I’d like to tape out some flames on top of a SB, and resin tint them yellow, then orange, then red. Each one going on top of the other. For a kinda 3-D effect…I’ve read as much as I could find on resin tinting foam & not found anything like what I want to do. As long as I let each color kick completely, there’s no need to worry about runs, right? Then do a normal free lam on top of the flames like any normal spray? Would sealing the foam before any of this make it lighter? If so, what is the best/cheapest route (I have a 30 gal compressor w/ t-u gun)? Thanks for all the help from everyone so far!
Okay, I’ll be the first. Sounds like a lot of trouble for a very limited 3d effect. I reckon you’d be better off just airbrushing 3d, fades, shadows on edges etc. Lots of art books give hints for this sort of stuff. Good luck.
Uhm… you’re looking at 3 layers of resin on top of the foam, then the glass? Gonna be kinda lumpy and heavy, no? Plus the whole thing is likely to have some other repercussions with your glassing, hotcoat and gloss. Put it this way, in 30+ years in the business, I’ve never seen anything done that way. I’d think you’d wind up with some fairly thick layers to get the desired effect…
Instead… try http://www.howtoairbrush.com/ , plus mebbe a cheap airbrush, regulator and the appropriate fittings to neck down the air supply line. Go with that, some good technique and a clear glass job and you can come pretty close…
Well, while it might be a prob for the board, if you did something with very light cloth, say 2-3 oz, like Chad mentioned, it might be a move with a fin.
Or, now that the old brain is working and Chad has given me an idea… they make some very light glass cloth, less than 1 oz per yard, that they use for model aircraft wings and such. It’d be a bear to do, some very tricky work with masking tape, though there are paint-on or spray on masks that might work, but…
Start with a lamination of that .58 oz per yard cloth in whatever you’re thinking of, yellow was it? Then another in orange, then the smallest one in red. You mask and do your cutout in the tape before going with the next layer - it’s basicly the reverse inlay from hell. Tricky to laminate, but you’ll get an even color 'cos of the even thickness of the cloth, something quite thin and light, not especially lumpy and it won’t be nearly as likely to crack and such or mess up how the board acts. Use lam resin, use an x-acto knife for cutting and very little pressure ( that stuff is thin, don’t want to cut through it ) and probably a lot of tint in the mix, as like I said it’s gonna be real thin. You could maybe feather sand the edges, for a little fade effect, but again don’t sand through, it’s real, real thin stuff.
Then, you can glass over it just like you would with any other board. It’s gonna be a lot of work, but it’s something you can do rather than airbrushing…
I have done a form of 3d artwork on boards but its pretty subtle.If you go to the photo archives there is a board I built called Marble Effect.The record number in the photo resources is 437.Anyway…I tinted the panels on the board yellow on the foam with airbrush.Lastly I glassed the board and did the abstract on the hotcoat before glossing.I assume you could do the same thing with flames.When you look close at the “Marble” board the paint appears to be floating although the photos don’t really show the efect.
How about doing it just like an old-school pin stripe? It’ll cost you some weight and it may suck but it’s worth a try. Laminate, hot coat and sand. Then tape off your flame licks and fill the area with tinted resin. Sand them lightly to allow the next layer to bond and do it again. Then gloss. Yeah it has serious potential to suck. I’d try it on a lame shape before one worth the sweet (assuming it works) artwork.
I just remembered doing first a foam spray, in your case the yellow to orange, then doing the rest as a filler spray, the red, pinlines etc. That gave a semi 3D effect.
I like resin tints because they can look deeper, richer, more 3-d, than paint on foam or ricepaper. (i never tried tints, only looked at 'em) I think to get a 3-d look for a set of flames i might use all 3 methods… direct painting on the foam to give an outline and some heart, bits of rice paper here and there, resin tints to fill it all out, and maybe some more acrylic paint on top. I might toss in a little glitter too.
That marble effect is as old as the hills in the furniture painting trade.I am surprised so few people use these techniques,there are tons of books out there on Marbling,Wood Graining…you name it.If done on acrylic on the hotcoat it can be glossed over.The marble I did on that particular board was red and black acrylic lacquer(car paint spray cans) misted on to the surface and then “melted” with lacquer thinner using a small brush.You just splatter the thinner on and the color melts and blends into all kinds of crazy patterns.You can practice on any smooth surface like formica or glass or an old board.It will all wipe off with lacquer thinner when your done.These acrylic spray cans come from Auto Parts shops and they are sold as "Car or Truck Color"I got mine from Pep Boys and the brand name is "Plasticote"I have never sseen it a Home Depot or places like that.Have fun.
