this up, I can't fall back on stripping the paint because of the electronics. I know a few auto body guys and I will certainly see what they have to offer. Thank you!