for that much surface area, I'd recommend a compressor and a paint gun.


Or a case of Krylon :-)

 

That is a great write up!

I actually need to repair some of the fairings and this is right on time

one question please, should I clearcoat the decals as well, or should I just put them on after I am done?


Thanks!

Avi

 

thats up to you.....

if you dont think you will be changing them any tome soon, i would put them under the clear coat. that way its all nice and shiny all the time.

if you think you will get board of them and want to change up the color or something of that nature, i would put them after i applied the clear coat.

 

Great Write Up! Will probably do this soon as my fairings need to be painted!

Question...

Z.. I see you got the Write up from BARF...... Are you in the bay area?

 

I just bought new fairings, plastic fairings. Before I add the etch primer do I have to dry or wet sand all of the plastics for the etch primer to adhere?

 

dry sanding will work fine. Usually - as far as I know, and the way ive been doing it/ was taught- was to wet sand in between coats if necessary. Usually its only necessary when you let a coat of paint or clear dry. Basically scuff your surface with any where from 220ish to 600 grit, prime it and let it dry completely. then wet sand with 400-600 and lay your color down. in between coats let the paint tack up for about 10-20 minutes depending on how wet the last coat was. your last coat of color let it tack for a little longer like 20-30min then spray clear. That way you dont have to wait for the paint to dry and wet sand again.

 

Wonderful article and a great resource for people looking to try painting. As a novice I painted the old beaters I was riding, some two or three times and that practice was invaluable.

​​​A good spray-can job can look every bit as good as using a gun.