Mixing Poweder Paint

[Bender]

What are the results of mixing powder paint colors? I am not sure if it is possible to get a homogeneous mixture so that the base color will change or if there will just be splotches of the additional color. I have a brown that I would like to darken up and thought about adding some black.

Also have any of you added glitter to your paint? If so what kind and did it "melt" into the paint or just sit on top or not get on the jig head at all? I know there are "off the shelf" products, but I would like to make my own.

[EironBreaker]

Mix away. I buy glitter separately and add to certain colors to get effects without buying large amounts. Glitter doesn't melt.

If the powder paint is the same kind, mixing will do what you want. You can't mix a vein with a smooth and expect to see the veining unless you add very little of smooth. I try to keep track of my combination % so if I get a good color, I can make it again.

[cadman]

I've experimented a lot with powder paints, and Eironbreaker is right some powdered textures you can mix whatever you want, and they don't come out right. I have mixed 4 or 5 different manufacturers paint, and the all will blend in. When you say the word mix, I assume you mean take a tablespoon of blue and a tablespoon of yellow, put the two together mix it up and then apply it. You will get a shade of green. You will never get a true solid color pigment by mixing two other colors. In order for a true solid, the actual powder pigment must be made. I will say you will get some cool looking effects. Also remember when you apply a mixed paint over a jig, the color may be one thing, but when you bake it for 15 minutes, it may turn out like something else. Like Eironbreaker said, document your ratios. This is a very tedious process, but sometimes well worth it.

[george12182]

I am just getting started powder painting as well. Although I have no first hand experience with the glitter some information seemed to be consistent in reading through other posts. Depending on the glitter, some if it will melt. You either need a high temp glitter or any of the ones designed for powder paint. Protec sells the glitter seperate if you want to mix or several companies sell it mixed already with a clear top coat. You can't mix the glitter directly with all colors. Some colors just asorb the glitter. For these colors you have to mix the glitter with a clear powder and then give it a topcoat. The colors you can mix directly with glitter are the candy colors.

Any of the more experienced members, please correct me if I misstated anything.

[smalljaw]

Some colors mix well by simply adding them together, I got the pro-tec smoke and it was very dark, almost black which isn't what I was looking for so I mixed black, white, and a bit of silver together in a small jar and shook it really good, you could still see some seperation in the jar but as soon as I applied it to a jig it came out an awesome shade of gray which was slightly darker than I wanted but it made for a great shad color on a spinnerbait.

[rsinyard]

Also remember when you apply a mixed paint over a jig, the color may be one thing, but when you bake it for 15 minutes, it may turn out like something else. quote]

I got a recipe off of here some years back for green pumpkin. It didn't come out nothing like green pumpkin but it was a very cool color. I made a skirt to look like a yellow perch and that is what I called the color. That being said, I had to cover the heads with epoxy because if I baked them in the oven the color came out very dull and didn't look good. That is the great thing about TU. Somebody has tried anything you can think of at one time or another. So as a collective knowledge place, you can't beat what we have here.

[Jig Man]

I have been mixing some cheap pp with Pro Tech. It mixes best in the fluid bed while it is floating and like stated it doesn't look the same until baked but I like some of the results.

[wardsmit]

I have mixed a lot of the colors and rather than try to get a specific color, I keep record of the ratio/% and then have a fair chance of duplicating if I want to later. It takes some patience because it looks one color in raw form, another when painted and a lot of times even more different if you cure. I have had excellent success with the glitters and have even mixed glitters in with some clear and put on as a top coat. When I get a color I like I just call it whatever it appears to me and mark that as my color on the bottle and in the record diary. I have also tried adding pigments to the powder with some success. A little goes a long way. If I want to add more powder in a mix without adding color, I use the clear. I get the powder but not more color. I just enjoy the experimentation and the unique colors I get by mixing.