Alrite, here we go folks. For the few people that are interested in painting their mini from start to finish, I'm gonna talk you along with me step by step through my whole paint job. Hopfully it helps answer some questions, I'm just using my experience from painting other bikes myself and from painting 1000's of Honda's for 2 years at the factory. I'll start off with the bike we're working with. Brand new, M3 camo body, it should arrive in the mail today or tomorrow and it'll be in pieces before it even sees a drop of gas for all you who are interested. Enjoy the trip....
Re: Start to Finish for those intersted in the steps!
Alrite, lets do it already....
got the bike in...minor damage. it seems to be in good condition except for the windshield. im not huge on the clear windshields to start with, my original plan was to black it out but first i gotta address this crack. its splitting the windshield almost totally in half so my only option, without just ordering a new one, is to fiberglass it. any other fix like bondo or what not won't hold and will just crack again as soon as the slightest pressure is applied after reassemble, and guaranteed it will undergo some pressure so the solution is fiberglass. Other than that ive removed all the fenders and the tank and seat section not to mention the main fairing, essentially all the plastic is off, as well as the chain guard which will be blacked out from its current chrome....pics to follow...
Re: Start to Finish for those intersted in the steps!
1-I removed all the fairing and fenders and chain guard and will dismantle them into the smallest pieces I can just for the fact its easier to handle for me in pieces than one huge chunk, you should only be left with your bare bike frame and essential components.(pics 1, 2, 3, & 4)
2-Sand down all your pieces you removed, use a coarser grit sandpaper. I like to always use wet/dry sand paper for its durability and finish. The goal right now is basically to "unshine" it. Use a 400 or 600 wet/dry paper, I run the parts under warm water when I sand it (tub, hose, sink, spray bottle, whatevers clever). The idea of wet-sanding is it should provide a superior finished surface because the purpose of the running water is to carry out any sediment or dirt from the surface which will ultimately prevent deeper scratches than we're looking for, and improve the life of the paper. So take the shine off all your parts and than use a paint prep wipe, or even varsol or something that will remove any oils left on your parts, than get an area ready to spray some primer.(pic 5)
Re: Start to Finish for those intersted in the steps!
spray paint, i only airbrush designs or what not, if its a solid colour just spray paint though, ill even show you my trick for decals and emblems to make it look like factory. with the way ive done my other bikes everyone thinks i airbrushed or free handed my decals and emblems but i've experimented and found and much much easier way.... thats still to come tho....
Re: Start to Finish for those intersted in the steps!
i've had a couple bikes, redid all of them, i have alot more experience painting cars. thats not from a body shop, all my painting experience i draw from the few years i was painting hondas and acuras in the factory, straight off the line, i painted thousands and thousands and probably reworked atleast acouple thousand too. other than that, just from willing to try things on my own. as far as your decals question i think the best source is from actual full size motor bikes, i don't have any real "gold mine" of stencils or decals tho, sorry
Re: Start to Finish for those intersted in the steps!
PRIMER TIME-Take your time! Don't skimp out...priming is one of the most over looked parts of this whole deal. Primer is there to promote adhesion of your top coat and clear, and don't forget that it's there to fill minor scratched and imperfections from sanding. If you got a good primer coat than you're almost golden. REMEMBER: whatever kind of appearance your primer coat has its only gonna be magnified by the colour coat and nice shiny clear coat. If it looks like sh*t now, your gonna be in for one hell of a sh*tstorm if you don't fix it at this point!
3-Now that everything's roughened up a lil and you've cleaned any contaminants like grease off with a paint thinner or solvent of some sort, and if you're goin all out you can get a tack cloth or even cheese cloth to lightly go over your parts and get any lil pieces of dirt or hair that may be left behind, than it's time to prime. Everytime you start a new series of coats (for example, prime, colour coat or clear coat) the steps are pretty similar. First coat of primer just lightly "haze" the parts you're painting. You should be able to see through it and still see the original colour. This step isn't to cover the previous, this light coat is to help the ones to come, it'll make the next ones easier to stick and flow much better. Notice in the first 2 pics you can still see the camo. Last pic is what you should have after step 4.
4-Let the coat you just did dry up a bit, no more than 5 minutes say, and than hit it with atleast one, preferrably two, hell if you want make it 3(i usually will). These coats should be heavier and more "wet" looking. The previous one might have a "dry" look and rough texture but that's expected. Spray about a beer bottle away from the parts. Make sure your strokes with the can are smooth and consisitent, and stop spraying when your stroke has come off the part. If you stop on the part it's gonna make a god awful run and than you're just gonna hafta sand it out and do it again. So one, two or three heavier coats than leave it to dry for now...
Re: Start to Finish for those intersted in the steps!
any primers or clear coat my number one safe bet everytime is dupont duplicolor automotive paints, for my colour coats i don't limit myself to any perticular one, if i think itll look good ill try it
Re: Start to Finish for those intersted in the steps!
no problem, don't be too scared to just try out a lil of this and that and see what happens....worse case scenario....you buy more paint and sandpaper, not the end of the world. this ones gonna be coming out a limetime pearl green, im gettin pretty curious to see how it comes out and whether or not ill love it or paint it
