fehgalloway Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 (edited) Hi all (did search first) I was talking with some friends on the weekend who are into doind up cars and was saying how I thought it would be cool to paint a guitar with that chameleon paint that some cars are painted in. My brother always told me how it was $1000 a Litre, but I never listened because I thought he didn't know anything I was wrong, it is $1000 a Litre - OMG!!! So, I kept talking to my friend and he reckons you can get white pearl paint and another pearl colour (I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS, SO COULD BE SAYING IT WRONG, THIS IS JUST THE GENERAL GIST OF WHAT I UNDERSTOOD) and mix it together. It's not exactly chameleon, but it's white pearl which changes colour a bit, depending on the direction...... aparantly you can mix it yourself (which is really cheap - about $30 Litre), or go down to Supercheap or Autobarn and they'll do it for you... Anyone done this/know what i'm talking about/etc?? Thanks! Edited September 21, 2004 by fehgalloway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerryL Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 At Pep Boys Auto Store, I saw some Chameleon color in a spray can of touch up paint. I have a cover for my mobely that's like that and it looks great. Fairly economic as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 There are two main types: DuPont Chromalusion and Duplicolor Mirage. The chromalusion is a majorly color-shifting paint. It shifts between many different shades, and with a very smooth, almost colored chrome look. It is VERY expensive. It is, however, well worth the money. The Duplicolor Mirage is a different thing. It comes in multiple versions, either red/blue, gold/magenta, and the like. It's cheap: $20 for base coat can, color can, and clearcoat can. However, it's a distinctly metalflake look, like regular silver metallic or red metallic: not as smooth as the Chromalusion. Most people refer to the Mirage type products when talking colorshift. Someone here (sorry, I can't remember your name) just did a Mirage Les Paul which IIRC is in the GOTM competition. No one I have seen as of yet has used the Chromalusion, but I'd love to see the results. It looks amazing on cars, and I can only imagine it'd be even more fantastic on a guit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 There are a bunch of new color-shifting paints and additives available. House of Kolor has their Kameleon line of bases and pearls, Createx Auto Air markets 3 lines of Chameleon colors, and Alsa's new Mystic Chameleon ($249US a gallon) complements their Spectra FX line of color-shift paints - all are well worth the time to check out before plunking down your hard-earned for DuPont or settling for the rattlecans. HOK is handled down under by Meguiars Australia, Alsa offers direct ordering (and may have a distributor in Oz - contact them for info), and Auto Air is available from: Custom Colours Lot 22 Tiers Road Woodside South Australia AUS 5244 +61 8 8389 8674 and at any number of online outlets (since it's water-based, it poses no problems for international air shipment). HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axemannate Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 So what kind of paint is used on the Pettruci Music Mans? Is it more of the cheaper stuff or the expensive stuff? As a side note, my dad was going to paint his whole plane with the expensive stuff, untill he found out how expensive it would be to do the whole thing. Now he's just gonna put color changing pinstripes, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Pearl paints wont do what you want by mixing them together. Only the good brands work well. I pay over $100 a spray pack kit when i buy it, but that is the premium, rips your face off, stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 The actual true Chrome illusion is awesome. $1000 a liter is mental though. I pay $380 a quart for it here. The problem with it is it REALLY needs nice round surfaces to look dramatic. On flat surfaces it is boring. Guitars don't lend themselves well to it. There are cheaper ones, the createx is crap, it is only color change within a pearl shift. it doesn't actually change color. The new Alsa corp stuff looks interesting though still not as dramatic as the dupont. HOK and PPG make very dramatic color shift paints as well although they are very expensive as well. The application is more difficult to do correctly as well. In total, for one guitar body, if you REALLY want to do it first class expect to put about $500 worth of product on the guitar body. You'll have paint left over, quite a bit, but expect that kind of money. The duplicolor looks crap in my opinion, but this paint will pretty much always look bad when applied with an aerosol can IMO. It needs the fine atomization that only a good quality gun can provide. Adding different color pearls to a paint will give multiple colors, but they don't shift when moving the object. I have used a prismatic pearl many times which does shift the colors, but it is also about $60 per ounce of dry powder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but here's what I'm thinking. 1) Cars drive past you. Yes, that's an obvious statement, but think about it. If you are standing in one spot, playing your guitar, it won't have the same effect when somebody looks at your guitar. You would need to have some exagerated movements to show off the paint... unless you take into account Point #2. 2) Chromalusion looks okay on something like a Capice when it is sitting still, but it looks better on a PT Cruiser that's sitting still. Why? Because there are more angles and surfaces... rounded fenders, andgled hood, etc. that show off various hues and colors. So... When you design the guitar that is going to be painted with Chromalusion, work in numerous facets. It doesn't have to be radical... just enough to provide changing colors during minor movements. What if you carved shallow "ripples" into the face of the guitar? A minor change could cause those ripple to change colors while you were playing. It might even make the ripples look like they were moving. Of course, this is hypothetical, but I thought I would throw it out there. D~s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 dugz ink, you need to read the first paragraph in my post, that's what I said, it needs curves to really look dramatic, otherwise it just looks like solid colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdog Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Here is a link for HOK paints........$235/pint for Chameleon colors. http://www.autobodysupply.net/houseofcolor/houseof.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norcal_GIT_r Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 (edited) Here's a couple of pics from a guitar I refinished using the Blue-Red Mirage kit. The photos show the change in color. One angle you get blue another you get reddish purple. Photo 1 Photo 2 Edited September 22, 2004 by Norcal_GIT_r Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 you need to read the first paragraph in my post Don't take it so personal. I did read your post... but I didn't mean that "facets" were just curves. Then I mentioned ripples, which I envisioned as being more complex than simple curves. Maybe I need to quit offering advice and opinions in this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted September 23, 2004 Report Share Posted September 23, 2004 you need to read the first paragraph in my post Don't take it so personal. I did read your post... but I didn't mean that "facets" were just curves. Then I mentioned ripples, which I envisioned as being more complex than simple curves. Maybe I need to quit offering advice and opinions in this forum. dude, relax, I was just kidding around, it's just that most people post with only having read the first post, then stuff gets repeated, don't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshpowder Posted September 23, 2004 Report Share Posted September 23, 2004 I'm currently just finishing up my ESP F-200 with the Dupli-color red/blue paint. Contrary to what some other people think, I believe that it looks awesome. It will, however, cost you many, many hours of prepping, waiting (takes about a month to cure ), and the part I'm on, final sanding. You will also probably need two kits of the stuff for a decent, even finish (about 30 bucks canadian per kit, 20-25 american I imagine). The spray nozzles on the cans are top-notch, best I've ever seen on a spray can. While curing, however, you CANNOT set the guitar down on ANYTHING. Even on a t-shirt, the imprint of the fabric will be left in the clear coat. It takes forever to cure, and I highly recommend that you make some sort of jig so you can hang the guitar. I used a scrap piece of wood screwed into the neck pocket, then drilled a large hole on the other end to hang it. Anyway, the stuff is looking great on my guitar as I finish up the wet sanding. If you don't do any sanding after letting the paint cure, it will look terrible, as any spray paint will. After sanding and buffing however, you can achieve a mirror shine. I agree with the others in that your guitar should have curves for this effect, which is why I did my guitar (wicked curves). http://www.espguitars.com/ltd_f.htm If you do decide to go ahead with the Dupli-color, feel free to PM me with any questions you may have. All it takes is some effort, patience, and about 2 months for an awesome guitar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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