How to paint stripes? Which is first?

I have my tank primed and ready for paint.
I am painting it semi-gloss black, and want to put two silver stripes down it.
I assume I paint the base, then tape off and paint the stripes? This is my first tank job, so I am new to this. I have read just about every paint thread, and am following the one at the top of this category. But I have not found anything on painting stripes.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.
Jay

I painted my truck last year with one large stripe running right down the center of the cowl . The truck was painted blue and the stripe was silver . I painted a silver base over most of the hood and then masked off the stripe and then painted the blue base after , and finally clearing over the whole shebang . Nice part is no tape edge and I think it is easier to draw out your stripe first rather than do it after the main base has been shot . You can also do it the other way around . Anytime I am painting graphics of anykind I use the paint I am going to use the least first and then use the main coat second . Less time worrying about cleaning your gun too .

hmm I guess that makes sense. I didnt mention that the stripe is a metallic aluminum color. So I didnt know how it would do with the semi-flat. I guess I will try it and see how it comes out. I will post some pics when I am done. I have been taking pics along the way.

As I think about it more, I am afraid of painting the metallic under the the black base coat. I have researched a little on the net, and have seen people doing it both ways. So I think I will shoot the base first, then tape and paint the stripes. I just dont want to see any difference in the base color. Being that some would have metallic under it, and some black primer.
Anyone else have any input on this?

paint the silver first then tape it off and paint the black...thats the way painters have been doing it for years..thats how i did mine and how i will do my next.. and with a solid color you don't have to worry too much about what is underneath it..if you are just paint the whole tank silver and then paint the black underneath it, that way everything has a nice even base!

hmmm decisions, decisions...
I spoke with a guy here at work that used to work at a body shop, and he said the same thing you guys did. He said with as many coats of base you put on, it wont matter. Especially being on a flat surface. So if its practiced and proven that way, thats what I will do also.

If anyone is interested in the sliver, here is the color I am using. Its really nice. You cant really see the metallic in the pics, but its there. I cant wait to see what everything looks like together.





Also I made a mistake, its not semi-gloss, its semi-flat black. Not that it matters, but I noticed i wrote it wrong.

Post edited by: Jornum1, at: 2007/06/15 11:55

Tomato , tomatoe , flat , semi gloss , semi flat . All that matters is the fact that it should be the only color on the spectrum .

One thing to think about is getting all the silver out of the gun. Just a little not cleaned out will show in the solid black. Rinse the gun with thinner till there's no sparkels moving around the gun with the thinner.
Mark

oh sorry I didnt mention in this thread. I am using rattle cans
I got the first 4 coats of the stripe layed down Sat morning. I am waiting till monday to shoot the second set. Looks good so far. I will post some pics after the second set.

I made some progress over the weekend.
I sprayed the silver on the top of the tank.


Then I wet sanded and taped off my two stripes. That was a bit of a challenge, I didnt really know how to go about it. But I took my time, and I think I got them layed down straight and even. So here it is with 4 coats of semi-flat base coat. The pics dont do it much justice. I will take some more in the sunlight tomorrow. I will spray 4 more coats tomorrow night and see how it looks. I am not sure how many I will need to cover up that silver.



Post edited by: Jornum1, at: 2007/06/18 22:43

I have seen some pretty nice rattle can jobs on motorcycles . Be sure to spray a ton of clear over everything so at least you can wet sand the ridges over the stripes smooth . Also what kind of paint are you using ? Just be sure to use all the same brand of everything just to make sure that the paint doesnt start to lift .

Oh also when you are covering the silver with black use at least a 50% overlap if not more just to be sure you dont get the standard rattle can tigerstripe effect .