spray can paint job.

[deacon]

Okay

all you guys are talking about custom paint with auto paint and air brushes and they are without a doubt beautiful. In my case I wanted to cover the rust and scratches on my old sissy Schwinn. The one I bought for twenty five bucks to use for bike parts. Actually it started out as a light weight electric bike, which is how it got so scratched up.

So I went to home depot and bought a spray can of Rustoleum medium blue paint. The bike as you have seen on other threads was blue when I started. I shot it in my workshop. I used an old photo backdrop cloth to mask off the engine.

When I finished it was just sooooo blue, I was really upset with myself. I backed off three feet then shaded it with some black spray paint I use when I build cameras. Well I don't build, i really just cobble them just like the bike is cobbled.

Anyway it was pretty rough looking so I bought a can of rubbing compound. The rubbing compound has really done a nice job of blending the colors and smoothing the paint out. Several more hours will be needed I'm sure, then several more with a chrome cleaner, but when I finish it will really look... just ok.... lol...

 

[deacon]

I'm thinking decals everywhere. Maybe little old lady and teenager cutouts on the gas tank like those old WWII fighter planes with the japanese flags.

 

[paul]

looks good deacon. nice job!

 

[deacon]

Looks barely better than the rust and scratches. I think I'm going to paper it with bumper stickers.

"If you can read this call 911"

 

[Norman]

I like the rust it give the bike character. Ill show mine sometime when I can do the picture thing easily. mines also got some of that character.
Norman

 

[deacon]

well I am going to try to rub off some of the chrome rust since I have rain and cold days coming. If I cant ride I'll compound and polish chrome. By spring it should look like a real bike. Of course I might still be breaking it in. I have managed to ride about twenty miles so far and you of all people know when I started to ride it.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

Electrical tape makes for good cheap "pin" striping. It's available in a lot of colors at Home Depot.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

If all else fails, shoot it with flat black and call it a "rat bike".

Or....mask off places here and there and then shoot it with black and then peel off the masking for a urban camo effect.

 

[deacon]

I was going to go with flat army olive green but the wife wasn't too thrilled with that. I would go jungle camo for the fun of it but I think she would like that even less.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

Maybe she'll go with multiple hues of blue...a sorta camo?

I shot one of my bikes all olive drab and it looks awesome. Everyone used to ask me "what kinda old army bike is that?"

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

http://motorbicycling.com/f15/bikeguy-joes-bikes-93.html

 

[deacon]

That does it next time it's olive drab or that new desert tan. I love the olive one a lot

 

[iRide Customs]

Try painting some other parts of the bike with a different color. I painted Brutus with rattle can paints from Home Depot.......

 

[deacon]

Truth is I expect more people will do the home depot paint than custom painting so this is probably good information for the rest of us. Love your gas tank.. is that a bladder inside the bike?

 

[paul]

this is driving me nuts lol. i want to see you alls pictures but govt computer blocks ads and photos from photo bucket etc. i cannot wait to get home

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

I painted TWO Harleys with rattle cans, one that I owened and one for another person who liked the way mine looked...they both turned out just fine. There is a definite trick to it though.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

I will mention that Krylon is exellent rattlecan paint.

 

[deacon]

The only trick I ever learned was to start the spray well off to the side then go across the area quickly and as many times as it takes but never start or stop the spray over the area to paint. And never stop the can while you swing across the area.

Is there another one.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

Always wipe the area to be painted with Prepsol/prepsolv, or at the very least denatured alcohol.

Follow that with a tack cloth.

Spray a fairly light coat, then wait 15 or so minutes before continuing (read the can for the best time)

Spray as wet as possible without getting runs or sags. (that takes practice)

Spray with the can perpendicular to the surface...not in an arcing movement.

If you do get a run, you can either wipe it ONCE then respray, use a heat lamp to flatten it (takes practice) or wet sand afterwards and respray the area.

For a really nice job, even if you use enamle, wet sand (AFTER IT'S THOROUGHLY DRY) with 400-600 grit and spray a final coat.

PATIENTS!

Next lesson, you can get a very close to spray job with a brush if done right.

 

[deacon]

I painted a bike with a brush once a long time ago. it did better than any spray job I ever attempted. But I put on about five very very thin coats. Each coat cut just a little less each time. the final was still over half thinner I think. God that thing stunk to high budda while drying.

I think it did pretty good one thing is it didn't scratch nearly as bad as when i spray one.

I really do like rubbing compound better than sanding after the thing is done before i clear coat it. At least so far that is holding true still. This is the first thing I have done in twenty years except garbage projects around the house. For those its just avoid the runs and do it quick.