Did a quick search and looked up a few things on metal flake. The absolute largest flake I could find was 0.125" (1/8" or 3mm). This is considered ridiculously huge and requires not a special tip but a special gun to spray.

If you look at the original wrap here at classic vintage drums,

http://www.classicvintagedrums.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_73&products_id=378

There is a good close up of the bass drum badge. I am guessing the bottom part of the letter "g" must be around 1/8". There is one of the larger squares of glitter right under the "g" MAYBE two thirds of the square is covered. That makes the larger squares approx 3/16" or 4.5mm. There is no way those large squares are being sprayed out of a gun.

Secondly, in the original post rogersfreek mentioned using glitter from a party store so I am going to go out on a limb and say the idea is to do this with supplies available to everyone at a reasonable cost. Finish booths, specialty guns, tips and tools, pre and post cat lacquer are not things that everyone has easy access to. I am going to try to keep it simple and limit myself to supplies from the party store and finishes available at the local hardware store and see how it goes. I'll try to post some pics in the next couple days.

true they r huge so for the bigger flake they sell a applicator at the decorators supply that u spin and the glitter flys off the harder u crank the more flake spins off its used for decorating wet paint ceilings so it should do the same for this application but spray the smaller flake with a gun and clear coat when wet do the big flake and apply clear to bury then wet sand and add more clear to final wet sand with 2000 and buff

jaghog;

I am glad to see you have an interest and are involved in this thread but I was quite clear in my post that;

a) rogersfreek was asking about using glitter he already has, from a party store, not an auto finish supply store. Metal flake and glitter are not the same thing.

b) I am not buying any specialty tools, I don't think they will be necessary.

c) If you would take a moment to look at the actual finish, there is smaller glitter pieces both under and over the larger glitter pieces. The technique you are describing will not accomplish this.

d) Your technique so far requires a large compressor, pot guns or hvlp guns, specialty tips, a glitter gun, automotive metal flake, lacquers unavailable to the public and a spray booth. I own and run a cabinet shop and only have half of those things. Do you really think that most of these guys have this stuff just laying around?

Please take a moment to actually read the thread, look at the original finish and THEN shoot us some ideas.

mike17 i see your concerns and that's true but without the spray gun you cant get the right mix and the right finish, but using mechanical means (by hand ) in the old days they did a lot of brushing techniques with lacquers and the spinning wheel from the stores would distribute the fleck that's a no brainier it hand operated and u can possibly do this finish with a shake can for the clear coats i just don 't see getting that finish without some type of spray equipment any ways im just trying to be helpful good luck

mike17:

I applaud your innovative approach to replicating a Mardi Gras finish. I tried a completely different approach to copy the MG finish for a 12" Powertone tom and came close.

Here's what I tried: I found a clear vinyl sheet similar in thickness to standand wrap. Cut the sheet for the 8x12 tom, layed it flat on the floor, and sprinkled it with the glitter (small colored squares with tiny, tiny silver dots). I then gently misted the whole sheet with several coats of gloss black over the glitter, covering the glitter completely but not disturbing it. When it dried, I turned it over and the glitter shined nicely under the vinyl wrap against the black gloss backing.

If the tom stood by itself, it might have passed at a distance as Mardi Gras, but mounted on a bass with original MG finish, it didn't quite match. The problem with my technique is that all the glitter was lying in one uniform plane against the back of the vinyl. In real MG, as you've pointed out, the glitter is suspended dimensionally throughout the wrap with some of the tiny dots behind the squares and some in front. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

Good luck with your efforts and post the results!

That's a different way of approaching the Mardi Gras finish. I'm going to practice the actual glitter application first, to get the technique down, then, I'm going to paint a cardboard cylinder (12" cardboard concete form)

black and apply the different shapes of glitter to the established black back-

ground. Then, apply a series of clearcoats over the glitter. Much trial and error will take place, until I get the finish where I want it to be.