A Comparison of Candy

After reading through various literature online on how to achieve a candy gloss effect, i decided to do a trusty spoon comparison and see for myself how the effect varies across different paints. (and hey.. its fun to airbrush spoons :) )

In particular, i had read about how its not advisable to spray transparent colors over AlClad chrome. Being the stubborn bugger I am and encouraged by the label on the bottle of Alclad transparent red (which says basically to spray Alclad's clear coat on Alclad's high shine range before spraying clear colors), i decided to try it myself.

First I primed several spoons with Tamiya Fine Surface 1200. (spraycan)

Then i airbrushed black on the various spoons.
Heres some details for those who like technical details
Alclad was airbrushed with 2 fine mist coats @ 12psi
Tamaya Enamel Black and Gaia Pure black mixed with a 1:2 paint/thinner ratio and airbrushed at 18psi.


Since i am using a crappy camera on my Iphone4 to take all the pics.. so I better provide comments on the actual results.

Results: Alclad Gloss Black Base gave the most reflective and glossiest finish, followed by Tamiya enamel black. Gaia notes pure black finish was slightly flat..

Here are the upclose shots






After waiting 24hrs for them to dry.. i mist coated Alclad Chrome on all 3. again at 12 psi


Results are quite intuitive... the Glossiest Black base resulted in the shiniest chrome (as already commented by various other online sources.. ). Result of this is that the next time i want to go for the a chrome look with most bling.. i will use Alclad Gloss black base as the undercoat...

Anyways .. here are the upclose shots




Next I sprayed Alclad Transparent Red over all 3.. (again at 12 psi blah blah)

For the spoon with Alclad Gloss black base, i actually coated half the spoon with Alclad Clear Base (1 mist, 1 slightly wet coat) before airburshing on the Alclad Transparent Red.So to answer the whether the Clear base affects the shininess of the Alclad chrome.. the answer is YES (unfortunately). The chrome effect dulls a fair bit after the clear base is applied. However..the end result after applying the transparent red is that the area which has the clear base looks "brighter" then the area without.. hmmm

heres a pic of the spoon upclose. Although quite hard to see the difference since I am not using a fancy DSLR :P


Here are the other 2 close- ups...




Then I decided to compare all these Alclad with some good ole Gaia paints... I primed .. undercoated a few more spoons.. Whhiicchhh I forgot to take pictures of (DOH!!)... but heres the end result




Upclose... (for some funny reason.. Gaia Clear red on Starlight SL doesnt like to be photographed..i tried a few times.cant get a good pic..so pardon the slightly blurry one)





Result?? Using Gaia Clear Red over Gaia Starlight Silver actually provides more "depth" to the candy red versus using Gaia Clear Red over Alclad Chrome. Using Gaia Clear Red over Alclad Chrome gives a "colder" more metallic feeling to the candy red... hard to explain in words.. think depth versus shine (those who are into car detailing will know what i mean)


Last bit?? A look at Gaia Clear vs Alclad Clears


Above 2 effects are my favourites..
using Gaia clear reds gives a lighted more candy color
using Alclad transparent red gives a dark deep reddish hue color
I think there are different uses for both colors and hopefully i will be able to do a model using these colors soon...


Well thats it... I had fun doing this spoon test. If you want to see the colors yourself and factor in more variables I encourage you to go ahead ..grab a few spoons and try it.. Its fun and you'll learn thru the process...

Cheers
Surge

PS:No Spoons were hurt in the course of this comparison :P