Boydsta

Ive just had the Nishiki Karamura frame stripped and painted. The rear triangle revealed some additional chrome so I left it unpainted being in great condition.

problem is now I have no idea what to do next in terms of logos and paint. I had planned to do gold leaf logos on the downtube but I think its too small.

Any ideas before I put it back together?

randyjawa 

Perhaps you should have asked that question before you painted the frame. Now, the best you can hope for is that you find a set of decals on Ebay, a seller called Cyclomondo, offers great products. Or, if the correct decals are not available, you can ask the Cyclomondo fellow to make a set for you. Of course, if you don't have decals to show him, regarding what you need, chances are he will not be able to make them for you.

SloButWide 

Line the lugs? There have been a few good threads here.

andr0id

That should have been done as part of the paint work. Decals need to be buried under the clear coat. There are specific wait times between coats, so clear coating now will probably chip or flake without fine sanding it back down.

ecnewell 

Velocals sells decals that can be applied to a finished frame.
Nishiki Decal Set of 5 (sku 682) - VeloCals

3speedslow

Nice colour!

+1 to the lug lining.

cdmurphy

While it's best to bury them under the clear coat, probably 99% of our beloved C&V bikes had decals / water slides / stencils applied as the last step, without any sort of clear coat or additional protection. <--- this is why most of the original decals on anything but garage queens are in such poor condition.

carbomb

I've owned quite a few Nishiki's that are "handcrafted by Kawamura". They're nice bikes and you've got a nice paint job there. I vote you line the lugs, which is fun I think, and then put these decals on Nishiki decal set of 5 (sku 682) | eBay I don't know if you remember which model it was, but you could also find the tubing specific decals if you do, I always like those. Should look pretty sweet all done up! If you decide to line the lugs with gold be aware many gold paints aren't quite opaque. Then again, that was kind of the look even back then.

Boydsta

Not necessarily we put 2 light coats of clear on with the intention of sanding it back with 1000/1200 followed by gold leaf. In the interim I decided to just put decals on the top until my gold leaf and pin stripe skills are worthy enough to tackle the level of detail required Painting and logos is what I do however gold leaf is totally new so might leave it like this for the time being...the silver is growing on me. And just so I didnt copy everyone else I created my own design head badge decal until I can locate a good quality original one.

Daveyk15

Having followed the link to the decals I was amazed at the price of them I think I am in the wrong job !

noglider 

I painted my frame and haven't bothered with decals. I think it looks fine that way.

carbomb

Ooooo... nice work!!! Keep up with the photos as the build progresses please!

Boydsta

My decals were free as I work in the graphics industry, was bored today and couldn't wait
The paint is WRX Blue metallic with a chameleon blue/red pearl added.

Kevindale

What you did looks great. When it comes to adding pinstripes and gold leaf, my thoughts are that less is more. What group set and wheels are you going to build it up with?

ecnewell 

Wow, that looks superb! Great choice on the paint. You could add some tubing decals if you like, but I wouldn't change anything else. That'll build into a beauty.

simmonsgc

Not that you need anyone's approval here, but the red pearl really warms up the blue. That's a great blue you wound up with. Almost reminds me of that nice warm blue found on some early Fujis.

Boydsta

Will have to get her out in the sun once the chrome is all polished and fitted. The blue and silver is working well i think, glad I didnt go with gold leaf at the moment.

79pmooney

I like the color. Giving me food for thought for my Mooney. It needs its next coat. Current is a 1984 Ed Litton Imron job in bronze. No clear coat. I would love to have that paint job again! I don't think it was primed judging from the chips but it has held up really well. I talked to a painter recently who would prime, paint and clear coat. His bikes look really nice but do they look as good as mine 30 years later? Peter Mooney supplied me with decals for the repaint that Ed put on. They have held up very well. Now an Imron clearcoat over the decals would be A1 super fi that can be done.

Do you guys know the pluses and minuses of Imron vs other paint types? (Yes I know Imron is 1) very hard to work and get right and 2) very toxic as is its solvents. I built racing sailboats in the heyday of Imron. I wouldn't own an Imron boat - to hard to repair and match but a bike will just go until repaint time. I quite intentionally never picked up any spray painting skills so no employer would ever put me near the stuff.)

So guys: Seek out an Imron painter or go primer, paint, clearcoat. And what system of paint?

Ben

Boydsta

We just used an automotive base and clear coat. 2K automotive paint will come up great. Add the pearl to your liking and clear it.

Boydsta

I was going to upgrade he to Ultegra but then I wanted a polished chrome look, not grey or black so I have temporarily kept the old Suntour GPX groupset on it. No idea if it was any good in its day but it polished up nice once I removed the grey coating. Will post images once she is done. Just trying to get the bottom bracket sorted with a sealed unit.