Does anyone know what I am talking about? I saw a post one time about a pearl additive that was super cheap in cost. Looked like it may be a cool idea to use. Anyone know where that link is?

Excuse the lokking post. I am looking. Sorry for the typo.

I know you can buy pearl additive off of e-bay pretty cheap allong with metal flake too. Here's a link to one seller I found.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymot...5fAutomotiveQ5fTools

Donnie

will that mix with any paint?

ooo i like this. this is pretty interesting. i bet some of my hradcore DIYer friends would love this. if they dont already know about this.

I am under the understanding that it is just mixed in with the clear.

surely you could mix with paint too.?.?.?

quote Originally posted by GADJet: surely you could mix with paint too.?.?.?

It would have to be pretty clear/translucent paint, or you would not be able to see it.
Should be used in clear only.

Kevin

quote Originally posted by Lambo nut: It would have to be pretty clear/translucent paint, or you would not be able to see it. Should be used in clear only. Kevin

When you buy paint that has pearl in it the paint itself is very thin and somewhat translucent. If you just added the pearl to any paint you'll only see the very top surface of the paint and you'd lose any depth and pearl effect. As an example think about dumping something thick and chunky ( like chili ) and what do you get? A pile of thick goo that sits on the floor. Now dump the same chili with peas in it. How many of those peas are you going to see on the surface? Not many.... ( I was going to use a puke example but....: ) )

Anyway, pearl paint is usually a three stage application. A base color, the pearl paint on top of that, then the clear. You can add pearl to clear by itself but you still want to add a couple of layers of clear on afterwards for polishing....otherwise you'd be wetsanding and polishing the pearl-added clear and you'd mess up the paint.

Mark

Pearl . . . a fine powder. Goes into the clear for as many coats as you like. Just shoot till your happy. Then . . . clear only . . . for a bunch, shoot till your happy. If you put pearl into the paint . . . you bury the pearl.
That way the top coats are clear only and can be repaired if chipped or scratched. (no pearl).

I shot black then clear with red pearl for that "black cherry" look. Then more clear for the deep wet look.

Its only a little bit of rocket science.

http://www.paintwithpearl.com/

$10 a bag and they're quite reputable.

I ended up just getting paint with the pearl in the base coat, (TCPGlobal's Firethorn Red Pearl) but it still turned out nice.

quote Originally posted by Firefox: ...otherwise you'd be wetsanding and polishing the pearl-added clear and you'd mess up the paint. Mark

That's exactly what I was thinking the moment I saw the ebay link. How does one wetsand a clear with pearl in it.. the pearl will smear and fall over.

quote Originally posted by L67: That's exactly what I was thinking the moment I saw the ebay link. How does one wetsand a clear with pearl in it.. the pearl will smear and fall over.

You don't wet sand the clear with the pearl in it, you wet sand the coats of clear you put over the clear with the pearl in it. SoCal Jim explains it well.
Same as other things in life there is more then one way to skin a cat, or more then one way to use pearl, but if you put it in a paint that is opaque, you are pretty much wasting your time.

Kevin

I actually use the House of Kolor pearl additive in the paste form. Either way, the pearl additive allows you to put light coats on to get the desired affect, whether you want a very gentle colored "shadow" in certain lighting or an all-out color that is constantly visible. Obviously 95% of the pearl paint jobs are over a white base but you can add the pearl over certain darker colors to enhance the color.

I was thinking about repainting my car white with about 2-3 layers of white, then a red pearl-clear and 2 clears on top.

For you paint gurus, when prepping, what grit should I use as a final sanding before primer? I will have to start with a low grit paper cause the doofus that previously painted this car jacked it up.

what about this fancy stuff?
http://www.paintwithpearl.com/colorchangestore.htm

quote Originally posted by joshh44: what about this fancy stuff? http://www.paintwithpearl.com/colorchangestore.htm

I must admit, thats pretty freaking cool! I have never heard of or seen this. Bank robbers better not find out about this!