I'd been using my 4 oz bottle of Dale Clemens' "Brilliance Color Sealant" for all my thread work over the past several years and have finally run low. I did some reading on this forum and decided to try Flex Coat's CP. I spent over 4 hours doing my first complex butt wrap ( a quad diamond design using various shades ranging from yellow through oranges to reds to create a flame appearance). The wrap was done using "A" weight Gudebrod thread over a gloss black St Croix S2 blank. I put on one coat of the Flex Coat CP in the usual way, going back over with a dry brush immediately after the application to pick up the excess. To my great dissappointment, after drying, the Flex Coat CP completely penetrated the threads and turned the lighter colors very dull due to the blank showing through. The yellows turned to a muddy gray. The wraps were tight, by the way, with no visible gaps between threads.

In the meantime, I wrapped another rod using the same color combinations in a reversing chevron design, same type of black blank, same thread, etc. I used some of the remaining Dale Clemens Brilliance and the colors came out vibrant and true with very little darkening due to the blank showing through.

As a final comparison, I stripped off the first ruined double diamond wrap, carefully cleaned off the excess dried Flex Coat CP with denatured alcohol and repeated the original double diamond wrap, this time coating it with "Brilliance". There was a huge improvement with the Brilliance, keeping the light gold colors (and all the rest) very bright and true with minimal bleed through of the dark blank.

So, I'm ready to toss the Flex Coat CP but I can't find any more Brilliance CP. I'm asking, finally, for a recommendation for a modern CP that retains the maximum color purity when light colored threads are wrapped and CP'd over dark or black blanks. I've been reading other posts about "811". Does this brand keep the colors the truest or is there someting better? Is there still a source for Dale Clemens' Brilliance out there?

Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy post.

Skip Kerwin

Its good to know that there was once a CP type of product on the market that mitigated most of the transparent bleed through. Lots of times you need to paint the blank white under the butt wrap. I have not tried every kind of CP on the market, someone might know of another CP that worked like Brilliance. Was Brilliance an acrylic? because flex coat CP is, that might be one difference and I'm sure there are other non acrylic CP's out there.

Chris,

Thanks for the reply. Both products are water clean-up. I don't know if that makes them acrylic or not. One other difference is the viscosity. The Brilliance is about the consistency of light whipping cream (making you think it would penetrate more deeply). The Flex Coat is the consistency of an enamel paint (making you think it would sit on the surface more). The reverse is apparently true however.

As for painting the blank or using a light underwarp, part of the color scheme for the two wraps I mentioned depends on a dark background at the outer edges of the wrap. The dark background "finishes" the color gradation from light at the center to dark at the edges.

Skip

Skip. Shoot me an email. I think I can hook you up with some brilliance CP.

flathead4@comcast.net

As skip mentioned he does I've had to paint the blank 1st with krylon white spray paint primer which is flat in color before using cp on certain color combos when doing repairs.

I got burned a few times by cp before I stopped using it, so I am not much help here. It's a shame you had to strip your threadwork and redo it again. Time and thread wasted.

Robert Greene, another user here, is quite knowledgeable in the use of cp and may be able to help out. Maybe he can follow up with a post here or if not drop him an e-mail.

Lou

I've compared Brilliance, FC, and 811 side by side, on a lightly colored closed wrap with a dark pattern and 811 came out by far the best over the "white" acryllics. But that was with Madeira, not Gudebrod.

Mike, this is probably a stupid question, but do you think that the thread would make that big of a difference????

Tony

Tony, probablly not, but I've never tried all three CP's on a closed Gudbrod wrap.

who makes 811 and is this available now?

what a dummy ..found answer to my own question.........bugsy

Mike, certainly not questioning you. You have a lot more experience with the fancy stuff than I do, just curious if it would make a difference.

Tony

I am not glad to see somebody with the same problem. I ordered 118 and got 7 bottles of Flexcoat instead. Tried it out with the same results, blochey and dull colors. So I am now sending it back. I have used 811 with a lot less problems ( not 100% mind you). I have never used brillance if you or somebody would be so kind as to post a source I would be happy to order up a bottle or two.
Cheers Ron.