Achieving crackle paint effect à la Bryans

[longbobongo]

Nice restore job on the retreeva Gameswat.

Here are a few pics of my restored retreeva, The guy who did it made a excellent job of it. shame it wasn't me!!
All rechormed.
Professional crackle paint.
replaced the back flash.

Oh.... and the serial number is 101 first one out Mr Bryans factory. Always makes me happy to play this game.

bad news is it wasn't cheap......

[polaris]

Topic moved and merged - Site Admin.

I've been trying unsuccessfully to replicate crackle paint on Bryans cabinet. Can anyone offer any tips or advice? Would be much appreciated.

[treefrog]

Try search feature on the site....see previous links on same topic with advice and paint types.

Suggested threads now merged above - Site Admin.

[wembleylion]

I have been researching crackle finish coatings as my next ‘Build it’ project, after I have completed the Worlborl, I hope will be a Bryan’s Retreeva with a crackle finish case.

I found this video on YouTube which could, I think, give a very good Bryan’s style finish using a PVA type adhesive (Elmer's Glue, Titebond or similar) as the activator. Polyacrylic matt paint is used for the base coat, Polyacrylic gloss paint for the top coat and clear acrylic to finish off. I trawled through a lot of YouTube videos and I thought this technique would give the best chance of getting the big crackles that Bryan's achieved. I also liked the smooth sprayed finish, which I didn't see on the other videos; unfortunately, you need a spray gun to achieve this standard of finish.



Also available from PlastiKote (and others) is a two part crackle finish in aerosol cans with various colour combinations available.

I understand that the thicker the PVA and the top coat are applied the bigger the crackle effect, also the way in which the PVA is brushed out has some effect on the shape of the crackles. You will notice on the video that the majority of crackle lines seem to follow the brush strokes of the PVA; perhaps if there were random crisscross and circular brush strokes the crackle pattern could be changed but I guess that a lot of experimentation would be required to get an exact match to the Bryan’s finish.

Hope this helps. John

[polaris]

Excellent video John - helps immensely. I will do bit of experimenting. I definitely think I will invest in a spray-gun. Also I'm wondering if glue was maybe applied with a small roller?

[wembleylion]

Hi Polaris,

I certainly think that the Bryan’s crackle finish would have been applied with a spray gun as I can’t imagine that there would have been very much time on spent hand finishing any of the components. I don't know if you can spray PVC type adhesives; perhaps they did use a roller.
I also suspect that the clear lacquer finishing coat was the same lacquer that was spray applied to the light oak cases.

If you do decide to try the spray application please would you post some photos of your progress / experiments.

John

[gameswat]

You can buy the Crackle Medium at any hobby store and sprays easily enough. 2 Ounces Folk Art Crackle Medium 694

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Bryans definitely sprayed the finish on all the machines I've owned or seen. Though the trouble I had was not having access to the original paint they used back then which was obviously thicker or dried quicker. I had to spray each panel separately laying horizontal otherwise the top crackle layer ran and ruined the effect.

[moonriver]

Great subject , picked up some good tips

Sorry to go slightly off subject for a moment but does anyone know where I can get a Bryans Clock repro face and award card (for 12 win)? tried Melvyn Wright site and cant get the message link there to work with the only one listed or the message may be long obsolete . thanks

[pennymachines]

There are high res. scans of these in Resources.

[moonriver]

wonderful! thank you

[wembleylion]

Searching around for Rust-oleum paints I found this Rusto-leum video of their crackle base and finish coat products in use. (I like the idea of a cup of tea before making a start). It suggests any vinyl matt emulsion paint can be used with their crackle products. It is brush applied but the crackles follow a grid pattern because the second vinyl coat is applied 90 degrees to the first vinyl coat. This seems to confirm that other patterns could possibly be achieved, like the random Bryan's finish.
The Rust-oleum crackle 'system' appears to be available from DIY chains, B&Q, Homebase etc. for around £7.00 per tin.



This is a link to the Rust-oleum crackle finish web page from where the video comes.. http://www.rustoleumspraypaint.com/how- ... nt-effect/

John

[pennymachines]

A problem with using Rust-oleum products (for restoration purposes) is that their crackle base coats don't match the colours used by Bryans.

[wembleylion]

I understood from the Rust-oleum website that the base coat is clear so I presume that an underlying colour will show through the cracks.
In the video it appears to me that the girl is applying the clear crackle base coat over a beige emulsion undercoat.

On the B&Q web page both the Rust-oleum base and top coats are listed as clear and there are no other colour options.

John

[pennymachines]

Oh, right - sounds useful then. I look forward to seeing the results you get.

[wembleylion]

I purchased some Rust-oleum Crackle Base to see what, if any, other patterns I could make other than the standard grid style. (I have not used the Crackle Top coat on these test pieces)

Following the instructions (to the letter) of brushed straight lines for the first emulsion coat followed by brushed Crackle Base following the first emulsion coat lines and then the second, 10% thinned, emulsion coat at right angles to the first and I got this standard grid pattern. The larger cracks are where the emulsion coat is thicker.

Trying to alter the pattern I tried crisscrossing the brush strokes. Where the top emulsion coat is thin the cracks have followed the brush strokes but where it is thicker the cracks are more random.

Another attempt; but this time by revolving the brush whilst moving it in straight lines. Where the emulsion is thin the cracks appear to have followed a curved track but where the emulsion is thicker the cracks are again more random.

The last attempt was with a roller and this has just made random cracks; where the emulsion is thin the effect appears more like crazing than cracking. The un-cracked area at the top is because the second emulsion coat is too thick here. The instruction say not to work the paint, just lay it on, as this can mix the Crackle Base and the emulsion.

I quite liked the rollered finish running across just up from the bottom and tried to reproduce this again but with no luck, just a crazed effect; I think I over thinned the second emulsion coat. I think the viscosity of the emulsion and the thickness of the coating are crucial to the repeatable success with this finish.

The instructions say that practice is required to get a repeatable effect; a great deal of practice if you are trying to get away from the standard grid pattern, me thinks.

John

[gameswat]

Wembley, took me four days of experimentation to figure out all the variables! Atmospheric conditions change the effects too. Well worth the effort though to get it right as such a major part of many Bryans machines.

[pennymachines]

Forum member Alan tells me that ISF Coatings of Leicester produce a Bryans-style crackle paint process (called something like Cracklack) which can be made up to any desired colour. He also showed me some samples which looked good. See their gallery.