Tape and Flake

[Tommy Beyl]

Tape,
I am about to buy an octopus panel Jammer from coast. I also need more fineline tape. currently I have 1/8 fsb tape but I found radius tighter than 1.5 inches and the tape buckles. I am thinking of getting 1/16th tape for tighter turns but also saw that red fsb tape is supposed to compress better for tighter curves. I plan to do a bunch of back and forth curves using the tape on the octopus. With the arms being thin I imagine I will need real tight turns and narrow tape. Any experienced advise on red vs orange?
Also I have a .8 tip toch up gun and would like to try flake. Any flake products that work with auto air 4030 that I could shoot through a .8 gun? May just have to wait to mess with the flake in the future.
-Tommy

 

[PhilberJ]

Hi Tommy, I just started playing with flake and candies myself. I'm far from a pro, but I'll tell ya what I've been using. I have 3 different sizes/colors of FBS tape... 1/4" orange, 1/8" blue, and 1/16" red. I use the red and blue the most, don't really know if there is a major difference in material besides the width, and therefore the different turns they're each capable of. For something like that octopus, I think you'll be happier with the 1/16" tape. As for flake... I knew I wanted to get into it, so I bought a couple cheapo guns off of amazon (.8 and 1.3 nozzles). I use the 1.3 to shoot .006 flake from Tropical Glitz mixed with an intercoat clear.... I used HoK SG100 the first time, just to finish what I had left. And now I'm trying a ppg product called "dbc-500"... another intercoat clear. I really only used the .8 gun for a couple things that would too big to airbrush. For all my actual paint, sealer, candies... I only use Createx products, so I haven't found any issues with spraying the flake in the IC, and then spraying candy2.0 over it... I just let it dry over night, sand it the next day and continue. I have read that 4030 works as a carrier for flake, but if you use that then I think you need to put a layer of the bleed checker over it before using any createx candy mixed with 4030, or else the layers react with each other. Maybe somebody else can elaborate more on that. Anyways, my 1.3 gun works great with the smaller flake, I definitely want to get more colors and sizes to try out. I think that size flake would probably work for a .8 gun, but anything larger might give you uneven spray patterns or clog it up. Maybe I'll see what mine does if I get some free time this week.

 

[PhilberJ]

Here's a pic of an old pizza pan that I was practicing on. Really hard to see the flakes, but they pop in the sun light. You can see where I used the different tapes though.

 

[wickedartstudio]

You can't go wrong with FBS tape. I use the green ProBand in my shop and haven't found a curve I couldn't pull with 1/8" yet. You can stretch vinyl tape to make really tight curves. The trick is knowing that fine line between stretching the tape just enough and going too far. Too far and the tape will contract and pull away from the surface. Unfortunately, that fine line is one of those things you have learn on your own through practice. I can type until I'm blue in the face, but I can't explain that feeling you'll get through repetition.

As far as your flake question goes... there's a big difference in flake sizes. A true metal flake (from a purist standpoint) that would normally be used on the old school 70's inspired designs you posted in the pic above (the panel looks great by the way, nice job!) will never spray through a gun with a 0.8 needle and nozzle. You can get away with smaller metallic particles with that gun, but that's not really metal flake.

 

[PhilberJ]

The first fine-line tape I tried was 1/8" green stuff from 3M. I think it was the crepe paper kind, not vinyl. Then after following other artists, I kept hearing about FBS, so naturally I had to give them a try, and I really like it! I completely agree with you when it comes to practice. I watched a few videos and the pros make it look so easy... then I try to lay out a few lines or a pattern, and they're not straight, or (most often) I stretch the tape too much and by the time I'm ready to spray, my sharp turns are starting to peel up. I've gotten better, but nothing can take the place of putting in the practice time.

That panel was the first thing I flaked. Since then I've done a couple cups, a water bottle, and 2 pairs of sunglasses. Just trying to get the feel for it and understand the process. I knew the smaller flake would go through my 1.3 nozzle, but now I want to see those big sparkles, so I might have to look into getting a real dedicated flake gun.

 

[Tommy Beyl]

Thanks Guys! That is really helpful info. Philberg love the old school style practice lid. especcially like the idea of doing different style slizes. I think I will focus on one learning item at a time since I still need to learn more about taping I ordered fbs red 1/8th and 1/16th I'll use the tools I have and the paints I can work with down the road I will probably get a flake king dry gun. seen a bunch of videos on that and it seems pretty user friendly,

I especially enjoyed this video https://www.facebook.com/coastairbr...cenix-clears-mini-flake-demo/913064012222176/