First try at pinstriping

[240harley]

I painted my Harley (quite the learning experience) for the first time and it's ready for clear and pinstriping. I used HOK primer and will use HOK UC35 clear. The colors are Auto Air. I'm going to lay down three coats of clear, wet sand, pinstripe then two more coats of clear and then wet sand & polish. I plan on practicing before I hit the tins with the brush. I did pull a couple of lines and they were inconsistent in thickness and were not exactly straight. I plan on doing slash striping for the flames. I didn't practice this yet but I assume slash striping is a little easier. Any advice with this type of pinstriping would be greatly appreciated! The brush I have is a Mack 00 brush and the pinstriping paint & reducer is HOK.

[josie]

Hi Harley welcome aboard...

[Whit]

A Big Texas Welcome !!!:partyalone:

[Cowboy]

Welcome harley. the only advice I can give You , I think that slash stripe looks like crap. Everytime I see it I think why didn,t they hire a REAL pinstriper to do it. I cant member who came up with it Craig Frazer I think & I thought when I first seen it They musta been smokin them funny cigarettes. This is just My opinion, I guess I,m more old school then most. But good luck whatever You decide. Cowboy

[240harley]

Hi everyone and thanks for the welcome!!!

Unfortunately I do have mistakes and this would be the easiest way to take care of them. As far as old skewl and new school...I'll take em both and even mix them sometimes. Question: To see what the pinstripes would look like can I try a line or two, wipe it off with KC-20 and then give it a shot with the slash to see how that looks. I also have two colors to chose from.

I have learned is if you make a mistake it will really take you back. Waaaaaay back. Been there done that too many times with this. I'm gittin the itch to ride.

See, before I started this project I didn't have a clue. I did paint a barbecue or two before. I did research and collected tools, guns and brushes over a two year period and went for it. Built a booth in the garage and I'm having a ball!!! I wish I could do it full time. I have NO problem being in the garage painting for 16 hours plus on my days off.

I recently found this site but throughout the job I had help from another forum. I'll try to get some pics up here in the next couple of minutes and you can spank me or praise me. It won't go to my head nor will it hurt my feelings. This is how we learn! tank and fender pics are a little old. I have more recent pics but I didn't upload them yet. Again thanks for your time!!!

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k131/240Harley/DSCF0035.jpg

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k131/240Harley/Oct02_0001.jpg

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k131/240Harley/Oct02_0002.jpg

[Cowboy]

Nice job Harley, I definetly like Yer style. Now thats A nice lookin bike. Ya did good Bud. Cowboy

[240harley]

Thanks Cowboy! Here’s a couple more and the way it sits now with the flames. Again, the colors are Auto Air. I have off for the next few days so I'll be clearing the tins and pinstriping. The photos are not the best because I took them with a camera phone but I think you'll still be able to get an idea how it looks.

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k131/240Harley/Feb07_0001.jpg

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k131/240Harley/Feb07_0004.jpg

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k131/240Harley/Feb07_0003.jpg

[Cowboy]

Lookin good Harley, It,s got a nice flow to it. Definaetly unique to styles I,ve seen in the past. But I kinda live a sheltered life thesedays cuz I,m a hermit , No mags. Or carshows , rodruns, So not sure whats out there anymore. But I like Yer,s . be good ta see it cleared. Cowboy

[sharonsstudio]

WOW. that looks great !!
Now ya have to clear and go Ride
there are a few riders here including me,, was ready last week to go out then we recieved from the dky 12" of snow Sucks now have to wait for the sand to go away again..

[jason prouty]

i'm definately riding today......

harley, the layout looks great, and it's kinda busy already, i'm afraid if you add slash type striping to the flames it will be way too busy, that type of striping makes me think of dune buggies and minitrucks, not clean streamlined chromed-out hog.

good luck, you look to be a fast learner with lots of passion, can't wait to see what you produce..........

[moose]

Harley,

I agree with Jason. thr graphics that you have on the tins have a lot happening. If you go with the slash style pinstriping it will look even busier. The eye wont know where to focus. That is the purpose of graphisc and striping., to lead the eye where you want it to go. I think it would detract from the killer graphics. The slash style was developed because someone could not pull a good line.

Take the time to either do a nice simple outline stripe or try to find someone who can. I really believe you will be happier with the results.


Tim

[tman]

Good job on the Harley. I need alot of practice, but hope to flame my street Rod myself. Though it doesn't seem we will have weather good enough in New Hampshire. to take the car out.

[XZOTIC INK]

nice stuff:clapping2:

[Clem]

Looks good. I can see where it took a while to do this. I'm sure you will finish it up right.

Clem

[240harley]

The reason I need to go with the slash style is there are some mistakes. Both on the flames and the blue/silver metallic. I did both styles around the flames and if there were no mistakes I would blow off the slash. I pinstriped the sliver stripe with process blue but I won't go that bright on the flames. It's going to be busy either way I think. For my first try at painting I went way over my head! I should have stuck with a simple design and a couple of colors instead of a dozen or whatever I used. It may be one of those paint jobs that people either like or hate but it will definitely be different. I'll paint it again in a year or so but for now I'm having withdrawal symptoms from not riding! I welded and painted the pipes yesterday and all I need to do is wait for the new Mack to arrive. I screwed up the 000 trying to trim the sucker. Lesson learned! I'll be pinstriping the flames this Friday and then the final clear goes on. I'll post pics when I get it done. Thanks for all the comments.

[pinstriper73]

The bike looks pretty cool, must have taken awhile