Dawes-man

Pictures of the gorgeous flam red Paramount in Hudson608's thread slotted in nicely with my quite recent interest in this kind of finish.

There are 2 kinds of flamboyant colour, with the most common having silver as the base coat. Less common but with its staunch defenders as being superior to silver, gold is sometimes used as the base coat. It gives a far subtler and perhaps deeper glow.

See below for my flam frames - it'd be great to see some others.

My first, a 1976 Mercian Super Light - just the blue is flam:
[IMG] Frame quarter view by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

Then came this Rotrax, repainted in the 70s, I think:
[IMG] 1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]


Then another Rotrax - I'm finding it hard to find a photo that shows the flam:

CLB A.L.P. calipers and levers fitted and wired up by Dawes-man, on Flickr


And last, the H.R. Morris that I've just had painted by Argos in the UK but I'll leave that to a later post...

Hudson308 

Nice colors on those! These colors are called "candies" in the custom automotive world. True candy paint consists of a transparent color coat over a metallic base coat... usually silver, gold or copper. Chrome under the transparent color gives an effect that's even more iridescent. Remember the "Spectraflame" paint on the original Hot Wheels? That was created with transparent colors sprayed over a polished die-cast shell. A deep, durable candy can also be created by applying transparent powdercoat over a chrome frame. One of the nicest candy colors I've shot is a tranparent grape over copper, which gives a deep maroon "candy brandywine". I'd also love to see any candies that you guys have created!

RubberLegs

I believe this paint fits that description, appears to be a transparent brown/burgundy over the chrome of this old 77 AD, it changes colors depending on light.

Hudson308 

The chips in the paint should give some clues. If you can see a layer of chrome or metallic paint under the color, it would be a type of candy. From the picture it looks like a color coat with a pearl coat over the top, which would give the "chameleon" color-shifting effect you're talking about. I've had two framesets done this way, with a solid color powdercoat under a color-shifting pearl powdercoat. The effect is pretty dramatic in bright sunlight!

Dawes-man

This might be a regional difference but in the UK they are called flamboyant colours or 'flam' for short. I've only heard the term candy used here in Japan when they mean the clear colour paint applied to chrome, which gives what they call cromovelato in Italy, or simply velato. Like this:

[IMG] IMG_2345 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

Dawes-man

I think that's a cromovelato.

Dawes-man

Okay, from that I take it that what you call candy is what they call cromovelato in Italy - clear coloured paint over chrome.

The changing colour that RubberLegs describes is just how my cromovelato Chesini behaves in different lights - mostly green but blue or even grey in bright sunshine. The colour changing you describe depends, I think, on your changing angle of view - is that right? I've seen a BMW motorcycle like that and a car. A bit like a chambray fabric.

Michael Angelo 

1973 P13 Paramount Flambouyant Red.

Dawes-man

Yeah! I see the flam shows most on the right side chain stay… it's hard to capture it in a photo.

Have you seen Hudson608's thread? The flam is nicely captured in several of the photos - they're what made me want to see more.

Michael Angelo 

It was an over cast day. Sunny days makes the paint really shine.

Orrery

These all look great. Would love more pics of the Mercian.

Poguemahone

Somec, paint over chrome:

devinfan

Beautiful bikes all. That rootbeer is one of my favourites. I no longer have my Legnano, but their verde transparencia is a nice example. Here is my only flamboyant at the moment, my 1967 Zeus, although the paint is faded to the point that the term flamboyant seems excessive:

pastorbobnlnh 

What's another Flamboyant Red Paramount?



'71 P-13

Lenton58 

Question: Is there any point to laying down silver or gold before applying an ordinary enamel — say an opaque acrylic. Actually, I am proposing to use an automotive acrylic lacquer that is mixed and packed into a spray bottle. From Yellow Hat — Dawes-man will know. (This coating has proved durable on a car panel I repaired).

I really am struck by these flam coatings, but I think its too much for my DIY attempt. Interesting thread.

orangeology

an ordinary opaque enamel "sprayed" over another metal-color sprayed surface would not yield such an effect nicely,
unless it's 'mixed' on the surface due to over-spray melting the bottom coat—rather quite messy than beautiful.

if you are thinking automotive paint, there are 'metalic' colors. e.g) some Ford Fusion body colors.
'how much metalic' really varies by range. some with heavy hint of shiny flavors within the paint, while some with just like 'pearl' effect.
any advanced automotive body supply store should have good specimen/swatchbook of all the metalic colors.
in my experience—not on a bike frame tho—good choice of bright colored metalic autopaint + high-end clearcoat could be close to cromovelato/candy coat.

Dawes-man

No criticism was implied, nor perhaps perceived. I was just pointing out how hard it is to capture the flam effect with a camera. In your photo I thought it was most visible on the chain stay. And yes, it does really stand out in bright light.

Michael Angelo 

The way I painted the My Paramount was,
Epoxy primer sealer
Primer base coat
2 coats of silver paint
Flamboyant red paint , 2 coats
3 coats of clear

The red red being almost translucent. So, one has to keep in mind the number of coats applied.

Hudson308 

Yowza that's a beautiful color! I'd call it a candy Aqua, although everyone seems to prefer "Teal" since the 80's. Whatever you call it, I call it gorgeous!

Michael Angelo 

That's "Cromovelato" finish, Paint over chrome. Different from a Flamboyant type paint job. Very beautiful.

big chainring 

Lenton58 

orangeology, Michael Angelo: Thanx. I think I'll stick to bread and butter solid colour and just enjoy this thread for the exotica. I'd like a pro finish on two frames of mine, but the chickens aren't laying, and the cow has run dry.

I'd like to see a sticky or something to enshrine this sort of craft.

rootboy 

Here's a question for you Flamboyantistas... it's apparent that the paint used for use over chrome needs to be transparent. Or semi-transparent at least. Is there a special type of paint needed for these finishes? Seem like a lot of paints, more opaque, just wouldn't do.

Alex Moll

How about an original Flam Green '63 Jack Taylor. The original clear coat failed on this one (a yellow opaque mess.) So, it took a lot of elbow grease, various compounds (Scratch X, etc) and careful use of my fingernails to bring this one back to life.

Dawes-man

If you click on the photo, it'll take you to the photo in the album, then you can select the right or left arrows to see the others.