Received the parts coated with many layers of paint. The last layer appeared to be a backyard paint job with delamination, splitting and other serious flaws. In order to ensure a sound foundation for the new paint, the parts had to be sandblasted.
Finished Bike
Well, you never know what you're going to find under all those layers of paint. Turns out there are a fair number of dents and dings that will need to be bodyfilled.
Parts have now been bodyfilled and sanded in preparation for primer. They will have epoxy primer and a sandable surfacer applied to provide a good solid base for the paint, and to provide corrosion resistance.
Parts are primed and wetsanded with 600 grit sandpaper. All the dents, pits and other imperfections are gone. Parts are now ready for paint!
Parts have now been painted with House of Kolor Orion Silver. They have also been clearcoated, as the metallic silver must be protected from tape marks, scratches, etc.
The clearcoat now needs to be wetsanded with 800 grit paper in preparation for the graphic layout.
Now for the fun stuff - applying the graphix.
Design is chalked out.
Fineline tape is placed at chalk lines.
Application paper is placed over entire piece.
Application paper is cut at the fineline. Paper is removed on areas to be painted.
Flames are outlined with red paint. This will form the outline of the flames.
Fineline tape is placed over the red paint. It is butted up against the initial fineline that was used to form the flames.
With the red paint protected, the main areas of the flames are painted black.
The fineline protecting the red paint is now removed. Kandy apple red and kandy blue are now airbrushed over the red to provide depth and movement.
The fineline tape and application paper is now removed, and the entire piece wiped down to remove adhesive remnants.
Bike is now finished!
Drop shadows were airbrushed in, pieces wiped down to remove all traces of contamination, then three layers of heavy-solids clearcoat were applied. The pieces were then wetsanded with 2500 grit paper and polished with two different compounds to achieve a perfectly smooth and shiny show finish.
