Painting go faster stripes

[rusbycycles]

I am currently spray painting a bike (2 pack paint) with two stripes that flow between the head, top and seat tube ( to make the bike faster)- pictured. In this case I painted the white first, applied the masking film and then sprayed the blue over the top. I am not very happy with the result as the lines are not very crisp and blue bled under the mask onto the white- this is as good as I could get it after cleaning it up somewhat.

go faster stripe.jpg

Does anyone have any good techniques for doing this as I have struggled with exactly this before? The problem is that I found it very difficult to get the tape to stick where there is the compound curve of the two tubes and the fillet braze. My technique here was to use a vinyl - Oramask 810, cut on a vinyl cutter- to do the stripes either side of the fillet braze and then use a few strips of fine lining tape (3M blue) to do the line over the fillet braze. Often the tape looked like it had stuck but came away when I sprayed over the top. I also found it very difficult to keep the width of the stripe even as it went over the curve. It's all a bit difficult to put into words.

Any tips would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Jake Rusby

[Michael Gordon]

For painting plastic models I have heard of the following technique, but I have never tried it myself. I'm curious if others do this:

For the sake of your project, I'll use your colors & stripes as I explain it:

1. Paint the white first.
2. Lay down your making tape
3. lightly spray over the tape with your white tape. The idea here, is that any seepage under the tape will be the same color that you are protecting. At the same time, you are sealing up the edges of the tape from future seepage.
4. Spray your other color
5. Remove tape.

The key difference here being step 3, where you take measures to seal up the tape edges from seepage.

Look to other websites that discuss detail painting techniques, and see what you can apply to your project from other activities that require fine detail painting like model building.

Good luck!

[Dancingbear]

Fixed this for you-

For painting plastic models I have heard of the following technique, but I have never tried it myself. I'm curious if others do this:

For the sake of your project, I'll use your colors & stripes as I explain it:

1. Paint the white first.
2. Lay down your making tape
3. lightly spray over the tape with your white paint. The idea here, is that any seepage under the tape will be the same color that you are protecting. At the same time, you are sealing up the edges of the tape from future seepage.
4. Spray your other color
5. Remove tape.

The key difference here being step 3, where you take measures to seal up the tape edges from seepage.

Look to other websites that discuss detail painting techniques, and see what you can apply to your project from other activities that require fine detail painting like model building.

Good luck!

[rusbycycles]

3. lightly spray over the tape with your white tape. The idea here, is that any seepage under the tape will be the same color that you are protecting. At the same time, you are sealing up the edges of the tape from future seepage.

I've never done this step- sounds like a very good idea! Thanks a lot.

Jake Rusby

[rusbycycles]

Perhaps I should also have said that I am wondering if there is a way to get a single bit of tape or vinyl to stretch over the curve of the tubes? This would avoid me having to use multiple pieces, which has made the line uneven in places.

Jake Rusby

[progetto]

Fine line isn't very thin so can be kinda hard to get it where you want it on those curvy bits. Try a thinner vinyl mask from your local sign writer, they usually keep a nice thin vinyl for this application. Very light paint application is also your friend, you just need coverage, the clear top coat is where the protection is.

[Craig Ryan]

Perhaps I should also have said that I am wondering if there is a way to get a single bit of tape or vinyl to stretch over the curve of the tubes? This would avoid me having to use multiple pieces, which has made the line uneven in places.

Jake Rusby

No, you had the right idea, just work on your paint application.

[Dave Anderson]

No, you had the right idea, just work on your paint application.

+1

Different paint products work differently on projects like this. Some leave a really nice mask line, some do not. You have to learn what works best with the product that you are using. The trick noted above to spray the base color (white in this case) again, after applying your masks is a good and important one....its practically a requirement for some base colors (like Auto Air Colors, for example). Film build is also a consideration. The more paint that builds up on the edges of the masks, the more likely it'll be that you'll end up with a ragged edge. Some paints allow you to carefully rub off a film build ridge for a crisper edge, others not so much. Again, a huge part of painting is about the learning curve with the products your using. Like anything else, the more you paint, the more you'll learn and the better your results will get, etc.

Also, you can go back after clear and clean up those edges. It's common for even the most experienced painters to do this from time to time. ie....spray your clear coats, sand out the clear, spot mask along the rough lines, airbrush, clear again, etc.

Dave