Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Gravel Mutt Project: Camo Madness

Psychedelic Camo
I mentioned in my last post that I had made some significant progress on the Gravel Mutt. Well, I have, but I took a step backward as well. Here's the deal: I am not a painter. Yet! 

Technically I am cutting a lot of corners, but that is for a reason. See- I am ultimately trying to demonstrate that one does not have to go to great lengths to have a, (sorta), cool gravel grinder bicycle. Low expenditure and a little time invested, and here ya go: A gravel grinder bicycle that can tackle anything you throw at it. That's the premise here. While things like a Salsa Cycles Warbird are cool, not everyone is ready and/or able, (or may not even want to),  to throw down that kind of coin to try out the gravel road scene.

So, back to the painting issues. I thought I cleaned up the metal before I painted it well enough, but something I was using must have had a small amount of oil on it, which was just enough to make the paint do some pretty weird, and cool, things. Weird and cool are okay if that is what you want, but I wasn't looking for a crackle finish or for mad pores/orange peel. Not all the frame did this, but in certain areas, there will be some sanding and repainting going on. I consider it a "second chance" of sorts at the theme for the paint. A "take two", if you will.

So, I will forge ahead, getting some clean, new wet/dry paper and I'll wet sand it down to smooth, then re-shoot the thing. That shouldn't be too awful long from now, considering trails are wet, it is forecast to rain almost everyday for the next week, and I should have plenty of time on my hands!

4 comments:

Jon Steinhauser said...

Try some grease and wax remover before you paint. Two towels, pour a bunch on one rag and wipe the frame down, then wipe it dry with the other. This should stop your "fisheye" problem. If you have a friend at the bodyshop they may hook you up with some, or try the hardware store. Happy painting!

Guitar Ted said...

@Jon Steinhauser: Thanks! Much appreciated.

Travel Gravel said...

Didn't Klein run that paint job in the early 90s? Seriously though, at first glance I was flashing to a George Lynch/ESP paint scheme.

David O'Sullivan said...

Painting when it is raining it not a good idea either.

just my 2c worth but I have had excellent success handpainting bikes. just use a primer coat, they come in normally quite nice green or grey colours. when it is super dry give it a quick 400 grit rubdown to minimise brush strokes and then spray with clear coat. doesn't get much more ghetto than hand painting, plus you can do it inside without worrying about overspray!