The Flip Side

I like to finish the back side of my samples just as nice as the front. Usually there isn't a lot of time when making samples so I have to be able to do the back fast and still have it look good. On high end jobs I like to use a textured urethane finish. When the client is looking at the front the back feels different and they turn it over. Now they see our company logo. This isn't a big deal on the original job but samples have a life of their own after a job is completed. We have got many jobs off of a finish sample from an earlier job.

The technique for a textured finish is really simple and it is very fast as well. Usually the sample has been primed front and back so the white primer can be used as the base color. I like to use a low sheen for the base usually and a little higher sheen for the texture, just to make it pop.

 For the small texture I use the standard 1.3 fluid tip, turn the air pressure on my gravity cup almost all the way down and just let the speckles hit the sample. For the larger textures like the water drops, I use my 2.8 tip and un-thinned gloss urethane. Here are a few examples:

White primer with black texture

White primer with gloss white texture

Water drop texture

Close up

The range of possible textures is almost unlimited and it is also 

a good way to use up paint colors from previous jobs