heya does anyone know of any good rattle can brands and where to buy them? just spraying an old frame I had blasted. im looking for a dark purple/violet something like
i know cheapo squirts do a violet, but i want something a bit darker than theirs
cheers 
Bolton, or I just used Plasticoat for a purple which is lighter than what you’ve got there, but I’m pretty sure Plasticoat had a darker purple too.
Hardware stores should have what you need. I went to Manfax on Gertrude St. Also, don’t forget primer. I have about half a big can left if you’re in Melbourne and want it, plus some left over clear coat.
Aeroskills and Montana do a deep violet/purple like that
dont know where you can purchase though :?
You could try an auto store like Repco. They do a dark (metallic) purple in their touch up paints.
</hijack thread/<>
do you sand down your primer with 1200 wet before applying colour layer?
Oh really, in spray? metallic would be rad
Bolton, or I just used Plasticoat for a purple which is lighter than what you’ve got there, but I’m pretty sure Plasticoat had a darker purple too.
Hardware stores should have what you need. I went to Manfax on Gertrude St. Also, don’t forget primer. I have about half a big can left if you’re in Melbourne and want it, plus some left over clear coat.
Bunnings? all i remember being at any bunnings store is dulux, squirts, or even cheaper stuff.
Yeh i already forgot the primer im pretty annoyed, i had every intention of getting it and putting it on but then my excitement got the better of me so i forgot and just started spraying the shit out of the frame with undercoats of regular paint. got a few cans of clear coat but cheers!
Most definitely! It adds so much time, but in the long run, it pays off.
Yeah.
The cans at Repco are smaller, but they seem better quality than the ones at Bunnings.
go the high quality clear coat as well, otherwise all the effort will be wasted.
Where’s Ross?
A Hoi Hoi
Lets start from the cheapest…
Aussie export does a Plum Purple pretty similar to that…it will turn out fine as long as you do an undercoat to prime the frame. Aussie Exports are going for $2 each this week at supercheap auto. The negatives are that its not very thick, and is prone to fading.
Mid range graffiti paints like aeroskills, Crunch, Ironlak etc will provide lots of colours, they are plenty thick but they also have a very rough texture, you run your hand over a frame painted with these and it will be quite course. I was at my paint shop today trying to get a new purple Ironlak called ‘Pose Sushi’ but they had sold out already 
There is a dark purple Ironlak called ‘Venom’ which is a pretty good colour, also Crunch ‘Troublesome’…Aeroskills is total shit imo. These will all cost $4-$8
Top Range Graffiti Paint like Belton is the best for painting bikes as far as Im concerned. Belton makes an awesome grape purple, forget what its called though. This paint is great because its thick and covers well, has a nice texture, adheres to metal well, and has a female valve can which is a lot better to use. Belton is like $12 a can, don’t think they even sell it in Canberra :? Montana Black brand provides a similar finish but some colours are a bit watery.
Expensive paint ($15+ a can) is a real minefield. There is a lot of absolute rubbish sold at Bunnings for ludicrous prices, in fact Aussie export is just as good as some of the expensive paint sold in hardware stores. ONLY buy paint like this if you are looking for a specific effect like fluro, candy, metallic, chromes etc…and never buy from bunnings! Go to an auto paint shop, you will be astounded with some of the paints they have on offer, but all are very volatile and require perfect preparation and usually a white undercoat.
Summary: There are two kinds of paints, male valve (hardware store/Auto store paint) and female valve (graffiti/art paint)
Male valves are rubbish to use, often really high pressure, come with a nasty chisel style cap, and the difference between a $2 can and $20 can is often not that much. However, if you want a special kind of paint from an auto paint shop, this is your best bet.
Female valves give a lot more control, spray a lot more consistantly, and the paint is a lot thicker with a better pigment. The colour range available is absolutely massive, and if you just want a ‘normal’ colour this is my reccomendation. However some of the cheaper ones are very thick as mentioned, try to stick with montana black or belton if possible.
The best advice I can give is avoid getting ripped off at bunnings and other hardware stores! If you just want to paint it black or something, get yourself some $2 Aussie Export and go nuts…and if you want something a little better get some graffiti paint, but don’t get sucked in buying dulux and wattyl and other trash…the Plasticoat range is pretty good, but the rest are total rubbish especially compared to belton at $11-13 a can.
Excellent post Mr Ross 
Could I please ask you to expand into chrome paints?
I have seen the White Knight Super Chrome - but on the label it says not to use on things you will touch a lot or you will have to retouch the paint…
This is the business. Cheers ross.
Had a quick look in bunnings just then (had to buy other stuff there), the range is rubbish and squirts was the only coloured cans they had (pretty much). tried a repco that i found near me off the website but it wasn’t really the paint-selling type. Anyone know where to buy the graf cans in melbourne (as close to brunswick as possible)???
nearest supercheap autos is at essendon i believe
Theres chrome paints, and chrome effect paints, very different things.
Chrome is just a colour, pretty much silver to be honest and every brand will have one…Aussie export chrome is pretty decent although it clogs the valve often because its thicker than normal export.
Most auto places will have some ‘chrome effect’ paints, mostly silvers and golds, but my supercheap auto store has some blues and purples…forget what brand they are, probably a dulux line. You can tell these from the lid, almost looks anodised and easy to spot. Their quality varies, I’ve only tried golds and silvers which has yielded average results, I wanna try the purple one day just to see if its any good.
Stockholm definately stay away from squirts and fiddly bits, Aussie export is far better than those if you want to keep it cheap. I don’t know the closest supercheap to Brunswick, but I can tell you about a graffiti store named ‘Villain’ which is on Sydney Rd…they should have Belton, I don’t know how much stock they keep on hand though, otherwise I think Melbourne Artist Supply near RMIT still stock Belton? Also shops in Richmond, St Kilda and Nth Melb will have some…kinda lame when nowhere in Canberra has any at all
Villain is your best bet for beltons… Otherwise like Ross above me also said The shop in north melbs called giant on dryburgh st.
Decided to give the cheap option a go and just headed down to supercheap. that place is a smorgasboard of colours, so great. and only $2 each!!!
got a couple of plum purples, clear coat, and an emerald green which i couldnt resist and am now building a new bike for. and then for $10 a smaller can of powerplus touch up paint in a metallic plum.
i’ll let you all know how they perform :mrgreen:
^^^Hope you bought some grey primer or white undercoat to go underneathe the purple!!
well i already had several coats of dusk grey undercoat but it wasn’t a primer unfortunately. couldnt be bothered re-sanding and starting again for the millionth time.
put 3 or 4 coats of the plum purple, wet sanding with 1200 paper in between. and just then i put down a layer of some of the metallic paint. it seemed to go on really well and managed to coverup everything in 1 lightish coat without any runs (that ive noticed yet). so far its looks awesome, hopefully no shit falls in it while its drying. fingers crossed.
PS. if it looks alright with just the 1 coat of metallic, should i leave it at 1 coat and then clear coat it. or put more on? cos its pretty thick…
PPS aussie exports is so much better than squirts. thanks ross
Hey Stockholm, awesome thread you’ve got goin here man - post some pics asap too! i’d love to see how it turned out.
I’m repainting my Europa frame. Hopefully this weekend. I’m going to try and do a fade… Anyway, It’s a black frame, and I’m thinking of keeping majority of it black, with possibly (and this may sound crazy) going to purple > blue > green > yellow > red from the seat tube and over the rear triangle. So basically the rear of the frame of it is a rainbow fade. If this is ridiculously hard to do, I’m thinking black>silver>white, but I’m not that keen on that colour combo… I want something bright-ish.
So three questions, my rainbow idea, is this just plain stupid? Will I be hating myself trying to do this? Secondly, should I hit the whole thing with a grey primer first, then sand back with 1200 wet n’ dry, then hit it with colour, sand down, then clear coat? How long should I let it dry for before sanding it?
And finally, I have Repco and Supercheap right near my house. They’re actually next to each other. I was going to use a metallic black from Repco. Should I just get the other colours from Repco (in metallic), and get Aussie Exports primer and clear coat from Supercheap? Or should I just stick with the Aussie Exports stuff for all of it, seeing that it’s considerably cheaper?