i like what you did with the finish on the shells and the hardware. very neat.

mike

Ya very cool looking! How did yo get that finish?

Wow! That is a classy looking kit. Great job. The hardware and shells really compliment each other.

-Tim

That is a killer looking kit and I bet it sounds great as well. It looks like you have a combination of new and stock hardware on the kit. Did you have of that finished as well? If so, how did you do it?

prep the wood

watered down stain

base color coat

crackle coat

top color coat

distress top coat

gel stain

shellac

That's pretty much the basic method. I can see a bit of variance to yours. What adjustments/customizing did you do to this one?

Also, I love that you went with chrome tensioners. They lay well against the top coat color choice and allow the antiqued brass/bronze to pop right off the shell. Excellent move.

That's a very nice kit.

Hi guys,

i am really happy you like what i've done with these shells as most of my friends just go with the dull faces but then they aren't drummies...

Yes, i left some of the original hardware. I felt i could save a few quid and

it was still gonna look cool. At the time i didn't realize that the original

Premier brackets were castings to a very high standard and as such i'd have a hard time taking the chrome off and copper plating them! The guys that did that for me were gonna kill me afterwords as they almost broke their equipment doing it. That was not the case with the new parts. All went smooth as they were machined from steel. After copper plating i felt all the hardware needed to be weathered (darker looking) so i did that 'till the point i was happy with the color. Then i left all the metal parts to age for...i think about 4-5 weeks as the process of oxidation continued. Then 000 wool them followed by a powder lacquering. Now i was gonna kill the guy that did that as the "transparent" powder lacquer he was talking about wasn't exactly transparent and showed some yellowish qualities. Happily when i "married" the hardware to the shells they kissed! That was lucky! As for the finish. Yes, it is crackled one. I've done a week of testing on older shells and to my surprise it was not the obvious choice of crackle medium! And yes, i could tell you how i've done this exact take on a crackle finish but then...you know...singer

;)

p.s. From now on: "Do the hardware before the shells"! ;)

That's such a look look on the shells I love it. The whole package really goes well together.... great work. I can understand you not wanting to let on to the paint details but is it actually cracked or simulated to look cracked? Just curious. VERY hard to tell which it is. I guess that is what you wanted. It worked very well too. Walking

Hi and thank you for the nice comment! Yes it is cracked, not a simulation and it has a really nice and thick texture to it. Yet it is so strong i could take a wrap off a shell 10x quicker than to take off this finish.

x

ros

Great job on the finish.. and really unique match with the hardware..

Congratulations on a job well done..

(If you don't have a name for the finish, how's about? "Google Maps")

Cheers