After purchasing some Armour Bodies from RD, I was trying to figure what avenue I wanted to take for getting them painted. The quotes I had from a few painters were in the $500 + (and shipping) range. I knew that when you include quality materials in the mix, this actually isn't that bad of a price, but I still decided to paint them myself. I understood that going this route would likely cost just about the same or more as a professional, but then I would have a lot of the tools and start to develop a new skill as well. This is not a high-quality how-to, just a journal of my experiences. For the record, I have never painted anything automotive (or much else… in my life. Heck, I'm not really even artistic.
Contents
· Rendering
· Materials
· Spray Booth
· Painting
· Results
Rendering
A couple months ago I started putting together some ideas for what I wanted the paint scheme to be. I took about an hour and created a custom layered image to use as a base for different designs. It's a PIXLR image (free, web-based Photoshop knockoff) that has a picture of a Daytona 675 with all of the fairings as independent layers. This way you can change colors and such quickly without altering other pieces or the frame of the bike. If anyone wants it, I can email them the file.
I ran these and a few other renderings.
I ended up settling with the following, partially because my tank is red, and I didn't want to have to bother with painting the tank.
Materials
I'm afraid to add up everything I spent to do this project. I tried to find my personal balance of quality and doing things rather inexpensively. Here are a few of the big items.
Paint - eBay. $200 total. Purchase from The Coating Store (Kembase). Bought two motorcycle kits - Rocking Red Pearl and Tahitian Black Pearl. This includes all the reducers, clearcoat, and activators you need.
Fresh air system - used from eBay. $200. I decided after a lot of reading about the hazards of basecoat/clearcoat painting (if you're thinking about a project, do some reading on isocyanates!) and decided that I wasn't going to use a respirator, but a supplied air system. This has a 40 or so foot hose which grabs fresh air and pumps it directly into a mask. Purchase a Hobbyair unit.
Spray gun - $50. I originally purchased two of the Harbor Freight purple guns, but after some testing, both of them leaked fluid through the fluid tip without the trigger being pulled. I exchanged them and ended up purchasing the Harbor Freight "Professional" gun (nickel finish). It's still HF, but it is much, much better than the purple gun. For a noob, it shot pretty great. It has a much higher CFM requirement of 15cfm, but my 7 or 8 cfm compressor kept up fantastic with this small job.
"Bucket System" - Since moisture in the air lines can be an issue, I was inspired by some reading online and created a custom system for reducing water getting to the gun. I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but here's a crappy 'shop I did to visualize it. The idea is the air from the compressor goes through copper coils in the bucket, which is filled with cold water, and then through the bottom of the bucket. At the bottom is a water/oil filter. Then you connect your regular hose to the end. I had to do this because I need it to be portable.
Assorted pieces - Sandpaper, Tyvek suit, 3m fineline tape, 3m pinstriping tape, 3m masking tape, masking paper, mixing cups, filters, box fan, duct tape, tack cloth, etc.
Spray Booth
Where I live, there was no way I could shoot in my garage and avoid fumes or overspray inferring with the neighbors. I went to my parents, who live out in the country with plenty of distance from any other house. If you're in a suburban area close to other people, DON'T do it!
I set up a temporary booth using PVC pipe hung from the garage ceiling. I then draped .3mm clear plastic (Home Depot 400ft x 12ft) around the whole thing and taped it up. Used 2mm plastic for the floor.
Ventilation was a weak spot in this setup, but I didn't have many options. We used an air filter taped to a box fan to blow air IN. I then had a small hose to vent the air out.
You can never have enough lighting either. I definitely needed more…
Contents
· Rendering
· Materials
· Spray Booth
· Painting
· Results
Rendering
A couple months ago I started putting together some ideas for what I wanted the paint scheme to be. I took about an hour and created a custom layered image to use as a base for different designs. It's a PIXLR image (free, web-based Photoshop knockoff) that has a picture of a Daytona 675 with all of the fairings as independent layers. This way you can change colors and such quickly without altering other pieces or the frame of the bike. If anyone wants it, I can email them the file.
I ran these and a few other renderings.
I ended up settling with the following, partially because my tank is red, and I didn't want to have to bother with painting the tank.
Materials
I'm afraid to add up everything I spent to do this project. I tried to find my personal balance of quality and doing things rather inexpensively. Here are a few of the big items.
Paint - eBay. $200 total. Purchase from The Coating Store (Kembase). Bought two motorcycle kits - Rocking Red Pearl and Tahitian Black Pearl. This includes all the reducers, clearcoat, and activators you need.
Fresh air system - used from eBay. $200. I decided after a lot of reading about the hazards of basecoat/clearcoat painting (if you're thinking about a project, do some reading on isocyanates!) and decided that I wasn't going to use a respirator, but a supplied air system. This has a 40 or so foot hose which grabs fresh air and pumps it directly into a mask. Purchase a Hobbyair unit.
Spray gun - $50. I originally purchased two of the Harbor Freight purple guns, but after some testing, both of them leaked fluid through the fluid tip without the trigger being pulled. I exchanged them and ended up purchasing the Harbor Freight "Professional" gun (nickel finish). It's still HF, but it is much, much better than the purple gun. For a noob, it shot pretty great. It has a much higher CFM requirement of 15cfm, but my 7 or 8 cfm compressor kept up fantastic with this small job.
"Bucket System" - Since moisture in the air lines can be an issue, I was inspired by some reading online and created a custom system for reducing water getting to the gun. I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but here's a crappy 'shop I did to visualize it. The idea is the air from the compressor goes through copper coils in the bucket, which is filled with cold water, and then through the bottom of the bucket. At the bottom is a water/oil filter. Then you connect your regular hose to the end. I had to do this because I need it to be portable.
Assorted pieces - Sandpaper, Tyvek suit, 3m fineline tape, 3m pinstriping tape, 3m masking tape, masking paper, mixing cups, filters, box fan, duct tape, tack cloth, etc.
Spray Booth
Where I live, there was no way I could shoot in my garage and avoid fumes or overspray inferring with the neighbors. I went to my parents, who live out in the country with plenty of distance from any other house. If you're in a suburban area close to other people, DON'T do it!
I set up a temporary booth using PVC pipe hung from the garage ceiling. I then draped .3mm clear plastic (Home Depot 400ft x 12ft) around the whole thing and taped it up. Used 2mm plastic for the floor.
Ventilation was a weak spot in this setup, but I didn't have many options. We used an air filter taped to a box fan to blow air IN. I then had a small hose to vent the air out.
You can never have enough lighting either. I definitely needed more…