Paint Question.

[dorkburger]

For some inexplicable reason ive been on a bit of a kick to maybe, finally do something about my mismatched fairing mid panels and front fender. They are from an 84 and he bike is an 85, which are different shades of blue. The panels are in fair condition at best, with the usual broken tabs, etc, so I dont care to spend a ton of time or money on them. The fender is good though, with just one minor scuff at the leading edge.
I was hoping to find a close match at an auto supply, etc, but havent even come close yet.

I searched online and found the paint code - 12f candy alpine blue.....ohhhhh......candy. It seems to be available in rattle cans, (no paint equpiment available) and is a basecoat clearcoat type. I've read over the years that candy paint is tricky to get right at best. Am I buying into the hype, or is this something a member of the great unwashed could reasonably expect to accomplish? Ive done some pretty presentable regular spray can jobs, but nothing of this nature.

Also, at $33 each per can (base / color) and if thats enough to do all of the parts, it might just be easier to wait for the correct parts to come up for sale...

Opinions?


Thanks

[Chuck78]

Candy is tricky! With a rattle can, more so. The shade/deepness/darkness comes from the thickness of the paint. When you have a rattle can nozzle, you get a smaller spray pattern, & where you overlap as you go across a longer/taller piece, you build up more thickness in the overlap, hence the color is deeper/darker there.

A distant fogging application may do the trick, but the "hold can 8-10" from surface" instruction would be a serious challenge.

Best of luck

[dorkburger]

Crickets........

Chuck, thanks for the input. I figured as much. Color Rite's site claims the cans have an adjustable fan pattern type of nozzle.
Ill likely put this issue on the shelf for now, as i have a couple of mechanical items i need to check.
The bike has been that way for 14 ish years now, so what's a little more time at this point?

Checking on e bay, it seems the panels are increasing in price, and generally the wrong color, so it may be worth my time to experiment at some point.

[JamesWhut?]

Go primer "matt black"? flame job?

As Chuck said, it's hard to color match factory parts, even more so from rattlecan. Often its better to re-shoot everything at the same time with the same conditions/technique so that even if its off, it will be consistently off and less noticeable.

[dorkburger]

Go primer "matt black"? flame job?

As Chuck said, it's hard to color match factory parts, even more so from rattlecan. Often its better to re-shoot everything at the same time with the same conditions/technique so that even if its off, it will be consistently off and less noticeable.

Mat black? Not me.... Im a sucker for factory paint. Id rather look at, within reason of course, an imperfect original paintjob then a spraybomb job. Dont take me as a purist though.....

[Chuck78]

Flat or matte black looks good to me in some cases, but a sub-par rattle can job is always pretty hideous. Some decent looking rattle can jobs look good at first, but the nature of the paint lends to lots of nicks & scratches vs a durable factory or pro finish. As long as the rattle can job looks better than the messed up rough finish it replaced, then I suppose its a step in the right direction. In your case, I'm not sure how out of place the mismatched bodywork looks... Candy colors are the hardest to spray, double as hard as metallic flake colors, but for similar reasons they're both more difficult than a solid color.

[Old guy]

For paint out of a can its hard to beat, krylon appliance epoxy. It sticks to anything, lays on smooth, and will self repair boo boos when drying. It only come in black, white, almond, and stainless steel. No sanding, no clear coat, no buffing. Super hard, scratch resistant, etc. pretty gasoline resistant.

[dorkburger]

If done propely flat black can be quite cool, ocassionally sinister, and useful if a machine is a rainbow of mixed bag parts. It does tweak me a bit when peope paint over a good presentable body set though- to each their own....As im finding out, some of these factory colors can be tricky, plus on the 1150, the decal stripe is actually 3 colors...and unavailable. My first set of mid panels (the bike came with none) from the cycle salvage were banged up and red, which were flat blacked before putting them on. I later got a set of blue ones Iisted for an 85. Thats when I found out the blue is different- the panels were for an 84. One of the black panels is still in use with the spoof "logo" painted on it.
If anything, this exercise has caused me to more appreciate what I have. The bike is far from perfect but presentable, and theres a new gas tank and like new side panel waiting for it if/when it gets a makeover. The mismatched mid panel has simply been a very small nag at best.