Smarkhams paint

[smarkham]

Well here are my first 2 shells. I painted about 5 shells over 10 years ago before I gave up racing. Now im back racing thought I better have another go at painting. First one is a bit shabby but the second is getting there. Bought a gravity fed brush and a shed load of paints yesterday from rcs Jonmiller so there will be pleanty more to come :thumbsup:

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/223601_10150251073430986_680800985_7984105_8179494 _n.jpg

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/307457_10150264230335986_680800985_8123274_4484675 _n.jpg

[eyeayen]

Good shape to your flames ! Nice job !

[smarkham]

Cheers I did cheat with them I had some old xxx main masks that had been sat in my loft so used those.

[U1timate PigDog]

Looking good :thumbsup:

[jonmiller]

lookin good buddy

glad to be of service


:)

[smarkham]

Pitboard painted with just a stencil and transparent createx paints :thumbsup:

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/293411_10150273131500986_680800985_8217078_494714_ n.jpg

[jonmiller]

sweet, liking it bud

:thumbsup:

[U1timate PigDog]

Very nice, looking good.

[smarkham]

Thanks for the comments :) Heres my first go on lexan with the createx


http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/309189_10150284284995986_680800985_8305500_1254586 296_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/320020_10150284285495986_680800985_8305512_1817143 615_n.jpg

[smarkham]

Painted this one today for the same guy as the last one
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/312089_10150289883495986_680800985_8339454_1166214 573_n.jpg

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/291771_10150289884515986_680800985_8339465_1262283 693_n.jpg

[eyeayen]

I prefer the design on the newer one with the symmetry ! Looks better.

Good colours too. You should get some of the Faskolor glitter stuff, you can get Faswhite glitter I think, would look ace with the other colours against it !

[smarkham]

Cheers I did think about doing it with pearl white. Looks better in the flesh though cant capture all you colours that well using my phone.

[eyeayen]

Photography is the painters enemy ! :thumbdown:

If I ever find a camera that can capture the deepness of candies, the brightness of neon's and the detail when you have bright contrasting colours together I'll be sure to let you all know :lol:

[The Chef]

Cameras can capture it in natural sunlight or you need multiple flashes around the subject to lift the image's. Give the depths and colours. The problem with capturing it is the kit is very expensive.:thumbdown:

[U1timate PigDog]

I prefer the design on the newer one with the symmetry ! Looks better.

Good colours too. You should get some of the Faskolor glitter stuff, you can get Faswhite glitter I think, would look ace with the other colours against it !


+1 This one looks much nicer, I don't think you did a bad job on the other but the symetrical design just seems to work better. Looks really nice and bright.

Good Job:thumbsup:

[smarkham]

Cheers for the comments guys heres another one for you. :thumbsup: Same paint but with the purple ond orange reversed.
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/297188_10150306995135986_680800985_8433056_1344569 531_n.jpg

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/303194_10150306996195986_680800985_8433059_2129914 017_n.jpg

[jonmiller]

hey buddy, how you getting on since we spoke mate?

[smarkham]

Hi Jon sealing it works fine mate stops it scratching off thanks for your help :thumbsup:

[eyeayen]

The shadow on the orange looks too dark :( Or maybe you've done over the back of it with the purple ?

To get more subtle shadows try using a red to shade it or if you mix it and don't think it's dark enough try just putting a spot of brown or black in it and I mean a tiny spot, you can always add more but too much and you'll kill the original colour. That would shade better I think, that's just my opinion though.

If it is the purple bleeding through, next time back the orange with white before you do the purple, it should keep it's vibrancy then.

Anyway... I don't know how you intended the design to look so I'll get me coat now.

[smarkham]

Hi eyeayen its black shading he just saked me to copy the last one but reversing the purple and orange. I agree though something a tad lighter than black would have looked better. Still a massive learing curve for me a the mo. :)

[U1timate PigDog]

Hi eyeayen its black shading he just saked me to copy the last one but reversing the purple and orange. I agree though something a tad lighter than black would have looked better. Still a massive learing curve for me a the mo. :)


Yea its a touch dark on the shadow a mixture of deep red and orange might of worked well but I still think it looks pretty good, tho I do prefer the original colour design you did but you seem to be get good at this design :D

Keep the work coming.

[eyeayen]

I think you need to talk the customer around as you're the one wielding the airbrush and they're the one asking for your expertise ! Also you need to ask them do they want it black and orange fade or do you want it to look like a shadow, if it's a shadow try and use a darker colour in the same spectrum, so orange would need a red / brown over it to darken it, yellow would need a yellow/orange mix or a yellow brown mix etc etc.

The designs you are doing are cool, I just think if you made it look more like a shadow than a painted colour it would give it that extra depth and bring it onto the next level.

A lot about all this is explaining to the customer that something else might look better on their design than the colours they've chosen. I don't mean completely change it, just to give it that little extra, and once it's done and they've seen it they'll understand.

[smarkham]

Painted this one for myself today. Its actually purple not blue but my phone gets confused with the pearl effect i think lol. :)


http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/308426_10150309310520986_680800985_8449721_1171984 060_n.jpg

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/307101_10150309311985986_680800985_8449749_1810554 406_n.jpg

[jonmiller]

looks really good buddy.

if you had a more realistic drop shadow on the flames i think it would have looked even better. or a pinstripe maybe.

[smarkham]

Cheers Jon. I wanted a pinstripe and shadow drops but its still a bit beyond me at the moment. Im not using liquid mask yet so it can only get better.

[RogerM]

That is looking really good mate, looking forward to seeing it for real if I ever make it back to the TC club.

Seems to me your improving hugely with each one (and you weren't to shabby to start with!)

[eyeayen]

Get some Liquid Mask, it will turn things around for you !

White or Red pin lines would look ace with that !

Nice job !

[cyclonetog]

I think you need to talk the customer around as you're the one wielding the airbrush and they're the one asking for your expertise !

*waves*

That's not exactly the way it's going down. I'm running smarkhams paint because Stu is happy to do it and I'm happy to help get his name out there...

I can paint too, sort of...

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5110/5619523079_273ec7e680_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclone5/5619523079/)
(My) Hot BodiesTCX (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclone5/5619523079/) by cyclone5 (http://www.flickr.com/people/cyclone5/), on Flickr

...but if Stu wants to practice on my shells that's fine by me, saves me a job :thumbsup:

Also I don't have any purple paint lol.

[eyeayen]

I'm not knocking Stu's paint by any means, I just think if he had some liquid mask it would take it to the next level, he's clearly got talent.

Likewise I've liked the way he's painting the shells he's posted I just didn't think the black and orange went as well as his previous attempts so thought I'd offer some friendly advice...

[smarkham]

Cheers all im new to all this so im very open to suggestions and pointers to help me along the way. I enjoy painting and thats why i do it if it turns into a chore I will probably stop and just paint shells for myself and close friends. Merv you have helped me no end with the setup of my car since I got back into racing painting your shells is the least I can do :thumbsup:

[cyclonetog]

@eyeayen From the half hour phone call at the weekend I can assure you you're right, the last job didn't go as well as the previous job!

The way I've been driving the last few weeks the shell won't last long anyway :D

[smarkham]

:D:D:D Yeah had a bit of a mare with the black overspray to start with and ended up stripping the shell and starting again after pooing my pants thinking I had trashed the shell. Didnt do too bad a job at recovering what looked like a total loss.

[smarkham]

Some better pics of my latest for you all now its mounted and with a proper camera so it doesnt look blue.


http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/300411_10150313646230986_680800985_8474602_1081790 326_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/310663_10150313646760986_680800985_8474604_1018347 764_n.jpg

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/306479_10150313647000986_680800985_8474605_3328126 61_n.jpg

[eyeayen]

Those photo's have come out well, show it all off nicely !

[smarkham]

First go at pinstripe was all done with masking tape and spray cans pretty happy with the result. :thumbsup:
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/382936_10150343069095986_680800985_8640689_3861178 01_n.jpg

[eyeayen]

I love limited colour palettes, that looks ace ! Good job with rattle cans too !

Nice neat masking, you've done well :thumbsup:

[smarkham]

Thanks Im starting to learn simple is better sometimes :thumbsup:

[smarkham]

Tried some transparent red on this but the floro orange blocked it out any tips ?
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/377714_10150344394760986_680800985_8652765_1272819 630_n.jpg

[eyeayen]

Transparent colours are tricky to judge. Essentially what should have happened is you got a very unique bright red. I can't really tell from the photo's though. When backing transparents sparkly colours work best, silvers or golds give that 'American Hot Rod / Candy' look, a dark pink or red will give a colour depth that you can fall into because of the transparent.

I've had success using Pearl White, it needs to be quite a sparkly one though and on the brighter side not the yellowy ones, it also gives the best colour as obviously it's white. Sometimes using a straight white is good too as it gives a real intense colour that you wouldn't get using a straight colour the same.

Fluorescent colours are a bit tricky to work with for special effects. You said the fluro blocked it out, there are a few things it could be. The colours are 2 similar, or maybe it wasn't quite dense enough and has just got lost with the amount of Fluro you've had to build up. Sorry I'm actually not understanding if you've covered the entire orange / red area with the transparent colour or you've just tried a fade on the edge ? It's just a practice thing really.

What you're trying to do is cool, practice on off cuts of lexan though rather than doing it live on the actual body as if it doesn't work on an off cut it's no bother and you can spend time in perfecting it, just work on a small piece each time, this way you have perfect colour samples to show customers and if it comes out hideously you can just bin it, then customers don't ever need to know, unfortunately doing it live on a shell doesn't have the advantage of being able to hide anything that goes the shape of the pear.

The shell looks fine to me, a pinline between the colours would have been nice to see, black is obvious but would have picked it out, or you could have gone for maybe a metallic blue or a gold ?

[smarkham]

Cheers for the info. I was trying a drop shadow on the orange with a pretty dark red It looked really good to start with but the more orang I built up the less define it became.

[jonmiller]

add a drop or two of opaque red to the trans or, make more passes with the trans red. the transparents are not completely transparent, they contain opaque fillers that when built up will achieve a certain level of opacity.

judging by the purple, although hard to tell from pics, it looks like it is a tad light/patchy so i would guess you just needed to make more passes.

you could also use a complimentary color to do the shadows on the orange like a trans purple. or add a few drops to the t red.

either way, experiment and see what works for you.


:)

[smarkham]

Well not posted for a while one I did a few weeks back

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/393680_10150407421910986_680800985_8878907_1306321 590_n.jpg

[smarkham]

And one from today

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/395165_10150448883430986_680800985_9048267_7283144 23_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/405872_10150448884970986_680800985_9048270_1183982 467_n.jpg

[smarkham]

Girst buggy shell not as easy as they look these days

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/312552_10150320788430986_680800985_8516578_5371142 76_n.jpg

[smarkham]

And something different

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/302323_10150329212135986_680800985_8560159_1331257 239_n.jpg

[cyclonetog]

Where you been hiding?

Got anything new for Friday?

[smarkham]

Just been busy with work mate but starting to calm down a bit now so getting back to painting :thumbsup:

[smarkham]

First go with liquid mask think there will be pleanty more not perfect but pretty happy with it
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/402413_10150452730980986_680800985_9068800_1396319 542_n.jpg

[smarkham]

Shame my camera wont show the floro colours though :mad:

[cyclonetog]

I was just about to ask which mask you bought and saw the RCS bottle in the corner of the pic.
I bought some myself and it's good eh? Will bring the shell to club with me.

How did you apply it?

[smarkham]

Yeah its great stuff was a bit thin in places I used a paintbrush but think it would be better and go further through a gun.

[cyclonetog]

I did exactly the same thing, brushed it on too thin in places but where I got it right it was great.
I don't have an airbrush it'll go through though :(

[smarkham]

Neither do i yet but think it would be a good investment but need to look into what guns it will go through first. Will save loads of time and effort will defo be using it again :thumbsup:

[cyclonetog]

Google "HVLP" ;)

[smarkham]

Already been looking at em the 1.7mm gun is only £26

[eyeayen]

If you get a gun you need to look at how much air is need to work it properly, if you try and do it off an airbrush compressor one little squeeze of the trigger will empty the tank in a nano second, you really need a 25ltr tank even to power a small gun with a 1.0mm nozzle. 1.7 is too big for LM, I wouldn't go about 1.3/1.4.

[smarkham]

Yeah wasnt planning on running it off my airbrush compressor. I do have an old 20ltr noisy as hell thing i was going to try running it off :)

[smarkham]

Think the stickers have bought it to life very happy with this one now :)

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/405271_10150454679740986_680800985_9076103_1724877 961_n.jpg

[cyclonetog]

The wing looks absolutely massive lol.

[smarkham]

Yeah it was a bit big cut it down a bit more now lol :thumbsup:

[smarkham]

A pair of dna shells I painted for my xrays still suffering with static :thumbdown:

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/383722_10150460128535986_680800985_9096153_1917129 880_n.jpg

[smarkham]

A few to keep me going for this season http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/428363_10150499345075986_680800985_9219971_1610756 855_n.jpg

[jonmiller]

good to see ya posting again buddy.

get some rcs body prep to eleviate those problems ;)

[smarkham]

Cheers Jon I have some but not had chance to try it yet. got to order a new needle for my gun before I can paint anything else bent it like a numpty cleaning it :mad:

[jonmiller]

just bend it back, i've been painting with a f'd needle for ages now. perhaps that's why my painting sucks. hahaha :woot:

[eyeayen]

How bent is it ? Can you not straighten it out. If it's just the tip is a bit hooked you can do it on a sheet of glass with the end of a scalpel blade, any airbrush book should detail how to do it, there are a lot of vids on you tube showing it but they're not all good and I've not got the time to go through them to find the decent one...

Jon - RCS Bodyprep - does it work with solvent based paint too or is it only for waterbased ? Reason I ask is I was going to be doing some solvent based painting tomorrow and I also noticed Sharkhams has a lot of Pactra in the background.

[smarkham]

It has a nice harsh kink in the end of it rather than a bend will give it a go though. The pactra stuff in the background is pretty much redundant these days not used any for about a year cant be arsed with all the cleaning between colours. I have the full createx range thanks to Jon:thumbsup:. Your painting is still awesome Jon my main problem is :thumbsup:the brush spitting and not having a smooth paint flow im assuming this is cos the needle is bent ?

[eyeayen]

Is it because it's collecting in the aircap and spitting out, if you see any of the american painters on TV airbrushing motorbikes and stuff they never have the the last piece of the aircap on, it's dodgey though and very easy to catch the needle and bend it.

[smarkham]

Cheers for the advice spraying without the aircap on the brush was much better :thumbsup:

[gingapaint]

Aye, the caps a pain in the hole. I borrowed a mate's eclipse a while ago while I was stuck, she was using a castle type cap, and it was pretty good, without the risk of me mashing the needle!

[cyclonetog]

perhaps that's why my painting sucks. hahaha :woot:

yeah you're rubbish :rolleyes:

I've seen the Xray review shell you did up close and your work is stunning mate. Superclean.

[eyeayen]

a castle type cap, and it was pretty good, without the risk of me mashing the needle!

They are really cool and also allow you to get closer to the job without that spidery effect happening. That said they give a slightly softer line when you're doing fine stuff.