Spray paint Like a PRO / getting a BLING finish to paint job....

hand paint the cut outs, will be a lot easier to do than masking everything up and trying to make sure you get the spray in there. Plus you’d waste more paint trying to spray that then if you just hand paint. put some paint in a bottle cap and get a small brush and just paint it on, not to thin it leaves paint brush lines nor too thick it pools right down.

do a few test runs on a can if you want. just spray the can as you would the bike.

hand painting was my plan all along, basically i wanted to

mask cut outs
spray frame
take off masks
hand paint cut outs

i guess being such small areas, it might not be such a big deal if i mask once, or re-mask between coats?

Those cutouts will look fine when done by hand cause they’re small. I dont think you’ll need to mask anything? Spray the frame, let it dry, then add the details with a paintbrush

cheers ben, is that what you did with your green ken? i was worried about doing that if the frame is a dark base, and cutouts are a lighter colour

Yea I just went straight over the green with yellow(tiny tin from the local hobby shop)
I was worried too but it worked well, if it does come through you can always add another coat;)

Hey man, what you can do is mix your lighter coloured paint with a white paint or a grey/white primer. Those paints tend to have a large amount of pigment powder whacked in them for coverage.
1 layer of that 50/50 mix, let it dry, and paint your light paint right over the top!

currently painting my new project. its a nice slime pastel green colour not unlike kermit the frog!
Sanded off the clear coat on top and then painted with ironlak, 2 coats in i sanded it back a little.
Now just finished the 3rd coat and waiting till the weekend to polish and assemble.
Cant wait to have my new fixie on the road its gonna be bad ass!!!

just started rubbing back an Allegro Track, want to take it back to raw aluminium finish, tips on finishing a raw Alu frame?

was thinking waxing it, Canuba wax? anyone done this?

Once its stripped you can use a car metal polish on it if you want it shining like chrome. POR 15 Artisan Metal Polish is very easy to use and get an amazing mirror-like finish. Then you could probably wax it to give some protection I guess - you might not need to though, just re-polish it every now and again. I would test a small discreet section with the wax, like the inside of a chainstay and see how you go.

Dull raw aluminum would look hot.


inspiration from this, Low Bicycles

if i decide not to go to a mirror finish, wax onto the raw metal will still be sweet? guessing it will just need to be reapplied every few months?

If you don’t want it super shiny you could just wax as you say. Or if you want a maintenance-free option you could call around and find someone who can apply a clear powdercoat for you. The latter would be my choice. If you do you’ll just need to protect the inside of your BB and headtube whilst being coated, and then have them both refaced after.

I am not a powdercoat expert, but I was under the impression that clear powder needs to be applied over a colour powder, feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

What I do know is that applying a clear over a steel frame won’t prevent the frame from rusting.
This is because the clear is stil ‘open’ and wil leave air trough the paint allowing the steel to corrode.
The same wil happen with alloy, but alloy is not as sensitive as steel, so it would work for alloy.

There are some clears that ‘claim’ they prevent rust, but I personally haven’t been convinced that they actually work…

That’s why the best way to get shiny metal is stil chrome… :smiley:

how would one get a result like this? What would be used as the criss cross template?

milk crates bro

Airbrush most likely mate.

Did you ever see that clip on Vimeo of the colnago frames getting painted at their factory??? Check it out.

LOL - ghetto criss cross.

Also chicken wire and cyclone fencing. When those ‘dodsun’ Taiwanese bikes were bought over in the early/mid 90’s, to shift them when sales were drooping, they were painted like so with lary colours, apparently.

orange or onion bags from the supermarket are almost like this, need to be glued down, or done in one pass