woodcycl

So, I have a custom bike that is ready to be painted. This is a small, but national brand and they are growing bigtime. I don't want to name names at this point ... just to stay neutral in that area. However ... here is my struggle:

I really wanted a very very bright "in-your-face" eye-popping RED ... but one that is pearlescent with a lot of flakes and "depth" to it. Much like you would see using a "Candy Apple Red" color on the old 50, 60, and 70's Hot Rods out there.

So, the issue is that he hasn't been able to come up with a RED that is what I was originally interested in. I'm using House of Kolor to try and help him as much as I can come up with something that works. Again, I do NOT want a FLAT red color like my truck. But, something that is very bright red (similar to the very bright red Mustangs or Toyota Tundra trucks which is what I have) ... but with a lot of depth.

Is this truly not possible?

He has tried all kinds of things ... he typically paints a base color that is either lighter or dark and flat. For example, he'll paint with a base of Gold or Silver or Platinimum and then apply the actual color ... and several coats of it before applying the clear coat.

I LOVE the Candy Apple Red that he first did and sent me a sample carbon tube with it. But, it isn't what I was originally hoping for. Then, he worked on a lighter red but still using a pearlescent / flakes red/orange color and sent me that sample. But, to be honest, side by side in the bright light or sun, they aren't all that different. So, leaning toward just going w/ the Candy Apple Red since it is really nice especially on bright days.

Here's a PIC side-by-side:
https://woodcycl.com/cycling/Two%20cu...0by%20side.jpg

Anyway, any thoughts or ideas are welcome. We'll probably be making the decision in the next 24 hours (from 10p EST 4/9/2018). But, I thought I'd make a quick post for anyone "in the know" about custom painting on bike frames.

He's an amazing and very unique bike painter ... that is his fortay. So, it may be just me that isn't knowledgeable about paint and options.

Thanks for any input!

tungsten

houseofkolor.com/company/?ref=topnav

Wow. 'ol Jon has really aged since he came to Van on a lecture tour all those years ago. Lol..as have we all.

Dunno' what to tell you if the painter can't obtain "depth" with HoK paints as the Imron and Durathane I used to spray won't either.
Of course, they're all water based now which is good, painters won't end up all like me.

rgconner

That candy on the right looks good to me, but maybe as you say it does not matter in the sun.

kbarch

Like you say, the color looks fine - seems to me you just want bigger flakes instead of pearlescent (which tends to look kind of dull).

Bob Ross

If your framepainter can't achieve what you're looking for I doubt a bunch of us yahoos on teh internetz are going to be of much help, but what the hell, I'll add to the noise.

When I was doing "candy apple" finishes on model cars 40-something years ago the base layer had to be a dense metal-flake silver or gold. Lots of metal flakes, uniform sized, not too big but dense-packed so you got a consistent even distribution of flake. Almost looked like sandpaper when it dried. But highly reflective sandpaper. And then the top color coats were almost translucent...very thin, only slightly more saturated than a tinted clear. And you had to put several coats of that topcoat on before it started to look like shiny glossy candy.

So that's what I would do if I wanted a candy apple red bike frame. Although I wouldn't trust myself to do that job nowadays, I'd turn it over to a real professional.

Perhaps ironically, the bike frame I own with the most iridescent depth, just incredible 3D metal flaky luster that really pops in sunlight...was powdercoated.

mstateglfr 

Having spent a good bit of time looking at house of kolor product books over the last couple months, im surprised what you want cant be done.

They have the base color, a mix to make it 'candy', and another to make it pearlescent.

woodcycl

My thought exactly mstateglfr. However, the candy apple red has grown on me. Typically, I LOVE it ... but on round tubes, it doesn't show off as well, imo, as a flatter surface like the hood of a car. But, we are going to go w/ it on the bike after much thought and conversation.

DEW21

Did my Shovelhead with HOK candy red(silver base) 20 years ago, still looks good today!

woodcycl

Very nice Dew21!!! Makes me sad ... just sold my motorcyle to help pay for our new custom bike!! Tough decision. But, I'll get another one down the road like I've always done.

Erzulis Boat 

It's a bicycle frame. It's a collection of tubes so the "real estate" for color has to be tailored to the canvas.

If you want an eye popping red, you will need to not go as dark as those candies and optimize the flake. Basically the trick if you go candy is to go right past pink when he is applying the layers. If you go deeper into the reds, it will lose the pop and border on burgundy. Light flake on silver, then shot to bright and not a shade darker gets you the pop.

It's rounded surfaces, so you are dealing with a super narrow surface area to catch "all" the light, anything in the recesses goes "dark" and no pop. Lighter is more flashy.

This is my opinion on the matter.

icedmocha 

I've always been partial to the Bassboat red on Schwinn Homegrowns.

duane041

As a painter, one of the issues we face is taking colors that are seen on large 'canvases' and transferring them to tiny, 1 or 2" wide canvases. Bike tubes just don't show colors all that well, particularly anything that has a metallic in it.

Metallic colors exhibit what is known as 'flop'; the color you see when viewing a metallic head-on (so to speak) is called the 'face' of the metallic color. The 'flop' is the same color when viewed at an angle. What your eye sees on a bicycle tube is mostly the 'flop' of the metallic color. So it's not surprising that the candy colors don't look as good as they would on a car door.

I'd go with a straight candy apple red color (there are other candy reds, but they tend to shift to either to blue or too yellow) over either a silver or gold base. The use of different types of metallic base colors (from very fine aluminum to very coarse) will have a direct effect on the candy red that your eye will see. A dusty, fine metallic will produce a richer, more even candy red color with lessees of effect on the face and the flop. A coarse, "Elvis" type metallic base will produce a much darker color on the flop, and a much brighter color on the face. I prefer a fine metallic base, but everyone has their favorites.