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DIY paintjob Kenevans

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:16 pm
by thomas_cho
Okay dont view the photo if you cant stand bad DIY paint jobs.

I rattle can sprayed my Kenevans frame, and will very likely go for a professional job some time later. Total cost probably abt $60, and using sanding stuff I already have, done over a period of 3 mths(?), that included 1 mth of dispair where I did nothing.

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I purchased the decals on Ebay, and color copied them onto a water decal transfer sheet. So I am reserving the good stuff for the final professional job.

Going to leave the frame for a couple of days before putting the parts back on.

I would not recommend a DIY paint job, unless you have a lot of patience, a dust free place to spray, and to allow the paint to dry.

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:27 pm
by toolonglegs
a hint for spray can jobs is to put the can in really hot water to warm up the paint before spraying...havent had one blow on me yet :roll:

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 9:47 pm
by Hawkeye
The first one is always the hardest.

I used to paint model car bodies when I was racing with a combo of airbrush for the fiddly detail bits when I didn't want to blast paint everywhere, and aerosols when I wanted wide area coverage. I won a couple of concourse trophies, and my shells were always light and long-lasting thanks to using a minimum of paint.

However, my very first one was a complete disaster. :oops: :lol: You by comparison have done an excellent job. Really well done, Thomas.

The following are general tips you might find helpful for next time you try this on another frame.

To get a good clean coverage without the paint spattering or going on three coats at a time you want the paint reasonably thin.

Warming the can in really hot water always worked brilliantly for me with the aerosols. You may need to use oven mits to hold the can. If so, you've got thje temperature about right.

Tips:
* Do the light colours first.
* Use the best quality masking tape you can afford, and press down all the edges with your thumbnail immediately prior to spraying.
* Avoid tight compound curves with the tape
* On the front where you've got the white on the headtube, it would have been OK to cut thru the tape to get the shape with a semi-sharp hobby knife while on the frame so long as you don't press too hard. The paint would fill any cuts through the primer.
* I would not do this under any curcumstances on an alloy or CF frame, or elsewhere on the bike. In these cases, run a biro over the tape around the lug line, pull it off gently and put on an artists cutting board, cut it and reapply to the frame.
* Remove masking tape by peeling back on itself 180 degrees. Lifting at 90 degrees will usually take paint off with it. :x
* Minor oversprays can be rubbed away with a typewriter eraser pencil or gently scraped with the edge of a sharp curve-blade hobby knife held at 90deg to the paint.
* Multiple light coats allwoed to dry in between gives a much better result than a few heavy coats.
* Finish off with clear.

Hope this is useful!

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 9:56 pm
by sogood
Wow, looked to be a really nice repaint job. Look forward to seeing the completed bike and no wonder you sold that Cervelo.

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:25 pm
by thomas_cho
Thanks for all the tips and encouragement ... but thats the end of DIY paint jobs for me.

Too much effort, too much time, too messy, too little patience.

Like I said .. next paint job will probably be professionally done, and would most likely be a single color, as I probably would not be willing to shell out the cost for a masking job and two color job.

BTW ... I sold the cervelo because the position was too agressive for my crooked back. Also with the acquisition of my MTB, I had to move 2 bikes into the house ... so something had to give.

... now to just allow the paint to harden and complete the build.

Will post more pictures then, probably next weekend.

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 11:58 pm
by Mulger bill
That looks bloody good Thomas.
Nice job with the decals too *jealous*

Shaun

Oh yeah, might be an idea to chase the BB threads before you instal.

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:27 am
by stevendavid75
Gday Thomas,
I am the bloke who sold you that frame last year or whenever it was,
That is a brilliant job you have done, you have certainly inspired me to have a crack at mine which is pretty rough in spots.

Well Done again.

Cheers
Steve
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Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 12:18 pm
by thomas_cho
Hey there!

Thanks for the compliment, but I do not think that compliments are justifiable when you do a close up inspection.
:)

Anyways ... I am still happy that I did buy the frame off you, and thanks for selling it!!

FWIW, when I stripped off all the paint, there was hardly any rust damage to the frame. What rust there were, was just surface rust which sanded off pretty easily.

I would encourage you to consider going to a professional to get the frame sandblasted and re-sprayed. You would probably have a better and more durable finish then rattle can spray.

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:26 pm
by Hawkeye
Nah, don't sell yourself short. All it takes is a little practice and the tips I posted above and you can do 90% as well as the pro's. It's the final 10% that comes from practice and doing LOTS of frames, but most don't notice the difference from 2 metres away.

The only thing I'd have perhaps done differently was some black "cheat lines" where the red meets the white on the down and seat tubes.

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:42 pm
by thomas_cho
Yeah I guess I could get better with practice. However, it was also the mess that got to me.

I have carefully put the parts back on the bike, with a honey colored brooks saddle ... however, I have discovered a problem with the wheelset, the hub needs some adjustment.

Will post some pictures once I have installed the tyres (Conti Gatorskins) and adjusted the wheels.

I have to say I am very happy with the color scheme, thanks to those who posted their pictures of the Lemond Tourmalet (?) bike. That was my inspiration.

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:44 pm
by thomas_cho
stevendavid75 wrote:Gday Thomas,
I am the bloke who sold you that frame last year or whenever it was,
That is a brilliant job you have done, you have certainly inspired me to have a crack at mine which is pretty rough in spots.

Well Done again.

Cheers
Steve
Image
My thought process with going DIY was that even if I screw it up, I can still take it to the pros to get it sandblasted and done up properly.

Are you going to stay with that French color scheme?

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:07 am
by stevendavid75
Yeah I was thinking if I do screw it up maybe get it done properly, but I also think I might practice a couple of times on a crap box from the tip or op shop or something,

In terms of paint scheme for big ken, I love it as it is, I sort of thought of it as footscray or western bulldogs more than french
but I actually like pretty plain coulurs with block panels like what you have done, either way its currently on the the otherside of the country and is about 2nd or third in line for some attention.

Cheers
Steve

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:21 am
by thomas_cho
Here is the built up bike, better pictures to follow:

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parts list:
Ultegra shifters, Ultegra brakeset, Centaur FD, Ultegra rear derailleur, Tiagra HTII crankset, Shimano R550 wheelset, Nitto stem and Noodle handlebars, brooks Professional saddle, Conti GP4000 tyres.

The stem is raised quite a bit, to allow for my bad back at the moment.

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:32 pm
by Blybo
hey that looks great. It was the retro look of my LeMond that swayed me to get it.

Might I suggest some alloy bottle cages just to keep to the retro look? :wink:

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:56 pm
by thomas_cho
I am intending to buy a retro jersey from PBK to complete the "retro" look. Long sideburns perhaps? Moustache?

IT WAS the lemond picture that persuaded me to go this paint scheme. Originally I wanted a Rabobank orange, but bunnings didnt have orange. It didnt occur to me to visit Autobarn, they have a huge range.

Tips

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 2:17 pm
by reddogbic
Do you have some tips on what you did to prepare the frame for painting ?

I have looked into sandblasting and acid bathing, but looking for home remedy if possible.

Thanks