Water Slide Decal on Sparkle Paint

I tried a similar type of glitter paint on an enclosure. To get the right glitter coverage required a pretty thick buildup of paint, and the resulting surface was very very rough. I tried spraying a couple coats of clear over top in hopes that it would fill in low spots but it didn't work very well. The decal didn't stick to the rough surface very well and the roughness also made it a dust magnet. It looked terrible after a while and I ended up tossing the enclosure. So yeah, for a sparkle finish a powdercoat would probably be a better option.
 
They do make a solution you can put on the decal that kind of melts it to a rough surface, someone, maybe @peccary, linked it in a post a good while back
 
flemming said:
Model builders will sometimes use decal softening solution. Here's an example:


I don't have any first hand experience with it, but others might.
Click to expand...
This sounds intriguing. One thing though is I have had the ink from laser printed water slide decals run when put in the water, so I always spray a couple light coats of clear before I cut and submerge the decal. This step might defeat what it seems like the Micro Sol does.
 
flemming said:
Model builders will sometimes use decal softening solution. Here's an example:


I don't have any first hand experience with it, but others might.
Click to expand...

Yep, this is the stuff. I haven't done modeling in a long while but this stuff is great. It allowed the waterslide decals to conform to tiny rivets, creases, etc. It will make the decal more fragile and soft, though, so you need to be extra careful when handling them.
 
Does anyone know anyplace that sells powder coated enclosures with a glitter/sparkly finish? I looked a little but haven’t seen much.
 
You can get rattle can glitter paint smooth, but it's a huge pain. I did it once on a guitar, and it was like:
  1. primer
  2. regular blue paint
  3. blue glitter paint
  4. wait 3x longer than you think for it to dry
  5. sand (but not too much or you'll blow through the glitter)
  6. a stupid amount of clear (like multiple cans, which can't all be applied at once or the bottom layers will never cure)
  7. wait 50x times longer than you think for it to cure
  8. wet sand
There was some trial and error in my case and it wasn't this linear, but I think those are the steps I'd take if I wanted to do it again. Which I don't.

Hopefully the glitter powerdcoat is smoother, or can be leveled without needing a ludicrous amount of clear. I think Gorva has a couple sparkle colors, but not many.

13-reflectionjpg.jpg
 
chip said:
You can get rattle can glitter paint smooth, but it's a huge pain. I did it once on a guitar, and it was like:
  1. primer
  2. regular blue paint
  3. blue glitter paint
  4. wait 3x longer than you think for it to dry
  5. sand (but not too much or you'll blow through the glitter)
  6. a stupid amount of clear (like multiple cans, which can't all be applied at once or the bottom layers will never cure)
  7. wait 50x times longer than you think for it to cure
  8. wet sand
There was some trial and error in my case and it wasn't this linear, but I think those are the steps I'd take if I wanted to do it again. Which I don't.

Hopefully the glitter powerdcoat is smoother, or can be leveled without needing a ludicrous amount of clear. I think Gorva has a couple sparkle colors, but not many.

View attachment 27550
Click to expand...
That looks amazing! Lefty here too.

Thanks but that is more work than I'm willing to do.
 
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