Noob with a DIY motorcycle "marble" paint job, many questions

[ksudumler]

Hello Everyone, I am new to this forum. A little background on myself, I have done only spray can painting on non-automotive projects so I am very novice. I am a mechanical engineer, so I believe that I am usually very good at troubleshooting and understanding relative properties and procedures. However, painting is out of my comfort zone. I am very interested in getting some expert opinions to achieve great results from my upcoming DIY project.

I have a new motorcycle that currently has factory paint.

I am wanting to do a custom job on tank, front and rear fenders, and side plates.

I have done some research and would like to attempt a "marble" paint job with a subtle decal on either side of the gas tank.

Here's my plan, tell me if you have any suggestions or if I am missing any steps. I have the ability to use a paint booth and curing room at my work, but I have never used a spray gun before.

I will bead blast all parts down to bare metal/plastic side plates to remove all factory paint. I will then put a layer of primer down on all parts, wait the recommended flash time and apply a base coat of black to all parts.

Here is my biggest concern:

I want to tape of two decals on either side of the tank to assure that the area taped off will remain black (more specifically I want to use the Kansas State University "Powercat", as it is my alma mater). Should I tape off, stencil, and cut out my decal within a few hours of laying the base coat, or should I allow the tank to dry and cure (approx 48 hrs or so), scuff the entire tank and then tape, stencil, and cut out my decal prior to laying down the white overcoat. I plan on laying down a white overcoat and "Saran wrap" it to give it the marbled texture. I want to avoid laying the saran wrap around my decal to assure all of the edges are clear and do not fade into the other paint. After laying out the white "marbled" layer, I want to remove the taped custom decals and put on a semi translucent candy coat layer to give the paint a marbled color look.

I am not sure about the best procedure for removing the taped decal. Should I do this within a certain time period of laying down the white paint? I am also concerned with cutting into the black base coat when cutting out the decal, and tips to assure the candy coat with adhere to both the white and black paint (specifically the black paint under the taped off decal).

After laying out the candy coat layer, I will clear coat. I have been told that I should do this after 15 min and no later than 30 minutes after laying down the final candy layer. Is this also correct?

I have found solutions to the automotive 2 part polyurethane paint (Primer, Base Coat, White Coat, Candy, and Clear) in both spray cans and pints to use in a spray gun.

Has anyone attempted any similar projects that could help give me some advise on this? I have never done any "professional" painting and am very curious if I can even pull this off. Any and all help is much appreciated, Thanks.

 

[ksudumler]

I have been following the Thread "2004 Harley Sportster - Flake, Lace and Kandy" and believe I have some clarification. If I understand correctly, I should blast the parts down, lay primer, lay base black, and lay clear. After the clear has cured I should "flat sand", tape off graphics, lay down white and saran wrap to desired marble affect. Should I then clear, flat sand, clear, then go forward with candy and final clear coats?

I guess I am still unclear, about the specifics.

 

[TAZ]

Hello and welcome.
Kind of hard to understand what you are doing. I see in the second post you mention 'graphics', but in the first post, there was no mention.
Also, I guess you are putting transparent decals which is why you want a specific area to remain black?
Also, the white layer, I assume you are meaning that you want to put silver/white marble over the black? That marble will have a silver look over black.

Anyway, here is what I think you should do to make the job easier on you.

Strip the parts
Prime the parts with a 2 part primer. Be sure and clean the parts real good before doing so.
Then you will need to sand the parts (you mentioned above just to prime and then go straight to paint. You will need to prime these)
Spray black
Do the silver marble effect
Candy the parts in the candy color of your choice
Clearcoat
Resand flat
Do the area where you want to put the decals in black. For this, you'll need to make up a 'reverse' stencil of what you mentioned in your post. You want to paint the area black. You'll only need to put one or two light coats of black. The main reason you do this last is to make sure the edges are crisp (like you mentioned that you wanted)
Clearcoat
Resand. NOW you can put your decals over the black area
Reclear
Wetsand and buff

Again, I think a candy marble base with a black area and a decal over the black area is what you are trying to achieve.
If not, let us know.

 

[TAZ]

Another thing I was unsure of is when you mentioned "subtle decal".
This would be up to the decal to be subtle, or unless you planned on the black area to help darken it?
Do you have any pics of the decals you want to use?

 

[ksudumler]

Thanks TAZ

I think you have answered my main question, but let me clarify the "decal" issue. I am not actually wanting to use a decal, I want to stencil out and paint the graphic in black. Ideally, big picture, I want to have a black base with white/silver marble that is then covered with a candy coat. By having a black decal prior to the candy coating I am hopeful that the graphic will be visible upon inspection, but will not jump out and be obvious.

To clarify, after laying down the primer, are you saying I should wet sand or dry sand prior to paint? And does this mean I should wait for the primer to cure (48 hours or so), prior to sanding?

I believe I am in the right direction so here is the new plan of action:

- Blast, clean, and primer
- sand (wet or dry?)
-paint black, white/silver, clear
-wait 48 hours to cure (?), and flat sand
-paint 2 light coats of black over my reverse stencil tape job (I have also incorrectly referred to this as a decal)
-wait about 2 hours, remove tape job, and candy coat
-wait about 15 minutes and clear coat
-wait 48 hours to cure (?), and flat sand
-clear coat
-wait 48 hours to cure (?), wet sand and polish.

I have never used 2 part paint, I assume with the hardening agent they cure faster? Is there a general rule as to when the paint is cured enough to sand?

The more I look into this I am starting to lean towards just laying a metallic bright color base, doing the marble overlay in black, and clear coating. My bike has a black frame, so I may want to keep some black in the paintwork. Anyway, I am throwing a lot of ideas around in my head. Any suggestions are welcome, I just want to have a defined path once I finally start this project.

Thanks

 

[801Rider]

I have been following the Thread "2004 Harley Sportster - Flake, Lace and Kandy" and believe I have some clarification. If I understand correctly, I should blast the parts down, lay primer, lay base black, and lay clear. After the clear has cured I should "flat sand", tape off graphics, lay down white and saran wrap to desired marble affect. Should I then clear, flat sand, clear, then go forward with candy and final clear coats?

I guess I am still unclear, about the specifics.

You don't have to do the base and clear. I do that for "insurance" with patterns/graphics. If I don't like them I can just wipe them off with some reducer and do something else. Can't do that if you are doing it over base. But the clear I put down is typically 2 medium coats. I don't want a lot of buildup, just protection.

 

[TAZ]

Yes, you will definitely need for the primer to dry before you sand it. You will have a mess on your hands if you do not.

I would suggest dry sanding it. You will probably end up going through the primer in small areas so if you wetsand of course you will end up with rust (water on the bare metal)

-wait about 2 hours, remove tape job, and candy coat
Since you are doing the work within the stencil in basecoat, you shouldn't have to wait 2 hours. As soon as you are done, you can remove the mask and then candy and clear.

Also, you shouldn't have to clear it three times.
first will be after the marble
second will be after you candy.
It should already be 'flat' except for the area that has the artwork. If the edge is minimal, you should be able to wetsand this out and buff it.

At least this would be the steps on your original plan