Hello all,
I’m painting a frame for my girlfriend for Christmas. I’m designing the logos myself and putting on custom decals (update later to let you all know how well/not that process works!!) I’m using Shrimrins Pearl White rattle-can paint (i’m pretty broke; just bought a Dual)
Any comments? You have to understand that we have a connection with monkeys…
OK: apparently I can’t post pics from a Mac! Can somebody help me out?
Here:
Personally, I like the decals!
About 4 years ago I spent an age stripping, preping and painting a frame with Home Depot spraycan acrylic paint. Overall it turned out ok - kind of like a MACCO 40/40 job (looks good from 40’ and @ 40mph). The part I screwed up badly was the clear. I was tired and getting impatient and it ended up ruining an otherwise halfway decent paint job.
The thing that really pissed me off however, was that it scratched really easily! Hopefully your paint is better quality than the crap I used, but after all that time and effort I was choked to see it scratch so easily.
I’ve just dropped off the frame for a professional job, and have pretty high expectations. It ain’t cheap, but it will be worthwhile. I’m glad I did it myself once, but I won’t be doing it again. 
Just as an FYI, a friend here in chicago just had his track bike stripped and powder coated. I think he said it cost him all of $80. I’ve seen it go as high as $150…but seldom higher.
Clearly the spray can method is cheaper…but when you throw your labor in I’m not sure by how much.
Oh…and as for the decals. Pretty cool! Definitely has personality, which is a great thing.
Do you have the custom decals sourced? If not, let me know & I’ll give you a few suggestions.
I love the decals. I think the bike would look cool if you paint it mostly white and then add brown and yellow (and maybe some orange) accent stripes.
One suggestion: On the horizontal “Funky Monkey” decal, you should put the picture of the monkey between “funky” and “monkey” like you do on the smaller vertical decals.
Thanks for all the comments. So far my costs have been $15 for random sandpaper and a can of aircraft paint stripper (this stuff is the most noxious chemical on the face of the earth… I was fully covered with a paint suit, goggles, the works… it melted through the duct tape holding my moon-suit together just from wind-spray!!)
I’ve ordered a decal kit from a place in Florida that makes ink-jet kits for model airplanes… I am anticipting a 25% chance of A) getting the decal kit and B) it turning out half-decent. Might be the biggest waste of $9.95 ever!
Paint was $35! Not too shabby. I’ll post some pics when it’s done. For reference, the cheapest quote I got from a shady autobody shop was about $135 for painting a totally stripped and primed frame. I may still resort to this option.
I LOVE it! To help you raise funds, can I buy a funky monkey sticker set?
I think you need to do the Monkey in a custom Sterling Silver head tube badge.
Chris
If it works… I’ll start taking orders–I have the graphics program, so if you had a pencil sketch, I could do up custom orders. I shall use this money to manufacture sterling silver head-badge!!! I’m thinking a ball of wax and some melted spoons. It might even work… ok, too many good ideas all at once.
The decals you ordered are most likely water slide decals and a load of fun to apply. The issue with inkjet printed decals is that the ink fades very quickly in the sun. I have purchased a new printer for the purpose of creating these dacals and it uses a pigment based ink that has a 100 year indoor fade resist. I am testing now and after 4 months in the sun no sign of fading. One thing you will be faced with is that the ink is transparent and if it is not placed on a white or very light background the colors will not show or the color will change.
I do like the design , good luck.
My dad has a very fancy photo printer (Epson Stylus 4000) The way I know it’s fancy is that I had to lug it up the stairs with him and it weighs about 80 lbs. I’m almost positive that it uses pigment-based inks. Thanks for the tip!! I am using white, so that should be ok. I’m not anticipating a whole ton of riding (maybe once a month).
Will post some pictures of primed frame tonight.
Decals look good man. I got my resprayer to airbrush the club logo onto my frame.
Good luck with the project
Quick update with the finished graphic:
http://i15.tinypic.com/3y7j62q.jpg
can somebody with windows IE explorer post for me!! Thanks again for all the comments. I hit my frame with another coat of primer tonight. Pics tomorrow.
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