Painting My Tank Questions

johnu

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DTT BOTM WINNER
Ok so I just got done making this aluminum tank for my Triumph tr5mx project and now I need some advice on painting it. I will be doing it with rattle cans. I have painted a tank before with rattle cans but it was only one color and I used Dupli color Metal Specks paint with the spraymax 2k clear and it came out pretty good. The thing is with this tank it will be two colors so I'm not sure how to go about it. In the photo below my black sharpie line will be a gold 1/4" painted pinstripe then inside of that will be polished aluminum and the rest of the tank will be black. Can someone suggest the best way of doing this. I was planning on masking off the polished area then spaying the gold in the general area of the pinstripe then waiting for that to dry and then putting 1/4" tape over the gold and then spray the black. How long should I wait before I can mask on top of the gold? Not sure what the best ratlle can paint options are. Also I will be using the 2k clear after painting. Included a pic of the other tank I painted.
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Nice, glad you asked this. I've always wondered how to lay down a rattlecan pinstripe too. I'll be watching...
 
I watched one of my friends layout and paint some bike parts using the method you described. The customer wanted two color panels with a silver pinstripe separating them. He sprayed the silver, laid out the pinstripe using tape and then masked off the main part of the tank. He laid down the inset color and after it had dried he masked the inset and laid down the main color. The pinstripe tape stayed in place the entire time. He pulled all the tape including the pinstripe and it looked great. Finished up with color sanding and clear. It took about a week.
 
Che k out the triumph bobber botm from a couple months ago. He does 3 colour paint, white gold black and shows the steps of masking etc.
 
That's how I do it to. I also use vinyl cutouts for text, numbers, etc. The catch is to not let the paint fully cure before pulling the tape after spray over it. In other words, if gold is the base coat and the color of the strip, then you tape over it with a vinyl pinstripe, then paint over that with your top coat, don't wait too long to pull the pinstripe. I have had the top coat peel away with the vinyl and ruin my topcoat.
 
That's how I do it to. I also use vinyl cutouts for text, numbers, etc. The catch is to not let the paint fully cure before pulling the tape after spray over it. In other words, if gold is the base coat and the color of the strip, then you tape over it with a vinyl pinstripe, then paint over that with your top coat, don't wait too long to pull the pinstripe. I have had the top coat peel away with the vinyl and ruin my topcoat.

That's exactly how I did the paint on my MB5. I used some vinyl tape for the stripes and picked up vinyl Honda decals to mask off the name. Painted the gold first and let it fully dry a few days. Masked off and sprayed the black. Removed the vinyl and then cleared with SprayMax 2K. First coat of black should be pretty light so it doesn't seep under the tape and helps to just seal off the edges to prevent any bleeding. Can't find any pictures of the vinyl applied on the MB5 but did find some when I did my CB400T.

MB5 pics show one after the gold was sprayed, then one all done just before the clearcoat. Other pictures are progress pics during the 400 painting.

Can be tedious ensuring everything is symmetrical and such but its such a fun and rewarding process once its all done.
 

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I did it old school on my 160.

Painted the silver. Masked. Painted the black. Added the emblem, then cleared. Then paid the local pinstriper to add the red. Saves a lot of screwing around and looks better than taped off pinstripes IMHO. Obviously you could skip the spraying the silver part.

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That's exactly how I did the paint on my MB5. I used some vinyl tape for the stripes and picked up vinyl Honda decals to mask off the name. Painted the gold first and let it fully dry a few days. Masked off and sprayed the black. Removed the vinyl and then cleared with SprayMax 2K. First coat of black should be pretty light so it doesn't seep under the tape and helps to just seal off the edges to prevent any bleeding. Can't find any pictures of the vinyl applied on the MB5 but did find some when I did my CB400T.

MB5 pics show one after the gold was sprayed, then one all done just before the clearcoat. Other pictures are progress pics during the 400 painting.

Can be tedious ensuring everything is symmetrical and such but its such a fun and rewarding process once its all done.
Thanks for the info, just what I was looking for. I will plan on doing as you describe. I was planning to only do a couple of coats of the black (main color) so I don't get a big build up around the pinstripe tape. I will be clearcoating so I think that should be ok.
 
I did it old school on my 160.

Painted the silver. Masked. Painted the black. Added the emblem, then cleared. Then paid the local pinstriper to add the red. Saves a lot of screwing around and looks better than taped off pinstripes IMHO. Obviously you could skip the spraying the silver part.

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That is very nice:cool: I know what you are saying about getting someone to hand paint the pinstripes and I actually know someone that does it old skool with the brushes. The thing is I don't need this to be a show piece as I am going to be racing it in vintage mx so it will get scratched up. All the same I will be aiming to do a decent job on it. Thanks for the info!
 
John to save work and headache you can use vinyl pinstripe tape at the end and bury it in clear. I do it all the time. Way easier for a bike that isba rider vs a show bike
 
John to save work and headache you can use vinyl pinstripe tape at the end and bury it in clear. I do it all the time. Way easier for a bike that isba rider vs a show bike
Thanks, good call. I hadn't thought of that! Will it be ok when using the 2k clear?
 
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The fat stripe is paint the small are vinyl. The decals are as well. All buried under spraymax 2k.
 
I have decided to go down route of painting the pinstripes on (what have I let myself in for). I did the gold today and it came out pretty decent. I will leave it for at least three days until I mask up and spray the black. I used this rustoleum for the gold and it sprayed really well, I was impressed!
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John to save work and headache you can use vinyl pinstripe tape at the end and bury it in clear. I do it all the time. Way easier for a bike that isba rider vs a show bike
D'oh! I forgot, I used pinstripe tape on my trackbike. Didn't bother clearing it though. The only issue I had was the tap shrunk a little and one fo the corners revealed some white on the wrong side. No biggie, I cut out the shrunk section and put new stuff over it. Overlapped the ends, no one notices anyway.

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So yeah, I guess on a track bike I can safely say I'd just lay down some pinstriping tape and call it good.
 
Plastic tape is what I use with a can of Max2K clear on top to bury it.

But if that Greeves tank is any indication, the gold spray strip will look perfect.
 
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