PROJECT: THE WEEKND
BASECOAT
If anyone knows how to deliver a crowd-pleasing show, it’s the Weeknd. The Grammy award-winning singer / songwriter spares no expense in creating a visually stunning experience.
The stage production for his After Hours til Dawn tour features 32 dancers in full red robes and shiny gold masks – with each mask 3D-printed to match the exact facial contour of each dancer. Spraying a super reflective gold finish on these masks was an ideal application for the LI System!
For this project, we charged $165 per square foot, or $200 per mask. That’s $6,400 generated on just one project!
Although not shown, each mask was first prepared for spraying by sanding off any rough edges. We then applied a sandable primer, following the procedure outlined on the Filler and Sandable Primers section.
We hold the masks in place for processing using the Dynamic Stand mounting system from Spectra Chrome.
When basecoating, we start with the back side and edges of the mask, and then finish with a criss-cross coating on the face. Spraying in this manner minimizes any dry spray landing on the face side of the mask – when the basecoat is super shiny, the silver will be deposited with a perfect mirror reflection.
After basescoating, each mask was immediately placed into the warm space; where it was allowed to air-dry overnight (with the heater turned off). The following day, the drying process was completed by “baking” dry with the heater on at 135 °F for 2 hours, then allowing to cool to room temperature in preparation for metalizing – as outlined in the Drying the Basecoat section.
Remember it is impossible to over-dry your basecoated parts. However, it is possible to under-dry them. Basecoat that has not dried thoroughly will not silver correctly, and will develop a “hazy” prism look in the silver deposit after topcoating.
PROJECT: THE WEEKND
METAL SPRAY
Spectra Chrome’s silver layer is applied in a sequence of five steps: sensitizer, rinse, metal spray, rinse, and blow dry.
Once the metal spray products have been mixed into their respective color-coded pump sprayers, we are ready to perform the metalizing process. The video shows silvering a mask in real time with no edits; so you can see exactly how much time it takes for each step of the sequential metalizing process.
The sensitizer solution is applied using the green-accented pump sprayer and spray wand.
The sensitizer contains a wetting agent, which helps the silver layer adhere to the work piece. This is a quick step that works in just a few seconds – one fast, wet, complete coating is all that is needed. It is impossible to over-sensitize, but spraying excessive solution provides no benefit – it will only use up more product.
- Use a quick coverage spray technique to “wet” the entire surface area of the part with sensitizer as quickly as possible.
- Keep the “wet edge” of the solution moving, and do not allow the sensitizer solution to stop on the part.
- Once the entire surface has been coated, the residual white foamy solution can be rinsed off immediately.
After sensitizing, zero TDS rinse water is applied using the blue-accented pump sprayer and spray wand.
Thoroughly rinse off all of the foamy white sensitizer solution from the part. It is extremely important to rinse thoroughly – take your time. There is no such thing as rinsing too much!
- Residual sensitizer left on the part after rinsing may cause staining when it comes into contact with the silvering solutions.
- Rinse the front of the part, then the back, and repeat – paying special attention to recessed areas and any surface geometry that may trap solutions.
- Be sure to rinse around areas where mounting brackets attach to your part.
- When rinsing, is always best to err on the side of more. If you are not sure, keep rinsing.
- Always finish by rinsing the front-facing side of the part that will be seen.
The two components of the silver solution are applied simultaneously, using the white and red-accented pump sprayers and factory-calibrated connected spray wands.
- Use a quick coverage spray technique to “wet” the entire surface area of the part with metalizing solutions as quickly as possible.
- Do not worry about the reflective shine appearing right away — instead, focus on getting an initial coverage of silver solution over the entire surface.
- Once the initial “wet” layer is applied, continue spraying the silver solution evenly over the part to “fill in” the silver and build reflectivity to a perfect mirror shine.
- Ensure that the edges of the part are coated and the silver wraps around the back as well.
- It is OK to stop during the process and examine the progress – additional layers of silver can be added wherever it is needed; as long as the work piece remains wet and has not been blown dry.
- Keep spraying until the entire part is filled in, and no brownish areas remain (indicating inadequate silver) – it is very difficult to spray too much silver.
Immediately after metalizing, zero TDS rinse water is once again applied using the blue-accented pump sprayer and spray wand.
- Take your time and be extremely thorough – it is impossible to rinse too much!
- Rinse the front of the part, then the back, and repeat – paying special attention to recessed areas and any surface geometry that may trap solutions.
- Be sure to rinse around areas where mounting brackets attach to your part.
- If you are not sure, keep rinsing.
- Residual metal spray solutions accidentally left to dry on the part can cause “water marks” in the finish. These water marks can be removed by simply rinsing the part again with zero TDS water, and blowing the part dry a second time.
After the final rinse, blow the work piece dry using compressed air from the blower nozzle.
- Dry the part from the top down, making sure to remove all remaining rinse water.
- After thoroughly blowing dry, the part it is immediately ready for topcoat. The topcoat is a solvent-based paint and requires a completely dry surface.
- If necessary, it is OK to allow additional dry time to ensure no water remains. However, it is best to apply the topcoat the same day to protect the silver deposit from oxidation and preserve its mirror shine.
The most important thing to strive for when applying the silver solutions is complete, thorough coverage. It is better to err on the side of spraying more solution versus less – this applies to rinsing as well.
Be sure to check out our More Metalizing Examples page – we’ve included many different parts to illustrate additional techniques used on workpieces with different sizes and shapes.
After blowing dry, each mask was immediately moved into the warm space for protection.
Technically, freshly silvered parts can be topcoated immediately after blowing dry. It is OK to leave the “raw” silver layer inside the protected environment of the warm space for a few hours – however, even inside the warm space, the unprotected silver layer should not be left overnight.
Although not shown, each mask was given a light protective “glossy/frosty” coating of Topcoat 311 (no color), to seal in the silver layer and protect it from oxidation.
PROJECT: THE WEEKND
TOPCOAT
Our masks were left to air dry overnight with an initial glossy/frosty protective layer of Topcoat 311 (no color).
The next day, we applied a layer of Topcoat 311 in a specially formulated “The Weeknd gold” color; as well as the final topcoat layer.
We prepared two separate mixtures of Topcoat 311 – as outlined in the Topcoat Mixing Procedure section.
TOPCOAT 311 (NO COLOR)
First, we prepared (2) volumes of mixed Topcoat 311 (no color) for use as the final clear. The mixture was poured into a DPC liner and set aside.
TOPCOAT 311 (THE WEEKND GOLD COLOR)
We prepared an additional (3) volumes of mixed Topcoat 311 to be used as our gold color. The production team sent us a piece of metal with a unique color of gold on it, which they wanted duplicated on the masks. The beauty of Spectra Chrome is being able to match any custom color by combining different tints in the Topcoat 311. After a few tests, we developed a tint formula that matched the target gold colored metal perfectly.
They asked that we keep the precise color formula a secret, and unique to spraying only these masks. “The Weeknd gold” topcoat mixture was poured into a separate DPC liner, and attached to the spray gun.
The gold look is achieved by applying 3 light “dusty” coats of Topcoat 311 (The Weeknd gold color) with no flash time in between. The goal is to build up the color intensity slowly with each additional layer until we arrive at the full intensity of the final color. It is important to use multiple light coats applied gradually, to allow for fine control of the color – remember you can always go darker; but once it is darker you can’t go lighter.
The application of dusty coats results in a “frosty” appearance, which is perfectly normal at this point in the process. When doing precise color matching, it is helpful to check the color match by applying a layer of Topcoat 311 (no color); to “wet-in” and reveal the true color under the full shine of topcoat. If the full shine reveals that more color is needed, it is perfectly OK go back and add more until the color is right.
We swapped in our reserved Topcoat 311 (no color) by following the lacquer thinner spray gun cleaning procedure, as shown in the Topcoating Practice Tiles section.
A “flow coat” of Topcoat 311 (no color) is applied over the frosty gold color. This final layer “melts” the previous dry-sprayed color coats together, resulting in a mirror-like high-gloss surface.
Under the full gloss of topcoat, the true final color of the mask can be checked against the reference metal piece. Our color match looked perfect, and no additional color coats were needed. We left this layer of Topcoat 311 (no color) as our final clear – providing maximum UV protection and ensuring the vibrant gold look never fades.
The dancers wear these masks right against their faces for several hours each night during the shows. To ensure the masks have the most durability, we added additional coats of Topcoat 311 (no color) to the back side of each mask as well. Each layer of Topcoat 311 (no color) is allowed 5 minutes of flash time between coats to prevent runs and sags in the final finish.
When the back side is sprayed, it often results in the front side having some dry spray. It is perfectly OK to add additional coats to the front of the mask again to gloss over the dry spray – more topcoat layers equals more durability.