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A bagged OBS Chevy laid out on the ground is already a hard look. Paint it in Celestial Purple and the panels stop holding one color at all — the bed reads deep magenta, the cab goes violet, and where the sun hits the fenders it burns through copper and gold. That is the truck Daniel Stelly built, and he painted it himself.
His 1994 Chevy C1500 came apart down to bare panels laid out on the grass, went back together in Celestial Purple over a black ground coat, and now sits on billet wheels with a finish that changes every time you walk around it. Here is the system he used and how to run it yourself.
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Download the Free PDF →Meet the Builder: Daniel Stelly
Daniel Stelly painted this one himself, which is the part worth sitting with. The progress shots show the truck stripped to bare panels spread across a yard, not a booth full of techs. Doors, fenders, hood, and bedsides all sprayed off the truck and hung back on.
He ran the Celestial Purple Vehicle Paint Kit as a complete system: DTM Primer-Sealer laid down in black, ready-to-spray Celestial Purple basecoat over the top, then HS Glamour Clear cut with HS Activator and Alpha urethane reducer. Matching every component to one mixing system is what lets a first-time color change come out looking like this. Follow Daniel on Instagram or catch the build clips on TikTok.
The Color: Why Celestial Purple?
Celestial Purple is an Alpha Custom Color that stacks the three most interesting paint types on top of each other: candy, flake, and colorshift. The base read is a magenta-to-purple candy, and riding on top of it is a shift that runs through purple, red, copper, gold, pink, and blue depending on where you are standing. It is built as a four-to- eight color candy pearl basecoat, which is why Daniel's truck never photographs the same way twice.
The color is rated for good coverage and is designed to be sprayed over a black sealer — that is how the speedshape and the truck in the product photos were done. Black is the ground coat this candy was built on, and it is what gives the finish its saturation and lets every shift tone read at full strength. Daniel sprayed his over DTM Primer-Sealer in black. To see the real thing before you buy, the painted sample is sprayed over that same black ground coat.
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Shop the Celestial Purple Sample →Every Way to Get Celestial Purple
Whether you're painting a full vehicle, a motorcycle, a guitar, or just touching up with a spray can — Celestial Purple is available for every project size. Each kit includes matched products sized for the job.
Celestial Purple Vehicle Paint Kit
$854.93 USD
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Celestial Purple Paint Basecoat
From$17.50 USD
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Celestial Purple Spray Can
$59.99 USD
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Celestial Purple Motorcycle Paint Kit
From$425.65 USD
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Celestial Purple Bike Paint Kit
From$225.70 USD
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Celestial Purple Guitar Paint Kit
From$130.72 USD
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Celestial Purple Wheel Paint Kit
From$412.91 USD
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Celestial Purple Brake Caliper Paint Kit
From$152.71 USD
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Spray your loose panels in the same session as the body, with the same gun settings. A candy builds its color as you go, so a door sprayed on a different day will hang on the truck a shade off from the fender next to it, and no amount of buffing brings it back.
What's Inside the Vehicle Paint Kit
These are all the products included in the Celestial Purple Full Vehicle Paint Kit. Every product is already matched and compatible — no hunting across brands, no guessing on ratios.
DTM Primer-Sealer (AP-7541) — Direct-to-metal primer-sealer, tinted black. Seals the bodywork and lays the black foundation Celestial Purple was designed to sit on. Mixes 4:1:2 with activator and reducer.
Celestial Purple Basecoat — Ready-to-spray candy pearl basecoat. A magenta-purple candy carrying a colorshift through purple, red, copper, gold, pink, and blue, in a pigment-controlled UV-resistant binder. Mixes 1:1 with reducer.
HS Glamour Clear (AC-4521) — High-solids clearcoat. On a candy this is what creates the depth the color is built for. Mixes 2:1 with AH-7100 activator.
Alpha Urethane Reducer (AR-3000 Series) — Temperature-matched urethane reducer for the sealer, basecoat, and clear. Choose the grade that matches your shop conditions the day you spray.
HS Activator (AH-7100 Series) — Activator for DTM Primer-Sealer and HS Glamour Clear. Matched to the Alpha system so your ratios stay consistent across every step of the job.
TSS Cheat Sheet — Every mix ratio and flash window in the Alpha system on a single sheet. Tape it up in the booth instead of scrolling a phone with paint on your gloves.
Optional Add-Ons
The vehicle paint kit has everything you need to go from prepped surface to finished paint. But depending on where your project is starting, these add-on bundles can save time and money on the prep and masking side:
Bodywork Bundle
$175.00
Body filler, abrasives, and everything for panel repair. Ideal if your project needs dent or rust repair before paint.
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Light Bodywork Bundle
From $92.99
Dolphin Glaze finishing putty and OptiGrit sanding abrasives. Perfect for filling pinholes, minor scratches, and light surface imperfections.
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Mask & Mix Bundle
$75.00
Mixing cups, strainers, masking tape, and masking paper. Everything you need for clean, precise masking and easy paint mixing.
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Linear Blocking Tools Starter Set
From $236.50
CNC-cut polycarbonate sanding blocks with lifetime warranty. Produces perfectly flat, straight panels for a professional finish.
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OptiGrit PSA Sandpaper Bundle
$64.99
Complete PSA sandpaper set in 80, 180, 220, and 320 grit. The full grit progression for blocking and prep, sized for long boards.
Shop NowThe Complete DIY Process
Step 1: Take It Apart and Block It Straight
Daniel pulled the doors, fenders, hood, and bedsides off the truck and sprayed them loose, which is the right call on an OBS — it gets paint into the edges and jambs instead of masking around them. Strip the old finish, work the filler flat, and block until a guide coat wipes off clean. Move up through OptiGrit abrasives and finish at a scratch your sealer can fill. The Bodywork Bundle covers the filler and blocks if you are starting bare, and the Mask & Mix Bundle handles the tape, paper, and mixing cups.
Step 2: Seal Everything Black
Shoot DTM Primer-Sealer (AP-7541) tinted black across every panel. On a candy this is the most important step in the whole job — the black ground coat is what Celestial Purple was designed to sit on, and it is what delivers the saturation and the depth behind the shift. Mix 4:1:2 with AH-7100 activator and Alpha urethane reducer, and let it flash per the data sheet before you scuff. Seal the panels you sprayed loose the same way you sealed the body, or they will not match.
Step 3: Build the Candy
Celestial Purple basecoat comes ready to spray and mixes 1:1 with urethane reducer. Candy builds color as you go, so consistency beats speed: same gun distance, same overlap, same speed on every pass, and keep every loose panel in the same session as the body so they all get the same build. Uneven build on a candy shows up as a blotch you cannot sand out. Keep the matching Celestial Purple spray can around for chips and touch-ups later.
Step 4: Clear It Deep
HS Glamour Clear (AC-4521) is what turns a candy from colorful into liquid. Mix it 2:1 with AH-7100 activator and add reducer only if your conditions call for it. Build enough film that you can flat-sand later without ever cutting into the basecoat — on a candy there is no spot-repairing a burn-through.
Step 5: Cut, Buff, and Reassemble
Let the clear cure fully, then flat-sand the texture out and polish it up through the fine OptiGrit grades. Hang the panels back on the truck last so you are not buffing around installed trim. Every ratio and flash window in the system is printed on the TSS Cheat Sheet — keep it on the wall rather than working from memory.
Watch the Build
Build footage from the shop — process, transitions, and the finish in motion.
Celestial Purple C1500 - Daniel Stelly
Ready to Paint Your Own Build?
Everything Daniel used — DTM primer-sealer (your black ground coat), ready-to-spray Celestial Purple basecoat, HS Glamour clearcoat, reducer, activator, and cheat sheet — in one kit.
Build Your Celestial Purple Kit — $854.93 USDLooking for a different color or kit size? Browse all car kits →
See It in Action
Watch Daniel Stelly's Celestial Purple build below, plus TSS painting tutorials and explainers — swipe through.
"My 94 Chevy project painted with Celestial Purple from The Spray Source." — Daniel Stelly
Frequently Asked Questions
All three. Celestial Purple is built as a four-to-eight color candy pearl basecoat, so you get the transparency and glow of a candy, the sparkle of flake, and a colorshift that moves through purple, red, copper, gold, pink, and blue. The dominant read is a magenta-purple candy. Everything else shows up as you change angle, which is why Daniel's C1500 looks like a different truck in every photo on this page.
We recommend black, and that is what the color was designed for. The product calls for a black sealer for full coverage, which is why the Celestial Purple Vehicle Paint Kit ships with DTM Primer-Sealer tinted black — it is what gives the candy its saturation and lets each shift tone read at its strongest. Both the speedshape and the truck in the product photos were sprayed over black. If you want to judge it before committing, the painted sample is done over that same black ground coat.
Daniel's C1500 was a DIY job, so yes — but the candy is less forgiving than a solid, so the prep and the consistency carry the result. Get the black sealer down evenly, spray every panel in the same session with the same gun settings, and do not chase coverage with heavy passes. Celestial Purple is rated for good coverage, and the TSS Cheat Sheet keeps your ratios straight. Spraying a painted sample or a scrap panel first is cheap insurance.
Every Product Used in This Build
Celestial Purple Vehicle Paint Kit
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Celestial Purple Paint Basecoat
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DTM Primer-Sealer AP-7541 Kit | Alpha Automotive Paint
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HS Glamour Clearcoat AC-4521 Kit | Alpha Automotive Paint
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Urethane Reducer AR-3000 Series | Alpha Automotive Paint
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HS Activator AH-7100 | Alpha Automotive Paint
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Clearance & Flash Sales
Discounted kits, closeout colors, and flash deals — check back often, these move fast.
Shop Current Sales →Thanks to Daniel Stelly for sharing the build. He painted this C1500 himself, which makes the finish more impressive, not less. Follow Daniel on Instagram and on TikTok for more on the truck. Seeing Celestial Purple on a full bagged OBS in daylight tells you more than any spray-out card we could shoot indoors.
Want to be featured? Tag @thespraysource or email sales@thespraysource.com.
