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  1. #31
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    Sep 2009
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    Default Painting metal flake

    Quote Originally Posted by wheelinround View Post
    Neevo do yourself a big favour and block the crank and fork thread areas asap. You'll end up with to much paint in the threads and have trouble putting it together, it will also damage the paint around when trying to thread it together. Berore doing anymore coats make sure threads are easy to put together, yes run the nuts into over the thread then push in paper or rag to protect during all other coats.
    Don’t worry I’ve got it covered. The crank and fork areas aren’t threaded, they both have press in bearing races that are made to press in to a painted frame, I suspect because it’s cheaper to do that on these kids bikes than a proper frame.

    I triple checked they would still fit with paint and they do, in fact the original frame was painted all the way down in the crank and fork frame tubes, I suspect the paint also takes some up of the gap for a proper interference fit.

  2. #32
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    Sep 2009
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    So I took the white parts down this morning and did some minor assembly and cleaning of the plastic parts. All up, I’m pretty happy! It’s going to be a 1ft bike on the white but that’s because there’s a few parts with inclusions. Annoyingly you can’t cut and buff the white paint as it ruins the shine apparently, next time I’d buy a proper 2k white and clear it as I think it affords a bit more room to fix any errors.

    Also one part on the handlebars is a little grainy as I didn’t get enough paint on it, not sure if it will bother me yet, but if you see some handlebars hanging again, you know they’ve been redone!

    Shows how important lightening is and that’s a major issue to fix before the frame and forks get painted.

    With all the plastic parts cleaned with a scotchbrite and simple green, they’ve all turned out pretty good and (for now) I’m happy.



    I think they’re going to look amazing on the frame once that’s done Painting metal flake

    Need to buy some parts to really finish the build off. New levers, purple grips and white seat, plus my girl really wants a basket, so we’ll have to find one of those too. The original bike came both blue/white tyres so they’ll have to go too for some black with whitewalls I think.

    Original pic for reference.


  3. #33
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    Sep 2009
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    Sydney
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    My solution to the light in the booth was a pair of cheap LED lights. They do nothing to light the booth but I can direct them to the parts being painted and then I can take them down and also use them as an inspection light after coats.



    Better than nothing and a really useful light as they join together and also have a magnet Painting metal flake hanger and hook on each end. Battery powered also gives me loads of flexibility.

    Just need to make sure they don’t get covered in paint.

  4. #34
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    Sep 2009
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    Sydney
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    Default Painting metal flake

    I’m going to be painting my base, flake and clear today. I have a question about the primer sealer I have on the frame and forks.

    The tech sheet says if it’s longer than 24hrs I have to sand and reapply. Does this apply to the primer sealer or can I scuff the surface and apply my base coat?

    Seems like the mechanical adhesion would be enough and it’s a pain to have to spray more primer sealer before base etc but I want to do it properly.

  5. #35
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    Sep 2009
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    Sydney
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    Default Painting metal flake

    Oooooooooh Kay. That’s my first time done painting car paints. I’m really happy with the experience, results (considering my inexperience) and my process.

    First up I sanded the parts with a scotchbrite to get them ready for another dusting or two of primer/sealer. I wasn’t sure if it was needed or not, but I wanted to crack on and thought it couldn’t hurt if I did it, but could be a problem if I didn’t.

    Once I had the primer down I set about fully cleaning the gun and prepping for the purple base. The colour on the lid wasn’t that impressive but once I cracked the tin I was really surprised. It was a fantastic Pearl and the lid didn’t do it justice.

    With a clean gun I sprayed a very light mist coat first, then 5 mins in between coats (it flashed off super quick). 2 heavier coats followed by a final mist coat. If I’m honest I ran out of paint on this final coat half way through the bike frame but decided not to bother making more as the coverage looked great anyway.

    The frame was looking impressive in the base on its own:



    Whilst that was finished I set about mixing up my clear with the flake. I didn’t want to run out of flake or clear so I made up 300ml of each. In the end this was waaaaay too much of the flake but worked out ok with the clear.

    15g of 0.008” flake was used in the 300ml and I did this by eye. Adding flake, stiring and checking the run off the stick. I didn’t bother with reducer as I thought it would be best to try and have it thicker to hold the flake up. I also didn’t bother to change the tip size either, ran 1.4mm all day.

    2 coats got the coverage I wanted with a final mist coat to cover the gaps. I didn’t flood the bike with flake as I wanted enough of the purple pearl to show through for a deeper effect. I emptied the gun between coats by pouring the flake/clear back in to the mixing cup and running thinners through the gun.


    No idea if all my work has paid off but once it’s cured overnight, I’ll take it outside and see what sort of effect we have.

    The boss (my 7 yo) and my wife were secondary approvers.

    After that I cleaned the gun again to get rid of all of the flake before I laid my clear.

    What did I learn? I’m really pleased with nearly all the stages and I wouldn’t change a thing other than my approach on the clear. I tried a wide fan on the clear and I was unfortunately laying too much paint, so I got a few drips. I managed to fix a few on the fly but I’ll also have to razor blade a few and sand them back. Not a major issue as they’re all underneath the tubes, but I’m also planning on putting decals on the bike too, so I’ll have to rub back the clear for that and to clear in the decals.

    So without further ado, let’s check my handy work...












    Hopefully you can get an idea but it’s impossible to photograph the effect.

  6. #36
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
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    Ipswich QLD
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    Neevo that looks awesome well done. Daughter will be proud to ride that and show it off. You do know tho this means by the time she is 16 and her first car is sitting in the driveway the paint job will be remembered and the spray booth will need to be much bigger unless she's into motorbikes.

  7. #37
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    Default Painting metal flake

    Quote Originally Posted by wheelinround View Post
    Neevo that looks awesome well done. Daughter will be proud to ride that and show it off. You do know tho this means by the time she is 16 and her first car is sitting in the driveway the paint job will be remembered and the spray booth will need to be much bigger unless she's into motorbikes.
    Thanks bud! Your guidance was essential in giving me the details and confidence to do it! So huge thanks from me.

    Will fix the drips today and I’ve noticed my flake coverage is a little light underneath the tubes too (feels rough).

    I’m getting decals made for the bike to finish it off, so will only sand the tops/sides of the tubes to flake the clear and get it prepped for decals. Then will clear in the decals and probably sand a final time before a final flow coat.

  8. #38
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    Jun 2007
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    Neevo if the flake is protruding through you may need additional clear coats after sanding up to 5 coats. Very light and fine sanding 0000 steel wool soapy water use sunlight soap or dish washing liquid not scented type as getting rid of the oils in it can be arpia.

  9. #39
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    Default Painting metal flake

    I definitely need more clear on the undersides of the tubes. I think because I had drips there I was avoiding laying clear and so the flake isn’t buried enough.

    However the clear is pretty flat over the rest of the flake, enough I don’t think I “need” to flatten it for a final clear coat.

    But because I need to add decals and clear them in, that means I’ll be laying more clear anyway, so I’ll flatten the top/sides of the tubes only and then bury the flake underneath when I bury the decals too.

    Then I should be able to sand the whole frame and buff.

    I’m buying some 1500 & 2000 wet and dry now to do the sanding. Have 800 and 1200 on hand already.

  10. #40
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    Sep 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by neevo View Post
    I definitely need more clear on the undersides of the tubes. I think because I had drips there I was avoiding laying clear and so the flake isn’t buried enough.

    However the clear is pretty flat over the rest of the flake, enough I don’t think I “need” to flatten it for a final clear coat.

    But because I need to add decals and clear them in, that means I’ll be laying more clear anyway, so I’ll flatten the top/sides of the tubes only and then bury the flake underneath when I bury the decals too.

    Then I should be able to sand the whole frame and buff.

    I’m buying some 1500 & 2000 wet and dry now to do the sanding. Have 800 and 1200 on hand already.
    Are you intending to clear after the decals ?
    Give it a wet sand now, apply the decals then a final clear, if you get a good wet coat as the final you probably won’t need a final sand, it’s not as if you have large flat panels.

  11. #41
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    Yes will definitely clear after decals. Thanks for the tips.

  12. #42
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    As it looks like you are going full monty with the job I would suggest the following in your case.

    After decals and a clear coat you will end up with a step at the lip of the decal, I would wet sand after this coat and apply a final clear coat. I am suggesting this as corners and tight bends are a problem to buff and it is easy to burn at the crest.
    If you get all the blemishes out then carefully apply a wet final coat you wont need to buff.

  13. #43
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    Thanks droog, yep you’re right it’s a “full Monty” frame Painting metal flake

    Is 2-3 coats of clear enough buildup to be able to flatten the decal and not burn through?

    I assume I can also just clear in the decals part and not have to lay all that clear on the whole frame again?

  14. #44
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    Default Painting metal flake

    Got my wet and dry today so set about fixing the runs. I initially just used 800 grit but then moved on to a razor blade. All was going well. Managed to flatten the majority of the frame with 800 and then upped it to 1500 too in preparation for the decals and an additional few coats of clear.

    However Painting metal flake in my enthusiasm I managed to cut through the paint on the underside of the lower tube (trying to fix the runs), once with the razor blade and another time with the wet and dry. So annoyed with myself and whilst they’re small holes and you can’t see them when the bike is upright, they’d really bug me knowing I didn’t do it right.

    Wondering what the solution was, I thought “bugger it”, I’m fixing it with paint. I’ve watched a load of “Gunman” videos on YouTube and with that false confidence I set about masking and taping the frame. I had in my head that to feather an edge slightly you fold tape in half and put the crease on the edge of your area to paint. That’s what I did with 2 small squares surrounding the parts where I’d worn through.



    My plan was to primer, undo the tape and open up the area a little for colour, which is what I duly did.



    I didn’t get a shot of the base on its own but here is how the lower section is at the moment. Clearly it’s obvious at the moment because it’s cleared and the rest has been rubbed back with 800 grit, but I’m pretty confident it will work, plus you’ll never know anyway because it’s underneath the bike.





    Gun settings were pretty easy up until the flake. I had the fluid turned almost off and the fan almost off too. Very light mist coats building up to wet coverage when required. The flake was not as easy as it wouldn’t shoot enough flake otherwise, so I did a wet coat, then backed off and dusted it with flake from a bit further away.

    Now my OCD can relax a bit knowing I’ve done my best to fix it properly and they’ll be no silver bits on show when my daughter has to do a chain or tyre change Painting metal flake

  15. #45
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    May 2011
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    WOW what a fantastic paint job. Your daughter will be absolutely thrilled with it.
    Top Marks to you for trying a difficult paint job and succeeding with it.
    Kryn

    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

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