Mitch,

Looks great!

Creighton

Awesome, informative and entertaining read. Great job!

Thanks again guys!

It was fun to experiment with this. The wrap is currently off the kit as the music project I'm heading into works better with the Rustic Mahogany look [although I plan to give the shells a rubbing with a good walnut stain to darken them, more on that later...]. Ha ha yes, all that work, but I have the wrap rolled up and standing by if needed...it did take longer than an hour and a half to remove, I'll admit. Glad I didn't glue anything down!

I must stress again in summing up - the finished wrap is perhaps too pliant, or "chewy", due to the particular rigidity [or lack thereof] of the Dura Lar. This results in buckling or wrinkles in the panels between casings, especially if a tom mount or leg bracket lives in a panel. I would suggest a more rigid base material than Dura Lar, despite my earlier cheer-leading of the product. Oh well, that's what this thread was for - to learn from my mistakes.

The wrap certainly *looks* great though, so if you have shells that are true [cylindrical], and glue this wrap all the way around the shell, I would say it's perfectly viable. The only remaining quibble might be the casings "sinking" into the wrap a bit too much if over-tightened. A hard-drying glue might prevent this issue.

Overall conclusion, the basic idea of a clear rigid substrate, with glitter of some sort applied using a clear-drying adhesive, has potential and is worth further experimentation. I think the base/substrate is the key. I thought I had it in the Dura Lar, but if anyone should come across a good [more] rigid clear material that's not too cost prohibitive, let us know here....I might take up the challenge again in future...

Mitch

I don't know how I missed this entire process,Have very much enjoyed this entire thread thanks, Jeff !!

Hi Mark, not sure who this "Jeff" is, but glad you enjoyed the thread! :)

Mitch [who has a brother named Jeff...]

Okay nobody changes their mind as much as I do! So I glued this homemade wrap onto the shells over the weekend. I didn't want the white-knuckle experience of contact cement, not to mention I'd have to take a drive and spend $40+ for a tub of the clear-drying stuff. Wood glue made the last project wrap [gold sparkle] wrinkle up too much on drying. So I went with a flooring adhesive, because I wanted to be able to trowel it on pretty thick, with the lines like they do on floors. It worked great during application - wrap just sets on there, make a couple of adjustments, boom!

Only thing is, the adhesive "reactivated" the polymer emulsion in some spots, so there are blue-ish foggy patches in the wrap. The adhesive can take two weeks to fully cure, so I'm hoping the foggy areas will slowly disappear as moisture is absorbed by the shell. Anyway I seriously don't deserve this crap lol! Even if I had tested a patch that patch may not have exhibited the reaction....

The solution is a more rigid substrate and adhesives that don't react with each other, or one adhesive for the glitter-to-substrate and wrap-to-shell. Still the kit looks pretty darn awesome, but in the end I have posted looking for silver sparkle Club Date shells [no hardware/badges needed] in the "wanted to buy" section.....

Mitch

Mitch the kit looks fantastic!

+1 with jeff here !!

Thanks guys!

Forgot to mention, along with the definite need for a more rigid substrate, and testing of adhesives/emulsions, anyone trying this would do well to go for the 40 grit glass glitter. The 80 is a bit small for the purpose.

The picture is taken from a flattering angle, on purpose of course :) From certain angles it's heart-meltingly perfect looking, from others...not so much. Suffice to say I'm on the hunt for orphan Club Date shells with original wrap on them....:)

Mitch

Looks great Mitch. I hope the foggy areas just need to out gas. And not a reaction. Either way a wicked cool project. Keep us posted how it drys.