How much different would it look if I took the lugs back down to the metal and redid them from scratch using basic automotive rattlecan primer/base/clear? It's not an ideal method, but I'd rather not bum the sprayer off the guy again just because of all the hassle.
Hi Scriffer,
Don't beat yerself up about the lugs! Looks like a pretty good job and in using proper spray equipment for the first time - not to mention the complexity of adding another colour, the fact that the job got done is good enough, and a few imperfections gives you something to improve on next time.
I've just resprayed my old mountain bike in plain blue and agree with Muttley that a rattlecan can produce good results. The biggest difference is in the spray pattern from the aerosol nozzle - it isn't a patch on a proper spraygun, but as you aren't respraying a black TransAm bonnet (or hood as you guys say in the US), that doesn't matter half as much as decent preparation and patience.
First job with mine was to get back to bare metal done by stripping off most of the old finish before getting it bead-blasted (the frame was getting scabby with rust. The bead-blasting cost £10 and left it looking like a new frame!) The paint used was Plasti-Kote bought from a local diy store. A 500ml can was enough for 2 coats & 4 cans were used overall:-
* 2 coats of Zinc Primer (good for etching to bare metal. Left overnight to thoroughly dry & just needed a wipe over with a tac-rag before applying the colour coats)
* 4 coats of colour (Gloss Super in pacific blue. 1 coat - left for a couple of hours, then the final 3 coats applied every half hour)
* 2 coats of clear (Gloss Super again. 1st coat applied just over an hour after the colour without any prep, 2nd half an hour later)
Its being left now for a couple of days to fully cure. The times left between coats wasn't scientific btw
The idea was just to let the paint go off so that the next coat didn't run, and a little longer left before applying the clear so that it sat on top.
The finish? Well chuffed so far (cameras flat so can't post a pic yet) and although not as flash as the metallic purple the frame was originally painted with, the finish looks far deeper - more like this one from Surly
http://www.surlybikes.com/karatemonkey.html (i'd love one of their bikes
).
Ian...
P.S:- A minus point for powdercoating can be that once water gets in via a few stonechips, rust can cause havoc as it can beneath paint - you can't do a localised repair on it though as you can with paint.