Legacy Baggers
Vendor
So I am not a painter, but I am a graphic designer, so I planned my design out on paper and with the help of great painters like the guys on here, I did it myself.
Here is what my plan started out as. changed a few things as I went along, but ended up close. BTW, I have a electronic file of the side of a batwing if anyone wants it to "color pencil sketch" you own ideas.
army bike by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
I had a local paint shop prep the body parts for me and paint the base color (paint I bought, horsetraded the work for graphics on other projects they had going on) I did most of the test fitting and cutting.
CB1 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
Went by my layout and started taping out my design in 1/8th and 1/4 inch blue tape. Preplanning is essential for your design. I decided to tape off all the base that wasnt getting the graphics. Then proceeded to spray the yellow/gold outline, then cover that and did the camo.
CB2 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
CB3 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
CB4 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
I sprayed the yellow. I also took some time to give it a knife edge by backtaping using 1/8" tape, spraying a dark side and a lite side, I also streaked the yellow with some orange just to give it some texture.
CB5 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
I wanted the stripe to be .25", so I used .25" blue tape and taped overtop of the yellow I just did. This allowed me to keep my yellow graphic safe and would also allow me the opportunity to add kool drop shadows etc to the camo area. Here it is with the yellow covered and the base lite green sprayed. I bought milar templates from Airsick Stencils. it became a whole lot of spray, rotate, spray some more. Switch colors, spray, rotate... you get the picture.
CB6 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
While everything was taped, I laid in some shadows to make the graphic look recessed behind the OD green.
CB7 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
I sprayed everything with intercoat clear (clear as thin as base coat) so my body shop guys could scuff the design before they started clearing it. They sprayed a few coats of clear for me, handed it back, then I wet sanded all the parts to get rid of the dreaded "graphic bumpline", Took it back to them for final clear. When I got it back all I had to do was buff a few nibbs and viola! Even had some help from my 9yo.... handed hiom the air buffer and compound, now thats trust!
daddy helper by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
And this is what we ended up with. There was a lot of prepping to even get to paint! I spent hours with a razor scraping all the old parts getting the 10 layers of candies/paint/base and clear off from the old paint job I had on it. But I feel I did a pretty good job for working out of a shed! It wasnt my first project, I have been helping local painters for years do some graphics, and this is the second time doing my bike (see other pic in my profile), But this is the one I am the most proud of!
CB8 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
Here is what my plan started out as. changed a few things as I went along, but ended up close. BTW, I have a electronic file of the side of a batwing if anyone wants it to "color pencil sketch" you own ideas.

army bike by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
I had a local paint shop prep the body parts for me and paint the base color (paint I bought, horsetraded the work for graphics on other projects they had going on) I did most of the test fitting and cutting.

CB1 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
Went by my layout and started taping out my design in 1/8th and 1/4 inch blue tape. Preplanning is essential for your design. I decided to tape off all the base that wasnt getting the graphics. Then proceeded to spray the yellow/gold outline, then cover that and did the camo.

CB2 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr

CB3 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr

CB4 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
I sprayed the yellow. I also took some time to give it a knife edge by backtaping using 1/8" tape, spraying a dark side and a lite side, I also streaked the yellow with some orange just to give it some texture.

CB5 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
I wanted the stripe to be .25", so I used .25" blue tape and taped overtop of the yellow I just did. This allowed me to keep my yellow graphic safe and would also allow me the opportunity to add kool drop shadows etc to the camo area. Here it is with the yellow covered and the base lite green sprayed. I bought milar templates from Airsick Stencils. it became a whole lot of spray, rotate, spray some more. Switch colors, spray, rotate... you get the picture.

CB6 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
While everything was taped, I laid in some shadows to make the graphic look recessed behind the OD green.

CB7 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
I sprayed everything with intercoat clear (clear as thin as base coat) so my body shop guys could scuff the design before they started clearing it. They sprayed a few coats of clear for me, handed it back, then I wet sanded all the parts to get rid of the dreaded "graphic bumpline", Took it back to them for final clear. When I got it back all I had to do was buff a few nibbs and viola! Even had some help from my 9yo.... handed hiom the air buffer and compound, now thats trust!

daddy helper by lickmstickmman, on Flickr
And this is what we ended up with. There was a lot of prepping to even get to paint! I spent hours with a razor scraping all the old parts getting the 10 layers of candies/paint/base and clear off from the old paint job I had on it. But I feel I did a pretty good job for working out of a shed! It wasnt my first project, I have been helping local painters for years do some graphics, and this is the second time doing my bike (see other pic in my profile), But this is the one I am the most proud of!

CB8 by lickmstickmman, on Flickr