paint schemes

[Guest]

so I finally got around to laying some paint on my kz and my tank I'm using and side covers are in primer now. since I bought what I was thinking was going to be a replacement tank and had it sitting around(there's a bunch of rust inside and needs a lot of love on the outside), I figured I'd use it for paint scheme testing. I bought some duplicolor oem color match spray paint for the main color, and since I wanted to use a gunmetal grey for the accents/details, I used some vht ceramic paint I had floating around my garage so I'm not wasting the actual paint that I'm going to be gunning on the side covers and tank. as the spare tester tank came out from a quick scuff and coat with primer and color(I at least went that far with the tester), I'm thinking I like the way it came out so far. but I'm thinking of instead of using a solid stripe, maybe going with a split stripe would look better. so when I get home I think I'm gonna scuff it back down, possibly reprime and relay color and try a split stripe. but before I go that far, what do you guys think?

initial color without accents:




color with gunmetal accent stripe:

[Deuce]

I'm curious how the Duplicolor holds up to gas. I did a gorgeous black Krylon paint job on my old KZ650SR, but gas was brutal to it. While I have some decent guns and compressor, I'm just really comfortable with rattle cans. I bought some epoxy clear, but I haven't used it yet.

[60ratrod]

oh the duplicolor isn't to run, it's being used as a what I'm hoping is a close color stand in for the actual color I'm gonna use, so I don't waste it and have to go buy more. and the actual color will be duplicolor sprayed from a paint gun. the vht says on the can to cure at 200*f for it to be chemically resistant.

[tkent02]

oh the duplicolor isn't to run, it's being used as a what I'm hoping is a close color stand in for the actual color I'm gonna use, so I don't waste it and have to go buy more. and the actual color will be duplicolor sprayed from a paint gun. the vht says on the can to cure at 200*f for it to be chemically resistant.

Duplicolor doesn't resist gas at all, but with a urethane clear on top it it will.

[60ratrod]

Yeah, i wasn't gonna just color and go. Once i get the scheme finalized, i'll be sprayin color, sand, spray more color, sand again, one more coat and sand to get it smooth and even with 600, spray the stripe (s), then gloss clear, sand with 3000 and buff as needed.

[tkent02]

The gloss clear, make sure it's a two part automotive clear.
2K works fine.

[60ratrod]

I keep reading that 2k is the way to go, so i'll have to order it later this week

[80GS850GBob]

You can get 2k in mat and gloss...maybe semi too. Some folks like the suede look, some don't. Rat wax for the mat finish and your fine.{per the H.A.M.B. forum}
From what I've read on the web, if you've just painted with DC then it's ok to hit it with the 2K...if the DC has fully cured then you have to scuff it up for a good bite for the 2K or it'll try to run.
Nice kawi...kind of reminds me of my old '76 750B. {also like the air cleaner in pic 3!}

[60ratrod]

well as of right now, I'm rethinking running the stripe up over the top and just doing a split stripe down the side, so I can run stripes on the side covers and not have to worry about the lines not matching cause the covers are straight and the tank going up and over. and for the color coat, the plan is to apply 3 or so coats, sanding between each, until primer doesn't show after the 3rd or maybe 4th coat, and then clear it. that's how my buddies and I painted their cars and they came out looking pretty nice.

Bob, the majority of what you see hangin on the walls at this point is just mancave wall art, until I get another bowtie project, and that's not gonna be for a few more years at least.

[60ratrod]

after some hard thought and looking at the photos from the first stripe, i decided to head in a slightly different direction. thinking about having the stripe run up around the tank by the seat, i realized it would ruin the lines for the stripes that i want to put on the side covers. so i sanded it down a bit and reran some primer and color. the color came out kinda faded, but seeing as how i was almost out of color and this is just a spare tank that i'm using for testing, i decided to push forward. so now i have 2 parallel stripes that end at the back of the tank. i think i like this a little bit better.

[Coffee Nut]

I think both ideas look good but prefer the double stripes. Either way, looking forward to see how it turns out!

[60ratrod]

Well, first official coat of color has been laid. Looks good so far. One of the side covers fell with wet paint, so that's gotta get fixed

[Dub-K113]

Looks good so far. How long are you waiting between coats and are you wet sanding inbetween? I am painting my tank soon. Just waiting for it to get a little warmer up here. Good luck!

[60ratrod]

I didn't wait as long as I should have after the first coat of color. I only let it set and cure for about 24hrs. this time I'm letting it set for about 72 hours(mostly cause I have the late to 0800 desk watch right now). I got a little too eager with the gun on the second coat and ended up causing the first coat to run down to the primer on the right front of the tank, so there will be some mildly aggressive sanding in that area with 320 to fix the runs and sags there. otherwise I was able to get the color to match up without too much more sag and run hassles. otherwise the side covers are coming out great and look fan-friggen-tastic! i'll post photos of those when I become conscious again after I manage to get some sleep today.

[60ratrod]

Here's the side covers. I don't know if i'm gonna lay a 3rd coat or not:


2nd coat on the tank in the morning sun:


And the area that i got too trigger happy on. I fixed it better than i thought. It was way worse than those 2 noticeable spots. It's hard to tell with my phone: