Pearl powder

NextGen Classics

Floor sweeper
I am thinking of adding some pearl to the SPI white base for my stripes on the mustang. Question,is the the pearl powder ok to use? Should I add it in the base or the first coat of clear? Not looking for a lot of effect but some. Thanks
 
I dont know if Barry has pearl in that base, it seemed to have more effect in intercoat clear on top of the white when we used it. Just make sure you add the powder to the reducer and mix it well before adding it to a base.
 
pearls can be added directly to some colors and not others. for white it must be mixed in intercoat and applied over. it cannot be mixed into it. i actually have an old basf chart with all the color toners and what ones can have metallics added to them and what ones cant. really there are only about 7 or 8 just because they are too opaque. comes in handy now and again
 
pearls can be added directly to some colors and not others. for white it must be mixed in intercoat and applied over. it cannot be mixed into it. i actually have an old basf chart with all the color toners and what ones can have metallics added to them and what ones cant. really there are only about 7 or 8 just because they are too opaque. comes in handy now and again


So if I spray the white,then spray the intercoat clear mixed with pearl,won't I have a pretty aggressive tape line to bury? Can this be avoided?
 
not really. to make a pearl stripe it shouldnt be necessary to spray more than 2 light coats to get the effect. that should be nothing to bury that.
 
Is there any specific brand of powder to use or are they all pretty much the same? What do you recommend? I don't want any particular color in it just some shimmer metallic look to the white.
 
Most of the new OEM pearl whites are using the silver xirallic pearl. Has a nice clean sparkle and is not as yellow as the other white pearls. All of the major paint brands have the same pearl. Just put some mixed in spi intercoat clear over a pink with white top 57 Cadillac.
 
Just did a Pearl White 2018 Rav4 that had 3 different pearls in the midcoat. On my Cromax Mosaic Rack there are about 25 or so different pearls that we use. Keep in mind that depending on the pearl you use those stripes are going to be very subtle. Some angles you wont be able to see them. Years ago, about 1993 I had a Oxford White 92 Mustang GT that I had rebuilt (Insurance total) for myself and I used a blue pearl to give the white a little pop. Pretty subtle but it looked nice and different.
This might be a good place to get a few different colors and test out. Prices are decent and you can purchase in smaller quanities. Never used any of their products so I can't speak to the quality but I've been tempted to try some. From looking at the site stuff looks pretty decent.

https://www.paintwithpearl.com/
 
I've used a lot of pearls and other products from them, as well as others like HOK, more in smaller projects (ie bicycles) than full repaints... very often mixed into SPI intercoat clear (with a little hardener in it) with great results. I strongly recommend playing a bit with what you're thinking about on some test coupons as a little pearl powder or concentrate goes a long ways and the effects of how much pearl, how many coats, etc... can be somewhat unpredictable (to me) especially when playing with multiple layers... Also, in my experience sometimes simple and less is more when it comes to things like this. A few things that i really like the way they came out...

my truck is black (ppg-9700) with a fair amount of silver sparkle pearl added and the last two coats of color cut with a significant amount of intercoat clear, and a little gold ghost pearl added to the last mist coat... it looks deep black when you look at it, but then the light hits it right, it sparkles a but and has a slight gold halo... subtle but kind of cool...

one of my daughters bikes (bicycle), yellow "sparkle" pearl with a little tangerine pearl in spi intercoat over bright white base, then dusted with couple light coats of gold ghost pearl in intercoat before 4-5 coats of clear (I like the harder, more durable Euro than universal for stuff like this...). it came out a really bright yellow with an orangish tinge and almost looks like it glows when light hits it...

I also repaired the metal flake striping using the right size flake mixed with SPI clear on one of my boat projects (black with silver flake highlights...)... and then the whole thing with SPI clear (after wetsanding al the oxidized gelcoat off)... the first couple coats with a little "sparkle" (large grain) silver pearl... It came out fantastic in my opinion and is holding up great to heavy use years later.

I know from reading on here a lot more than I post, that there are some folks on here who do some seriously beautiful professional work. I'm a backyard hack at best, but have fun doing it and have had some really nice results... I have greatly appreciated the generally helpful attitude on here and the wonderful experience shared by some of the truly talented / experienced members (not to mention Barry the chemist...).

oh, if you use the cheaper powder form stuff, i've found that it's important to mix very thoroughly (I do before adding catalyst / hardener) and to filter after letting it sit for a bit... Again, no expert, just my experience...
 
Thanks for the insight. I just ordered a bag of platinum silver ghost pearl and a bag of blue ghost pearl. Trust me, I will be doing a lot of experimenting before laying anything on this car LOL. Thanks again. Thanks Chris for the link.
 
not really. to make a pearl stripe it shouldnt be necessary to spray more than 2 light coats to get the effect. that should be nothing to bury that.
I am painting the car blue,then clearing it,blocking it,laying down white stripes,intercoat with pearl,then reclear whole car. I hope no one thought I was trying to make pearl ghost stripes over a white car? So for the taped off stripes that is 2 to 3 coats of white base followed by to light coats of intercoat clear with pearl. Just making sure you understood my jibberish before I proceed.
 
yes i thought you were doing white ghost stripes but wont make a difference. if you want the stripe edge buried then youll need to clear, block flat and reclear. most of the paint edge will come from the white. not much will be from the pearl.
 
yes i thought you were doing white ghost stripes but wont make a difference. if you want the stripe edge buried then youll need to clear, block flat and reclear. most of the paint edge will come from the white. not much will be from the pearl.
Great. Thanks for the help.
 
Thanks for the insight. I just ordered a bag of platinum silver ghost pearl and a bag of blue ghost pearl. Trust me, I will be doing a lot of experimenting before laying anything on this car LOL. Thanks again. Thanks Chris for the link.

Just try them on something first. The ghost pearls might be too big of an effect. so start out with a little, they tend to have more tint to get the effect when the sun hits it. Holographics are worse. You can talk to Lindy or Matt about what you are trying to do. The regular pearls on white will have a bunch of colors.
 
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