• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Decals

  • Thread starter Thread starter reddirtrider
  • Start date Start date
R

reddirtrider

Guest
I should have checked earlier, but Reproduction Decals says you should wait 1 week after painting before applying their decals and 2 days after application before clear coating.

This seems like an excessively long time to me. I would like to do the base, pearl, and one clear coat, then allow to dry for a few hours, apply the decals and follow up with more clear the next day.

Any experienced painters have suggestions?
 
They are about right on. Unless you have a baked on finish, it will take that amount of time for all the solvent in the paint to evaporate. And so far as the decals go, they are a film with a water based adhesive, or a contact adhesive, both of which need time to "vent". Patience it truly a virtue when ti comes to a spectacular finish. Or, you can do some pro style masking and paint the details on! :rolleyes: (it would take ME less time to wait out the recommended drying time)
 
reddirtrider said:
I should have checked earlier, but Reproduction Decals says you should wait 1 week after painting before applying their decals and 2 days after application before clear coating.

This seems like an excessively long time to me. I would like to do the base, pearl, and one clear coat, then allow to dry for a few hours, apply the decals and follow up with more clear the next day.

Any experienced painters have suggestions?
Click to expand...

I think you should be alright following the recipe you have, with the exception of allowing the first clear coat(s) after your pearl to dry for a at least 24 hrs. I'd put a couple of coats over your pearl, you don't want to sand through the clear into it at this stage. Open it up with 600 the next day. Don't worry about getting it totally smooth yet, just open it up a little and let it breathe. After another day, sand everything as smooth as you dare with 600, clean and tack rag the surface, apply the decals, and clear again. Make sure the first couple of coats of clear over the fresh decals is sprayed pretty dry. You have less chance at eating into them that way. Give it 15-20 minutes between coats, and gradually spray it a little wetter for your final 2-3 coats. It's always better to spray a little dry than too wet and getting runs, which are a beetch to fix. It has to be sanded and polished anyway. Good luck, I'll be anxious to see your results.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm kind of behind schedule as I was tring to get this bike done for my sons' wedding and didn't make that due to various issues.

It's a pretty dry climate where I live and I could always set the parts in the sun after they tack up. I'm not sure I want to do that as the sun is pretty intense at 9100'.

Thanks again.
 
Well, I was able to put down 4 coats of white, 2 coats of pearl, and one coat of clear before the clouds started rolling in. I wanted to get another coat of clear, but decided not to chance it. My garage door is open and if the wind starts to blow with wet paint I'm screwed.

So, all in all it looks poretty darn good. I'll post some pics when the wife gets home tomorrow. It's her camera and the sofware is on her computer.

I believe the paint dude told me to mix the clear 2:1 with hardner. I hope that's correct and not 2 parts hardner to one clear. Is that right? I'm tired and hungry. It's been a long day.
 
I don't know on your thoughs, but what about just just going with the pearl to get through the wedding, then work the decals, and clear over them later?

Just a thought.

Hate to see a good paint job have issues from rushing things.

I bet it looks sweet.

Pics, pics, pics..... :clap: ......!!!!

lol
 
I agree that it's best to get some clear down on the base coat before putting down the graphics. Most of the base coats want to be top coated within 24-48 hours, so that messes up the decale schedule. Once the first couple layers of clear harden, sand with 600, install the graphics, and then hit the part with a couple more layers of clear. If your last couple of layers lay down well, you are done.

Picture111.jpg


Picture112.jpg
 
I'll give him a ring and see what he thinks of waiting another week.

In the meantime, I wanted to get 2 coats of clear down so I don't sand thru them when laying the decals. Can I apply a second coat of clear about 16 hours after the first without problems and without scuffing?

Your tank looks good Ed. Is that buffed out or are you just that good?
 
Last edited:
Congratulations on a beautiful job on the black tank Ed. Thanks for the tip with finishing I hope mine turns out as well as that, cheers.
 
I didn't touch the final clear on that tank. Just sanded the first couple of layers with 600, laid down the pinstripes, and shot two more layers on top. Good enough.
 
After 1 coat of clear. Sorry about the resolution but I've tried to uplaod psics by using
(without the space) and have never been successful. If I can ever figure it out I'll post better pics.
 
Is that an '83 750ES? If so, I have extra paint you could have used. At any rate, looks good.
 
Nessism said:
Is that an '83 750ES? If so, I have extra paint you could have used. At any rate, looks good.
Click to expand...
It is. It's really hard to tell from the pics what it really looks like. I gave everything a second coat of clear today so that I don't sand thru for the decals. I also put a 3rd coat on the fairing lowers. They don't have any decals.

I'm going to wait on the decals a bit. Here's what I'm thinking of a schedule.

Monday - 2 days after the clear I'm going to try to sand everything that needs decals.

Tuesday - Wet sand and polish the lower front fairings. That gives them 3 days aftwer the clear. This is to get an idea what everything will look like.

Wednesday - Apply the decals. This is 2 days after sanding and 4 after the clear.

Thursday morning - Apply the final coats of clear.

Friday - Bolt it all up for the trip to Chicago.

I'll polish it all in Chicago.

Does this sound like I'm giving it enough time?

I'll be bringing the Suzuki and my ZXR1200 along so we can go riding when I get there. If any of you are in the area and have some time, maybe you'd like to join us. I won't be there until Monday or Tuesday.
 
I'm goona try posting a pic and see if I do it right this time.

IMG_0052.jpg

Cool it works. I'll post some higher res pics next time.
 
Looking good Red, I'm sure your son will be amazed. Only thing to watch is any rubber grommets on the paint . The paint will not be real hard even though it feels hard.

I did lay mine on pretty thick, so it was the clear that really took a while to harden.
 
I took some pics today with the the wifes' camera on different settings. I'm not sure if the resolution improved or not so I'll just post the pic, then redo if necessary.

IMG_0451.jpg


For some reason the resolution isn't improving. I thought I changed the camera settings, but nothing is different. I'm tired of messing around with this camera, it's not user friendly. The tank is shiney all over and it's hard to tell from this pic what color it really is. I'll post some pics later as I progress but I have lots more to do today to this bike and I'm ready to throw the camera out the window, so it's best to give it back to her.
 
Last edited:
Photobucket or whatever photo hosting service you are using may be truncating the photos do a smaller size. Looks great from what I can see. Keep up the good work.
 
I applied the decals to the tail and front fender yesterday. Today I shoot them with the final coats of clear and then apply the decals to the tank, fairing, and side covers, then tomorrow I'll clear them. The reason I'm doing this in 2 parts is I wanted to put the smallest decals on first as a test to see if any bubbles formed and the second reason is that I found it tough to spray a large number of parts in the confines of the garage. This way I can spread them out more and have more control over the process.

I see we caught one of the dogs tennis balls (I needed to qualify that) in the picture. :clap:

IMG_0452.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top