- This topic has 8 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 3 months ago by Munch.
Wish me luck!
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December 20, 2008 at 10:02 pm #2420MunchParticipant
Alright… I am fixing to attempt something I have never done before. Painting my helmet.
Yes I read all the warnings…. “May effect performance”…”May have harmful effects on the structure of the helmet”…yadda yadda. Honestly if paint screws up my helmet…. better to know that now then in an accident when something alot harder hits it… like say… .I dunno…. an Escort or the pavement.
The helmet I got with the V500 kinda sorta matched…. as bout as much as a full face can with a cruiser. The colors on it are various shades of Grey, Black and red and looking all sport bike-ish. Well you have seen the color scheme on the V900 and this is not gonna work. I will be keeping the full face for my winter riding but in the summer will be getting one of a different style anyways.
SO….. I went and bought some paint… a Royal metal flake blue and gloss black. I think I have it now in my head how I want it to look and just need to get up my “Hey y’all watch this” personality in gear.
Here’s the before : http://www.g-max.com/gmax/gm48syf.html (forgot to mention…third design down)
and the after…. welll….. to be continued………Edit:
Step one…. Masking the face opening and vents… well basically says it all right there. Make sure you have plenty of tape. And unless your like me an exacto knife or some variant to trim for the tight lines and crevices. Me… I have finger nails :^) , before you go “euwww” remember I am a mechanic… sometimes you can’t get razorblades in these Hondas and Toyotas to get the gaskets off. Yes ladies..I know… “you guys suck!”… .I got that lecture with my ex wife when she was pregnant and trying to grow fingernails.
Step two Sanding/scuffing….. more lightly scuffing for my helmet as the outer layer is part of the actual material. Its not painted and the graphics are not stickers with clear coat over them. IF you try this…. BE WARNED….look to see what your helmet is made of! Also I used 320 grit paper… aggressive enough to make easy work of the top layer yet fine enough where you don’t have to worry about gouging… higher is fine but would not go less.
Day 2..a lesson learned but not a problem…. Primer… if your helmet has graphics molded into the helmet itself…primer first or make sure the paint of choice is very opaque
Day 2
Step 3 After several even coats of base color, in my case the Blue metal flake make sure all shades are even and there are no runs or bubbles…if so sand with fine grit and retouch. Give minimum 24 hours of curing time (unless otherwise stated by choice paint) to add details or next color.
Step 4 After main coat was on and dry I masked off the area for the second color…. I spent more time doing this then actually painting the base coat…. Trying to round out lines with straight edged tape is tedious… but I think I got really good. Alot of small pieces needed to turn 1 or 2 degrees each time…. sheesh…. Next time I will try my hand at a template. Cutting it out with a thick paper then taping it down.
Another lesson learned….luckily in time, when choosing the masking tape make sure to check on the packaging about adhesion strength… wouldn’t want to pull that new paint off now would ya? 3M has an indicator on their rolls on the strength of their adhesion….on my roll its on a scale of 5 dots… from lowest to highest and its at the third dot from lowest. Which honestly …. is low enough, I pulled the tape off easily and re positioned them many times with no glue left behind or loss of tackiness.
Step 5 Second color…. making sure allll of the first color is covered that you don’t want coated just follow the selected paints instructions. I opted not to re sand the base tooo much work for me. Be careful of misting overs pray, especially if the colors you chose are very different in contrast. Fine paint mist has a way of finding any gap in taping or template.
Step 6 Clear coating- after you are satisfied that no touch ups or added detail will be added get you a good quality clear coat to evenly spray the entire surface. It will both permanently seal and if so desired add the glossy finished look to the helmet. I opted for the crafting clear coat sealer as I have worked with it before and I like the results. One particular thing to note- when picking colors be aware that the clear coats will usually make the colors more rich in color depth and shade. So be wary of blues, red, and other shades that are susceptible to darkening. My color was a lighter blue unfinished but once sealed darkened up and gave it more “pop” for lack of a better word.
Final Step back look at your work. I added some pin striping to divide the 2 colors I used. Reason 1 was to better clean up the dividing lines between the two different paints. 2nd was to add just a little bit more detail. Reading the instructions on the Pin striping pack it cautioned against clear coating as it may effect the color or look of the striping. So I added it last.December 21, 2008 at 3:13 am #15367BenParticipantCan’t wait to see the final product!
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminDecember 21, 2008 at 3:43 am #15368MunchParticipantThanks…. being my first one… this is gonna be about as basic as you can get. I have no airbrush equipment and seeing how its gonna get retired to winter weather use…. I am not gonna spend alot of time drawing up anything to make it … exciting.
Just want to make it match the bike a bit better.Yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is a prediction, but today…… is a Bi**h
December 22, 2008 at 4:00 am #15376MunchParticipantBTW…I am adding my steps and lessons learned as edits to the original post. In case your interested its not a forgotten project… just have to re read the top to see the changes. Will keep up to date as my progress runs. I am fighting 12 hour work days and cold weather which slows the process a touch… so it may take 3 or 4 days total for me…. which the good news is … after christmas we hit 60’s again and I can go out and show it off!
Yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is a prediction, but today…… is a Bi**h
December 22, 2008 at 10:52 pm #15387dcJohnParticipantNice project Munch. I’m curious, any particular type of paint (and primer) you’d recommend?
December 23, 2008 at 12:54 am #15383MunchParticipantFor some reason the tags to the pics don’t want to work right so go here and see what you can…let me know if its a no go:
http://www.axcessmypics.com/mrsuthern/jsps/blog******************************************************************************************
Common sense exists!!! Problem is -if the ones around me are setting the bar
……. I am a genius!!
******************************************************************************************December 23, 2008 at 12:56 am #15391MunchParticipantGeneral consensus throughout the web is House of Kolors..though in my lil redneck area (proud of it :^) ) The selection gets limited.
FIRST and foremost see what material your helmet is made of… ABS plastic… go with paints that are made to bond with plastic… even get a bond promoter if you can find it. Primer… a very neutral flat color. To dark and it can adversly effect the shade of paint your using. Remembered that lil trick from the few auto paint shops I’ve been to.
Me I went to auto zone……the Metal Flake Blue (which the picture doesn’t show off well) is By Dupli-Color and is their Metal Specks brand. The black is a Gloss Black from Krylon (yea yea Krylon and duct tape… redneck accessories)….. their Fusion line.
Of course again… all this depends on your Helmets make up.
I am going back over it with a clear coat sealer from the local Michaels craft store.
I also bought a roll of brushed aluminum pin stripping from Auto Zone…. 1/8 inch thickness…. as of right now…. after I pull the masking tape I will see if I use it or not.
Hopefully a near finished picture to be updated tomorrow…atleast after first coat of the clear coat.***************************************************************************************
Common sense exists!!! Problem is -if the ones around me are setting the bar
……. I am a genius!
***************************************************************************************December 23, 2008 at 11:51 pm #15400MunchParticipantWell I finally got it done… alot of changes from my original idea but I am happy with. You can click on the link above to hopefully see 2 new shots of the finished project. I omitted a shot of the back due to the low lighting and the fact that I used my camera phone but the back has a spade-ish shaped area of black that I opted not to pin stripe in.
Well give me your thoughts, critique or even the WTF were you thinking.
Oh yea remember I wanted it to better match the 900…. for a refresher look go here:
https://www.bestbeginnermotorcycles.com/forum/forum-topic/1804/woohoo-new-family-member*****************************************************************************************
Common sense exists!!! Problem is -if the ones around me are setting the bar
……. I am a genius!
**************************************************************December 29, 2008 at 8:28 am #15461MunchParticipantHmmm…. no critics among us? 1 week and notta…. is it that bad?
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Common sense exists!!! Problem is -if the ones around me are setting the bar
……. I am a genius!
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