New Paint Job By jerryscript (Read 3,268 times)

[jerryscript]

My nephew turned 17 last month, so I decided to hand down my beloved 50cc yellow Znen to him. Unfortunately, I am the only one in the family that liked the yellow and black paint, so over the past two days I put a new teal(ish) and black (both with metallic flakes) paint job on it. I ran out of primer, and the store also was out of the primer I started with, so I did a light base coat of the black mettalic paint on the two lighter pieces before applying the teal top coat, which matched up pretty nice in the end. Kept details to a minimum, only using the metallic black on the top of the front fender and accent swooshes on the side panels. My nephew is happy,so I guess I am, though I miss my little yellow bumblebee! Here are a few photos, primer, top coat, and clear coated back on the scooter.

[richardv]

Looks great. I'd take teal over yellow as well. But my last motorcycle was yellow.

[jerryscript]

Thanks! I'm realizing those of us who like yellow are apparently in the minority!

[richardv]

When the Beatles came out with "Yellow Submarine" I was driving a yellow '59 Plymouth hardtop. I got a lot of flap about that.

[jct842]

What equipment did you use to apply the paint? I like it a lot.

[jerryscript]

Jul 22, 2015 15:47:09 GMT -6 jct842 said:

What equipment did you use to apply the paint? I like it a lot.

Thanks! Rattle cans. Dupli-Color from Pep Boys.

[jct842]

WOW I can see this isn't your first time.

[tvnacman]

Great job Jerry it looks great.

John

[Guitarman]

I've been wanting to paint my bike for some time now. Aside from not having wheels while I'm doing it, I don't really have a reason not to. I might go crazy waiting for the paint to dry properly so I can put my ride back together. 

I've never done it before except for my front fairing and I see now a way I could've done that better.

I'd need maybe 10 cans of color, 3 or 4 of flat black high temp, and maybe 5 or 6 of clear coat. And that's a guesstimate.

Got any tips for us beginners?

[jerryscript]

I only used two small cans of the base color, and a 1/4 of a can of the black. The primer covered the yellow completely with 1 1/2 cans. Two large cans of clearcoat gave me four coats. We didn't finish to a high glossy shine, he wanted more of a matte finish allowing the metallic flake to provide the shine, so four coats was plenty.


Rough up the plastic really good so the primer has something to hold on to, especially the edges and joints, they are first to chip without a good roughing up to bond to.

Before sanding the primer, fog it with some color as a guide coat. You'll be able to easily see if you missed any spots.

While sanding the primer, be gentle on the edges, it's very easy to sand through edges. A light hand and patience seem to be the key, otherwise you'll waste time respraying where you sanded through.

Plan on using pinstripes or some other border where two colors meet, its much easier than cleaning up the tape lines. If you zoom in on the swoosh in the side panel, you can see what I'm talking about. I've since applied thin pinstripe around the edges covering the flaws, simple and looks great.

[Guitarman]

I've some plastic, but much of it is metal. The tank is my biggest concern. It's got a rust spot on it, so I know already I need to strip it and re-do it completely. The rest of it will be pretty easy, I hope. LOL

I'm thinking of a nice pearlescent color. Maybe a mix of two colors with a pearlescent top coat.

[jerryscript]

I've never tried a pearl top coat. I would love to see it, please post pics when you can

[jct842]

I did the handle bar cover/speedo suround on a friends scooter that was pretty well dinged up and it looks like new. Did very little to patch the dings too. Krylon fusion hammer tone. Covered with a rough dark gray metalic finish.

Now you got me thinking I should paint my new to me klx250. There are no dings on it which isn't bad for a 2009 and I would have to get the decals off. I really liked that fusion paint, its made to bond to plastic chemically. My bike is green/white just like most of the other kaw's and I would like to make it mine!

[Guitarman]

If I actually get to it, I'll post some pics for you. I'll try and remember to take pix while I'm doing it too.

[jerryscript]

Jul 23, 2015 20:45:47 GMT -6 jct842 said:

I did the handle bar cover/speedo suround on a friends scooter that was pretty well dinged up and it looks like new. Did very little to patch the dings too. Krylon fusion hammer tone. Covered with a rough dark gray metalic finish.

Now you got me thinking I should paint my new to me klx250. There are no dings on it which isn't bad for a 2009 and I would have to get the decals off. I really liked that fusion paint, its made to bond to plastic chemically. My bike is green/white just like most of the other kaw's and I would like to make it mine!

I spent 30 minutes getting the first decal off with my fingernails, then pulled out a blowdryer and got the rest off in 3 minutes!