I'd like to outline the lugs on this '86 Nishiki Cresta GT.

• Is Testors paint and a small artist's brush a reasonable plan?
• If yours, would you use a red like the decals, or a cream color, like the shading behind the word Nishiki? (The frame color is a metallic anthracite, or a smoke black...says Nishiki expert T-Mar!)
• Is it counterintuitive to add this touch to a bike with semi-substantial patina?

My next decision is bar wrap & hoods color.
The bike will have wooden fenders, and the cable housing will be reddish like the decals. I'm leery of red wrap as it may not match well with the existing red, which is kind of deep and a little burnt. My original thought was a leather-looking wrap , with brown hoods, to match a brown saddle and leather toe straps. But...I am open to all suggestions.

I like paint pens - looks like a Sharpie, but delivers real paint, and they are available in a variety of pen widths.

I used paint pens and tried some different pigments. I found the metallic ones to flow the best and be the most opaque, but I only tried out one brand recommended by the guy at the art store. Using a brush would be nice but they require a great deal more skill.

The gold flowed nicely and the frame was done with ease.


I used white here and I had a lot more trouble with opacity and flow even though I thought I figure it out after practicing.

+1 for the paint pen.

I'd go with the red.

I was going to say red paint pen until I saw the white script japan and thought maybe a cream would be nice too. For bar tape, I wonder if cloth tape (maybe over something to provide more padding) coated with an appropriate number of coats of the appropriate color shellac would get you what you want. For ideas, the rivendell site, though I'm not saying to buy from them.https://www.rivbike.com/product-p/gt1.htm

+1 to red. I think it will look great. Although yours is more pewter, I think it will turn out similar to the black Motobecanes with red lug lining--an attractive look IMHO.

I recently did some lug lining on my Nishiki. I used a Duro artist brush (#1 size). I opted for hand painting for two reasons: 1) to better match the paint color, 2) I don't mind the slightly imperfect look of hand-painting.

The red on your bike's decals seem to be slightly orange. Maybe it's just my computer screen. It may look off if you paint with ferrari red paint pen.

Though I don't mind the hand-painted look, I do have a pretty steady hand and used a beat up gas-pipe frame on which to practice first. I also had a rag with a touch of paint thinner handy just in case (though be careful not to use it on the original paint more than necessary). This was my first attempt at lug lining, and I'm happy with how mine turned out. Slow & steady!

I know you've done this one but another thing to consider would be nail art polish. It's sold for about a buck in any dollar store in a smaller but tall bottle. The stuff is harder wearing and thicker then regular nail polish and comes with a fine tip brush for detailed work. I used it on my project bike.

Dark gray fizik tape to pull off the drop color from the headtube logo? I think their silver would be too light.

i only outline the lugs when it's already done on the bike i'm restoring, and it needs a fresh coat. i've used both pens and brush. i prefer a very fine brush as pens clump and their tip doesn't flow well over lugs. it's more difficult than you might think.

i put gum hoods and gumwall pasela tg tires on all my vintage bikes. they look most appropriate and feel best to me.

bar tape and saddle are more difficult to determine. i prefer fizik tape for its price, comfort, ability to clean easily and repel dirt (far better than cotton), and its color choices.

a black, honey or brown brooks looks and works best for me. a honey brooks looks better six months into its use than it does new.

cheers.

Agree on paint pens. I used them on several bike, to very satisfactory effect:

I did these with Testors and a crow quill pen. Like gaucho777, I like the hand-done quality of the lines.



I'll throw this out at the risk of being offensive - I think outlining looks best of bikes of a certain era and/or those with lugs that have interesting edge contour that the line accentuates. I think I would apply the 'less is more' rule to your frame. Ymmv.

Looks great guys. My only input would be... I like lining when it is thin, either on the edge of the lugs preferably, or on the tube adjacent to the lug. On both it can looks too thick. Easier said than done however.

I second the paint pen, it works perfectly and its easy to "stay in the lines".

I like using paint brushes. You can really make the paint flow just right.

Stunning Carleton!

Thanks.

I have had good results with paint pens for non-metallic colors.


022 by CV6Enterprises, on Flickr

However I find the gold and silver in the paint pens just is not right. The gold looks brown and the silver looks gray. For those colors, I now use paint and a good small paint brush. No photo of that yet.


0017 by CV6Enterprises, on Flickr

Thanks for the replies, and the cool pics.

I went with a red paint pen. It matches the decals well, and looks pretty darn cool. This pic is very deceiving, making the decals look totally orange. In real life they are mostly red...but I think the cream background behind the orange Nishiki gives it an orange (optical illusion) tint.

I've got the brown hoods, and have ordered Pasela Tourguards. Saddle will not be a Brooks, or leather, as the bike will be in Seattle and it might be hard to avoid rain. I'll probably throw on a generic brown synthetic saddle.

I've also ordered red, and grey, Newbaum's cloth tape. Whichever one I choose will be given the shellac treatment. I may still consider a brown leather-looking wrap, and will probably decide that last thing.

Unfortunately, most of us lack your talent!

I find these much easier to use.
https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...applicators.do

(Including photos in quote because I LOVE that bike!)

No offense taken by me. With that said, however;
Yes, there is certainly no shortage of outstandingly beautiful bikes in this forum. But, for those of us to whom C & V is a hobby, rather than an obsession, I have not had the luck (or the money!) to run into any of these rare specimens.

I started about three years ago with a Schwinn World Sport (my wife's), a Fuji Monterey (my son's first road bike), a Fuji Sagres (a friend's), a Ross Professional (son-in-law's), and a Fuji Royale II (another friend's). I restored and re-purposed them, their new owner's love them, and I then moved on to the bikes listed below, most of which have also gone to friends/relatives either free or at cost.

So, the bikes I have recently renovated...the '73 Carleton Raleigh Grand Sports (blue & white, similar to above!), the '78 Schwinn Super Le Tour 12.2, the green '72 filet-brazed Schwinn Super Sport, the (pending) '73 sunset orange filet-brazed Super Sport, and the '86 Nishiki Cresta GT referenced in this thread all have a spot in my heart. Interestingly, the two bikes I ride the most -my '86 Koga-Miyata Traveler and my '92 Schwinn Crosscut hybrid - have not seen much restoration attenti...maybe one day soon I will run across one of the on.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some day I will run across one of the prestigious bikes seen so often in the C & V threads. But, in the meantime, I will continue to seek and restore any decent vintage bikes that I run into and feel like tackling.

best of luck with the build, tony, and i hope to see it around seattle.

of course, it will have to be a dry day, as some of us don't take our c&v babies out in the wet.

Thanks, tomorrow I'll post a picture of the brush I use. Also, it's not very difficult to get these results. I practiced lug lining on an old frame.

I have used a metallic paint pen also. It is easy, and the results are good. I have seen some brush attempts that look horrid...as well as some that have turned out great...^^^^^.

Whatever you do, you should try it out first on something else.

Thanks, eschlwc, I'll post pics when I'm done. We're going out for Thanksgiving, and my wife has purchased gore-tex shoes and a North Face raincoat...we have heard plenty about Seattle's drizzly character!

My son will be using this bike as a 3-mile commuter and grocery/beer getter, so it will probably see some wetness. He just started working for Naked City Brewing, and is living in Ballard.