Simple graphics on bike gas tank...advice needed

Discuss custom painting, artwork and airbrushing



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PostPosted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 10:38 pm
I'm not new to painting, been painting cars for a long time. I am however, new to airbrushing. This project will be my first real attempt. I've watched multiple videos and have painted a lot of practice panels though.

Below is a mock picture of what the owner of the bike wants. Since I'm not confident I can pull this off, my plan was to paint the bike black and clear it. Then do the graphics on top of the clear, that way worst case I do a terrible job on the graphics, I can just sand the graphics out, buff, and give him a nice black finish to have someone else do the graphics on. As for the process of layering the graphics, I was thinking I'd start with some masking paper and cut out the checkers first and shoot orange only, since I'll have black underneath already. Then from there I'm not sure where to go. Do I need some intercoat clear? Any tips/advice is appreciated.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 8:47 am
Ah the old quandary of painting a checkerboard! Its so simple, NOT! Its rather the masking of a checkerboard. I've done it several ways, you can apply masking on the tank, draw your design, then very carefully cut out the orange checkers, taking care not to cut into the painted surface below. Or you can use a stencil material designed for a Plotter, like Gerber Mask, and draw your design, cut it, then put transfer tape over it to hold it together, remove the backing and place it on the tank. But then there's the issue of the mask material having folds in as the mask is flat and the tank is curved.
I usually place the stencil material on the tank and cut it there. Make sure to have a good supply of Xacto #11 blades handy as you want to make sure to use a nice sharp blade. Don't press too hard. Just cut the stencil material.

Draw your checks, but make sure the leave the oval for the lettering. Don't put checks there. Cut your checks, spray them orange. Remove the masking material and tape off and mask the oval, covering the checks. Now do your lettering. Once that's done stripe around the oval.

Now use urethane clear to level out the paint edges. Make sure your first coat is a light coat to lock everything down.
Crazy Horse Custom Paint
And Author of How to Custom Paint Your Car
http://www.crazyhorsepainting.com/



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Posts: 182
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: OKC, Oklahoma
PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:24 am
JoAnn, thank you so much for taking the time to help. Being able to get advice from a professional such as yourself means a lot. I had been putting this off hoping to hear back from someone on this thread.

Should I do the graphics on top of my black base coat, or can I clear everything first and do the graphics on the clear?

I'm gonna give this a shot this weekend and see how it goes. I'll probably need more help along the way.

Thanks again.

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