Graphics project questions.

[shawnw]

After putting a straight, dent free hood onto the car I decided to have a little fun with the old hood. I covered it in tape, cut out a design and sprayed it and it ended up looking like this:


After seeing this my girlfriend decided that we should put the pattern onto the actual car. I drew up a basic mock up using pictures that somebody on the site had photoshopped(can't remember who) and I think that if we choose the colors properly we can have it looking pretty neat without looking like some hippy art car. Heres a very rough idea of what it might look like:


So I've got a few questions regarding this project.
First, is there a product that I can cut the stencil out and then put onto the car to spray? or is there sheets of tape that I can buy for this? When doing the hood I had to use 3" painters tape and having to overlap the edges made it a real pain in the butt. I know there has to be something ot there for this.

Second, how do I properly prep the paint once the stencil is on the car? I don't want d before because I dont want to mess up the stock paint that is staying but I dont want to sand with the stencil on and screw up the edges of the finished product.

And third, what do you think would look good in terms of color? I'm leaning towards a light green or possibly yellow, something noticable but not standing ot like a sore thumb.

[Ogrestiva]

I haven't a clue, but awesome artistry~!

[ejp2fast]

I haven't a clue, but awesome artistry~!

I second that! Like the brain look.

[garylau]

Wow, you've got your work cut out for you. I'm really curious to see how this turns out.

[pyrothehitman]

ok the masking material is called "transfer paper"....u can slightly see thru it...and is sticky on one side but not too sticky....and u can draw on it then cut it out with a razor.....and as far as not damaging the paint....well u should actually wet sand the clearcoat off but as you dont want to do that..u can just go over top of the clearcoat but u will have to add another clearcoat on top of ur design as to protect your design....thats what people do for airbrushing vehicles.....when u dont want to damage ur new car......and i think a pearly ghost color would be cool.......go to youtube.com and search for a guy named Ed Hubbs ....he does tons of tutorials on painting and airbrushing cool tricks and effects.....i like the water drop effect ....but he does alot of cool stuff...check him out.

[25Horseplay]

It makes me dizzy!

[Damkid]

i know it would be a pain to do but i would almost think duplicating the process of what you did on the hood would be the best bet for the rest of the car cause the hood turned out great!!!

for as far as how to prep the paint but not ruin the stock paint, i would suggest to lighty scuff the paint only to the point that you could still buff the shine back once the graphics are on, but i'd wait to hear what others say first

[25Horseplay]

I you use "one shot" paint that pinstripers use you can remove it with easy off oven cleaner! You don't even need to scuff the car up to use it.

[lanemeyer14]

I second that! Like the brain look.

Yeah, you can call it "Brainstiva"....just drop knowledge on people constantly! Booyah!

[shawnw]

The transfer paper seems to be what I was thinking of. I'll talk to some of the bodyshops and see if I can get some.

I'm planning on drawing and cutting out the design while its on the car so it will work better with the bumps and bends of the car.

The one shot paint sounds like it would be nice to work with. My main concern with the new paint is proper adhesion and durability. If I can find a proper shade I may go for and industrial paint.

I'll be sticking with the same style brain/coral design from the hood, I like the looks of it and Its simple enough that I can just wing it rather then having to follow a specific pattern.

Now does anybody have any color suggetions? That seems to be the biggest question I dont have figured out. The car is the stock white if that makes any difference.

[garylau]

Maybe you could draw up a sample pattern on your PC on a white background, then play around with the color and see what you like.

[festymick]

I love the concept! Sensational!

[pyrothehitman]

I'm planning on drawing and cutting out the design while its on the car so it will work better with the bumps and bends of the car.

yeah ur suppose to stick it to the car...then draw...then cut out....sorry thats what i meant...lol

only thing with the oneshot paint is it might be toooo thick....when everything is done it think u will feel noticable diff in paint offsets when u run ur fingers across it.....i think u should just airbrush it on....u wont feel an offset in the paint....but if u dont mind the bumpy feeling then oneshot is the way to go.......i still think a ghost color would be cool

[pyrothehitman]

this is what a ghosted effect would look like......noticable but not over doing it...i think it looks ok...but its just my opinion..

[shawnw]

ghosted would look cool but not too sure how it would look on a white car. I'm leaning towards a light, almost washed out shade to kind of get a ghosting effect, I'll post upsome options in a little while.