Carbon fiber faux finish question...

[bnoon]

Has anyone perfected a faux carbon fiber look painting technique? I saw a guy use a drywall mesh tape to spray silver and gray accents over a dark gray/black base on a Discovery Bike Buildoff show a while back and was wondering if anyone has seen anything similar or better in person or on the web. Doesn't look like to many people have pulled it off from what I've been able to find the last two afternoons searching the web.

Time to dust off the old air brush and try some scrap metal tests!

[RobM]

id just use the real thing.... get carbon cloth tape or sheets and soak resin over it and sand/wet sand smooth. the only reason i see this not working out is UV rays break down alot of resins and epoxies.

[Happyfunballs]

Hit it with a clear after that and sand and buff it. No worries.

[CoryM]

Carbon fibre is only about $30-40/yard so I would sooner use the real deal. You need 3-4 layers for non-structural stuff or use kevlar for the under layers and CF for the top. Kevlar is about $20/yard and very strong. Not sure if you can just bond a layer of CF over steel parts to get the look or not but it would probably work for interior bits just fine.
Cheers.

[bnoon]

Carbon fiber isn't THAT thin is it? I'm talking a stripe or an accent graphic of some kind on the paint job somewhere... Would it really fit under layers of clear without throwing off the paint surface?

[CoryM]

Well generally you use a exopy to smooth it and leave a paintable surface. You need to epoxy it to hold it on anyhow so no reason not to. If you are leaving it clear you have to clearcoat it. Never measured but it is about .010-.050" thick I would guess. You can buy "carbon fibre tissue" which is around .004" thick but its hard (impossible?) to get in a very large piece. BTW now that I think of it I have bonded CF to steel and it was fairly easy but you need bare steel to attach to.

[Happyfunballs]

I've set up carbon fiber in a plain ol' fiberglass resin and it worked just fine. It was a gauge panel and didn't need to be super strong. Once it set up, I blocked the surface, careful not to burn through the top layer of resin, applied a couple more coats of resin, blocking it each time, then a final coat of clear....looked really cool.

[FSTFBDY]

Exelent site for carbonfiber/kevlar etc..

http://www.fibreglast.com/phpBB2/ind...0e340842924966

[bnoon]

Exelent site for carbonfiber/kevlar etc..

http://www.fibreglast.com/phpBB2/ind...0e340842924966

Yeah, I've been to that site before. It does have quite a wealth of info on there... I think I'll order some of the thin stuff in a very small square and give it a try on a scrap piece of car roof I have... A friend installs sunroofs/etc and I can get sheet metal all day long from his scrap pile so that I don't have to waste my time trying to unbond a mistake from my hood, LOL!

[paulk68]

I might be missing what you are getting at but do you want a paint scheme that looks like carbon fiber? if you do a company called total performance out of connecticut deals with t-buckets and they have a carbon fiber paint scheme on the display vehicle.
Paul

[bnoon]

I might be missing what you are getting at but do you want a paint scheme that looks like carbon fiber? if you do a company called total performance out of connecticut deals with t-buckets and they have a carbon fiber paint scheme on the display vehicle.
Paul

Yes, exactly. Faux CF painted accents... such as stripes, emblems, graphics, etc. Do they have a website? Searched and came up empty...

[paulk68]

The website is tperformance.com i looked on the site but did not see a pic of it but i bet if you ask they might be able to help you out. it had a ls1 in it with carbon fiber valve covers then the paint continued on to the firewall it looked cool.
paul

[sunkistcamaro]

I went to the Total Performance vending booth at the Stafford springs swap meet and saw the carbon fiber finish, It looks really good.

[zbugger]

Have you checked www.alsocorp.com for anything? They have tons of cool stuff. They have a laminate that is a faux carbon fiber look.

[Happyfunballs]

www.alsacorp.com bugger.

[zbugger]

www.alsacorp.com bugger.

Ummm..... yeah. That one.

[Buford's Customs]

I use Craig Fraisers book with my refinish class it is called Cheap Tricks & Special f/x. You should be able to purchase it at artool.comm. This book has lots of great tips and goes through each step. Cost is less than the materials to do real carbon. Also try airbrush action on the web or in magazine form. Carbon fiber is easy to paint you will master it in one day practice.