My new paintwork

ronjones wrote:

Man PT, is that the same stuff I'm using?

Naa. Those are trike bodies shot with DuPont base/clearcoat colors.

Did 'em last year for a favor to a friend.

To the point, those are shots taken the day after painting - no sanding or rubbing prior to the pics being taken - I just laid 'em out that way.

Just for grins, here's another:

As an example of what *can* be done.

I don't think mine has finished setting and I'm already seeing reflections, the "peel" is smoothing out each day. It's on day 4 right now. Hope mine turns out half as nice as those, after I do my final buff:)

Actually, the *finest* gloss - bar none - is achieved by making the paint lay right - because the surface is as smooth as it will ever get by the action of gravity alone - no abrasives in the process.

In your case, as the clear shrinks and levels out, it reduces the sanding necessary - and by extension - reduces the chances that you'll sand through the clear.

That way, you wind up doing a lot less polishing to arrive at your final gloss/surface. Remember - ANY polishing is the removal of applied material - and you've only got so much to work with.

I think it was H1 that put up a link to some Miracle Acryllic (tm) polish it'd be worth looking around to see if you can get locally.

How about this.....




Or is that too fussy?.......then this......




Or variations of??

Fourtoes wrote:

How about this.....

Or is that too fussy?.......then this......

Or variations of??

Oooooh ooooooh ooooooh......Go with the top one!!!!!!

Fourtoes wrote:

How about this.....

Or variations of??

I suppose the question to ask here is what color is your frame and attendant bits? Polished motor/blacked motor?

If the frame is black, then go with more orange on the cover and likewise, if the frame is orange, go with more black.

The basic idea is to balance out the useage of color so that one part or another doesn't grab the eye away from the rest. If the motor's polished - by design to draw attention, you can tip the scale toward the black. If the motor's black - part of a more overall scheme, then kick up the orange a notch.

But ultimately, there's only one person that has to be satisfied with your paint job - and that's YOU.

I like the top one too, although my origional thought was something along the lines of the bottom one but now that I see the top one I like that better
Can you photoshop one up where the orange lines are the same width as the Z 650 badge? I'd like to see how that looks.

Pt'saur:
Thanks for clarifying this. I'd pay you to paint my body pieces anytime.
My info on paint came from the paint shop where I bought some urethane paint for my Voyager. They told me that the clear should be applied no sooner than 60 minutes, and not later than 24 hours after the color. I asked why, and he said that it helps the clear bond to the color.
To be sure, I'm no expert (I'm barely a novice), but I wanted to shout out what I'd heard, just in case.

Decided on this...gonna take some masking! First time doing this. Its a little nerve racking.

ltdrider wrote:

Pt'saur:
Thanks for clarifying this. I'd pay you to paint my body pieces anytime.
My info on paint came from the paint shop where I bought some urethane paint for my Voyager. They told me that the clear should be applied no sooner than 60 minutes, and not later than 24 hours after the color. I asked why, and he said that it helps the clear bond to the color.
To be sure, I'm no expert (I'm barely a novice), but I wanted to shout out what I'd heard, just in case.

Hey - no problem - I just spent a lot of years huffing fumes for little good reason other than to play with pretty colors and take trips without leaving the shop.

The answer you got on application was fairly standard counter-guy horseshit. :whistle:

Clear CAN be shot within 60 minutes or so - and due to the forgiving - read that built like a brick outhouse - chemical qualities of urethanes, it works for quickie production-type applications...

BUT. Ever seen a production-type job after a year or two's weathering? The clear tends to seperate and start flaking away. A partial reason (aside from UV degradation and shitty prep work) for that is that the underlying paint never totally set, so there wasn't much for the clear to hold on to.

That's when RonKZ gets involved! :laugh:

As far as the "chemical bonding" - here's a test - paint your tank, shoot the clear within 60 minutes, wait a year, and then give your tank a fairly nice *WHACK* with a ball peen hammer. :sick:

While wiping the resulting tears away from your eyes, notice that the clear will have chipped and pulled away, leaving color beneath - the two layers were ALWAYS distinct units - evidence of a MECHANICAL - not a *chemical* bonding process.

It's a bit beyond the scope to explain how polymerization works as regards paint adhesion, but basically, that's why you scuff a piece prior to shooting - to give the next layer something to hold on to. A notable exception here is non-sandable enamel primers, but they're a whole different animal.

Ultimately, the point to be made here is that there's a significant difference between doing a paint job as a 9 to 5 sentence to the working world, and doing one as an example of *craftmanship*.

Check out PAINTWORKZ's web site - there's a guy that *does it right* - and doesn't mince words about quality jobs taking TIME.

So yeah - there's ways to do a rattlecan job that'll look good and last awhile, but there ain't no 5 minute shortcuts - if you're gonna do it right, might as well make up your mind to do it right.

Pterosaur wrote:


For purposes of clarity - most any base color automotive enamel will be shot within 24 hours. quote]

RonKZ650 wrote:

Pterosaur wrote:
For purposes of clarity - most any base color automotive enamel will be shot within 24 hours. quote]

:dry: :laugh:

Fourtoes wrote:

Decided on this...gonna take some masking! First time doing this. Its a little nerve racking.

I like it, that's awesome

Hi there,

It sure looks awsome! I've been looking around/photoshopping for ideas to do my own bike, and I have to say that this one is top of the line

Plz show us the finished mounted version plz!