FSU color mica and/or dye

[NJturner]

I've been asked to make some blanks for a good friend whose daughter is graduating from Florida State University. He wants to make a nice pen set for her as a present. I'm trying my best to get a blank that is true to the FSU colors - Garnet and Gold. The gold is not super difficult, but getting a red that is the right tone for the garnet color is problematic. I ordered some mica from PTownSubbie - Premium Chroma Pearl Ruby Red and some Wine color mica and I am waiting for them to arrive to see if they are going to work. I use alumilite clear slow for the pour. I am thinking there must be someone here who has had the same color request in the past. Any suggestions?

Also wondering if I need to add some base color to the resin, like a white, to cut the transparency of the blank, as my friend is a component pen builder and will be using a brass tube. I suggested painting the hole in the blank to him, to hide things, but am also concerned this will throw off the color match.

Thank you all in advance!

Kevin

 

[Fred Bruche]

You can use the color codes (HEX number, RGB,...) and get an exact match by custom order here. Great color saturation, no worries about tubes showing.

 

[JohnU]

In my experience, red is the hardest color to get right. If you're using mica's I've found mixing dyes with them is a good way to "tweak" the colors. I usually use the alumilite transparent red dye with the eye candy red micas. They have a large selection of red based micas. I would suggest starting with a little of each and pouring some sample colors, keeping notes so you can reproduce your results on a larger scale once you find the one that works.

 

[NJturner]

Thank you John and Fred! I agree with you - red is pretty tough, and it's affected by a lot of things when casting, so I have already warned my friend that this will be 'close but maybe no cigar'. I've got some colors coming from Divine and from Eye Candy - and I ordered some extra Alumilite since they are having a St. Patty's day sale so I can take a bunch of shots at this! I will let my friend pick his favorite and make something else from the rest.

I just purchased a new pressure pot from California Air so I can increase the length of my casting from blocks to bespoke 8.5" without worrying about the lid hitting the tubes, so I have some new issues with pouring, blending, etc so the project will be a fun experiment!