What Pearl-Ex powder colors you use most???

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When you guys use the pearlex, do you use mixol as a base color and which ones? I am new to pearlex and when I did it before i put what I thought was a generous amount in my casting and when turned it was only a faint coloring of the powders. I'm trying to really get it down, like the amalgamutts! The swirling in those looks awesome.
 
Russett and all the golds are some I use the most. Specially Aztec and Antique gold. The dark blue I forget the name and all the Pearls, both Macro and micro.
Brian I sometimes use an opaque dye. I think mine are castin' craft brand. It usually depends on the effect I'm trying to get. It may just be me but it seems that the more opaque I use the less depth I have in the finished casting.
 
You Have to remember that you are going to Dilute your cast so Make it twice as intense as you want....it takes a bit of experimenting to know what you gonna get..

I also use some of the Alumilite Dyes and mixol....
I have just about every combo pack that Peralex Makes and I am not shy to use them!
 
mick said:
It may just be me but it seems that the more opaque I use the less depth I have in the finished casting.
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I think the same thing- the more opaque you make it, the less depth you have.
OTOH, the more opaque you make it, the less you need to paint your tubes.
 
russet red, green, white, gold, bronze
I drop some testors paint into the mix to make it more less transparent..it is still transparent but not as much as pearlex by itself.

come to the meeting in march, bring your health insurance card just in case, and we'll cast some stuff!
 
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GouletPens said:
When you guys use the pearlex, do you use mixol as a base color and which ones? I am new to pearlex and when I did it before i put what I thought was a generous amount in my casting and when turned it was only a faint coloring of the powders.
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From my humble experiences I was also expecting a much higher tint to be in the final casting but found that is just not the case when using Pearl-Ex alone.

FWIW - Through testing and practice I have found that, for the most part, PE adds a metallic tint and color dispersion (sparkle) based on the PE colorant you choose (especially the interference colors). I recently did a casting using only the Micro Perl White and did not add any base dye and the casting came out nearly transparent - mark that batch up to experience. :cool:

In order to achieve a higher level of opacity I had to add a base dye to the mixture (I use the mixol OR Trans-Tint dyes). When casting Alumalite, I personally like to use about 8 drops of dye per 60 grams of Part A (or 120g for A+B) resin. I know others who only use 4 drops of dye per 50 grams of Part A - so you have to figure out what works for you. I don't know of any hard and fast rules here.

I have also found that painting the tubes different shades of the base dye color will achieve different results in the final casting. For example, I was having trouble with my reds, but found spray painting the tubes a bright red gave me the results I expected. When I painted the tubes white, it gave a much softer red than I wanted but did not interfere with the golds.

So for me, I found it's a trade off of sorts - use white and heighten/Lighten all of the colors, or use a darker base and darken the overall look.

If anyone has a better understanding of how the PE is suppose to behave in resin - would love to learn more. I only know what I have learned in the shop late at night with a cold beer and rock-n-roll blaring in the background. :biggrin:

Hope this helps.
 
Jeff I most likely will make the meeting and I was going to bring some scroll saw wood for you.Do you use 1/4" stuff much?If you do we might need to talk,as I can supply some nice exotics I get from a source of mine.Its a little random on what I get and when.We will talk more at the meeting and I'll bring a box of wood out(remind me to bring the wood,LOL).Thank you everyone for your input,Victor
 
I use Testor Acrylic paint for the base color and then use a Pearlex of choice, depending on what I am trying to achieve. Normally don't have to paint the tubes then. If that is a concern I just paint them the color that I am using.

Usually a similar color or shade, sometimes it really changes the base color depending on the amount of Pearlex used.
 
All wood is useful in some way or another Victor. I'm just saying I don't scroll wood that thin. It's great for laminating! I'm workin for wood here...if you get what I'm saying!

Mater of fact..would be great wood for making puzzle boxes to put pens in. Might as well make my to do list unachievable.
 
I will bring some out for you sir and maybe I can get one of your casted blanks to play with???I bring a few different things out to the meeting that you guys might find neat.Can't wait to meet you and the rest of the guys(I meet 11 nice guys the first meeting).Victor
 
So I bought a few containers of Pearlex about 4 months ago from AC Moore. I went there today to buy some more colors and couldn't find them anywhere. This was the same store I bought them from before. Did they move them or put them in a new container? I checked AC Moore's website when i got to work and they still list that they sell them. I went to Micheal's too and none there either.
 
She that's where I thought they were but didn't see them there. I am going to go back to AC on my way home and ask somebody. I would rather buy the colors I want rather than a multi pack if I can.
 
When I first found it about 4 months ago AC Moore had about 15 individual colors but today I didn't see any. Wish I would have bought more when i had the chance.
 
andyk said:
I use Testor Acrylic paint for the base color and then use a Pearlex of choice, depending on what I am trying to achieve. Normally don't have to paint the tubes then. If that is a concern I just paint them the color that I am using.

Usually a similar color or shade, sometimes it really changes the base color depending on the amount of Pearlex used.
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Did you mix Testor Acrylic paint with PR or Alumilite? Has anyone mixed it with PR?
 
So I went back to AC Moore and spoke with somebody. She said they are no longer going to be selling PearlEx. I don't know if this is a local thing or not. They had 2 5oz jars and about 12 of the multi packs for 15.00. Didn't really have the colors I wanted so I guess I will have to order online from now on. I did end up buying 2 multi packs and the 2 jars.
 
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