Custom Frame Sprays!

Posted: Oct 7, 2008

We've all seen a nice helmet or two, custom sprayed, someone making the effort is always nice. How about going one step further? Why not get your frame sprayed?
Shaun Palmer did!

Check out my custom sprayed Mountain Cycle inside:

Not all of us are on Palmer's budget but don't worry, this one ain't going to break the bank. From reading the FT.com today it seems someone else is already trying that one with the state the Global markets are in.

To be honest this should be the only picture and words on this story. This frame will never look any better no matter what angle it's taken from and there's no words out there that can do this justice.

How then can you justify such extravagance? Well this could be the answer to several questions including: Instead of buying a new frame, why not give your old frame a make over saving you thousands of pounds hitting the credit crunch head on? If you can't sell that idea to the wife then Ikea it is this weekend for you to buy and assemble some more "Strenka" shelving.



Si’s Frame:
Chris Taylor from Biketart.com explains the design and airbrushing procedure that went into turning Si Paton’s raw Mountain Cycle frame into the custom airbrushed beauty it now is.

In the first stages of design work for the frame we had a chat with Si. After a while of bantering ideas around it was decided that the colors should be red, white and blue, but… please, no torn flags, it’s been done to death before. With the initial design concepts laid out, we had a few days to think before we took receipt of the frame.

On the morning the frame got delivered I had not fully decided on the design…eek. With stripes… perhaps wavy stripes, perhaps sparkly wavy stripes? With the frame in front of me, the specific design elements are easier to fully envisage and we I can carefully design around the contours to maximize the visual impact. An hour of thinking later and a design is fully planned on paper in minutes. A call is made to Si to confirm the final design plan and then it’s all systems go.

I owe partly the inspiration of the design to (a) the Olympics and (b) the stripes in a well known toothpaste brand.

Upon delivery of the naked aluminum frame, there was some very minor damage and some residual glue from where there had been stickers, but nothing major at all.

We took the frame into the studios and began to ponder as to how to go about applying the design. 30 minutes later it’s full steam ahead… here’s how it went:


1)Firstly, we had to get rid of the glue residue, so out came the thinners on a tissue. 30 seconds of gentle rubbing at it and it’s gone. Then it’s out with the anti-silicone panel wipe to thoroughly degrease and clean the frame from residual dirt. We have to make sure that we have superb ventilation whilst this is going on as there is some grim stuff in the thinner ingredients!

2)After degreasing, we take the frame to the spray booth to be primed. At the last minute after we’ve hung it on the sky hooks in the booth, we give it one last degrease, and a final Tac Rag wipe to remove any bits of fluff, dust and general airborne muck. Now it’s so clean and pristine.


3)It’s now time to adorn the rather attractive respirator and gloves and therefore time to sound like Darth Vader with it on! The fans are turned on, air pressure is set in the HVLP spray gun and a gentle spray mist of primer is applied to the frame. Once done it’s time for a 30 minute coffee break whilst it dries.

4)Once the primer is dry, we then need to sand the primer with some wet and dry. We use 600 grit, purely because that’s what works best for us when we use House of Kolor paints. Once sanded to a lovely smooth finish, we yet again degrease the frame as your hands leave grease marks on the surface once it’s touched, and grease marks will either show through the final paint finish or not allow the paint to ‘stick’ properly.


5)Once degreased it's time for the creative work… the fun bit!

6)A quick description of materials and equipment we used on this project: House of Kolor BC01 Solar Gold, House of Kolor PBC37 Majik Blue, House of Kolor KBC11 Apple Red, House of Kolor BC26 White, 2K thinner, Iwata HPB Pus Airbrush run at 40psi, HVLP gun, primer, 2K lacquer, 3mm green fineline tape, masking tape, a little bit of luck and 17 years of experience.


7)The first step is to get cracking with the 3mm fineline tape and mark out the colored areas. At this point it is best to pay some thought as to which color is to be sprayed and where. Once the fineline is laid down we then mask out the surrounding areas. When finished spraying, it’s time to de-mask the area and repeat the process again for the other areas until all the colors are applied.

8 )We sit back and have a look and a little think, as at this stage the frame is flat red, flat white and flat blue. It now needs something extra but subtle, nothing too garish.


9)We decided to go back into each color with the respective House of Kolor paint and darken up some of the leading tips of the sprayed areas, this then gave it subtle depth and dynamic difference. But what else? The project still needed something.

10)At this stage once all the masking was finished it was the ideal time to apply the HOK BC01 gold around the crank area and fade it out toward the suspension mount. That’s it! It’s looking really nice now, so it’s time to go onto the cherry on the cake – the shine.


11)Firstly, and yet again, we need to panel wipe the frame to remove any contaminants and then Tac Rag to remove any fluff etc.

12)To get the shine on this project we applied an automotive grade 2K lacquer, this is applied in an industrial spray booth (big enough to accommodate a camper van). It is then baked… yes baked in the oven. This is an industrial grade spray oven and yet again it’s big enough to accommodate a camper van! The lacquer is sprayed using full respiratory protection with extraction units. Some really nasty stuff is lurking in that lacquer such as Icocyanides!!


13)Once the frame is out the oven and left to cool, we then hand polish the frame to a deep lustrous shine, it is at this stage that the sparkle in the paint really begins to shine through.

14)It’s done! Time to ring the client to arrange next-day courier delivery and then sit back and enjoy the end product.

---

How much for the above? How long is a piece of string?
Well remember that it is just the front end, though saying that there is a lot of "canvas" covered there that would be comparable to a complete frame.

Get intouch with Dave and discuss your requirements and you'll work out how long that piece of string is.

This piece was only £250.00 not that long really? Based in Great Britain they can ship Globally so drop Big Dave a line now as I have a feeling they will be pretty busy from now on.

dave@biketart.com
www.biketart.com

Personally I'm speechless regards the design and finish Chris Taylor has done here. It really is that beautiful as you can see. That's my opinion and I know you will all be vocal as well. Post away guys!

Thanks to Krien Dawson of Mountain Cycle for letting us get creative to show you readers something different. Keep it locked here to PinkBike.com and we'll have a full review on this bike soon.
www.mountaincycle.com

Stay Unclipped.

Si Paton
www.Descent-Gear.com
Maxxis Wetscreams DualPly SuperTacky Instock!