# duplicolor lacquer and pinstriping



## NNNTX (Oct 2, 2010)

I'm currently in the process of painting my bike with Duplicolor lacquer and I'm wondering what paint material I'll use for the pinstriping. I'm doing the frame creme/black and want to put a red pinstripe around the creme colored detail. I've never done pinstriping before, but I intend to buy a pinstriping brush and make it happen. I think I can do a decent job of it as I have a pretty steady hand with intricate artwork.

My question is about what type of paint I should use for the red pinstripe. The frame is done in lacquer, so I'm assuming that the logical choice would be to go with lacquer since it would be compatible for good adhesion. However, I'm wondering how well lacquer is going to work for this as it seems quite thin, so I'm anticipating that it will take more than one pass with the brush to get good coverage. More than one pass with a pinstriping brush just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

I went to the Duplicolor website and saw some info stating that enamel can be painted over lacquer, but that lacquer is not recommended on top of enamel as it can cause the enamel to pull away. Therefore, the problem would not be painting an enamel pinstripe over lacquer; rather painting the lacquer clearcoat over the enamel pinstripe would seem unwise. However, the info also stated that in certain instances, lacquer can be painted over enamel as long as the enamel has completely cured first...but that there are no guarantees!

If any of you guys have painted a bicycle with Duplicolor lacquer, I would be very interested in knowing how you went about applying the pinstripes. Thanks!


----------



## redline1968 (Oct 3, 2010)

seems odd that laquer wont sick to enamel but will the other way. if you can get laquer pinstripe paint then do that otherwise you might get into trouble.  it should be a one shot deal you might  not get the same stripe twice.  i would use striping tape since you are a beginner and if you screw up and try to clean the paint off  you will  regret it.. i did mine in auto enamel base and stripe paint. no clear. good luck


----------



## NNNTX (Oct 3, 2010)

I made a decision to play it safe and spray my pinstripes with Dupicolor lacquer. I have ordered an assortment of "the striper" and "the edge" pinstriping masking tape. I'm just going to take my time and meticulously mask off all of the pinstripes and then spray them on with red lacquer. I can't see any reason why this won't work out just fine. So far, the frame and forks are looking good. Once I get the pinstripes done and let it cure for a bit, I'll assemble the bike and post of couple of photos here.


----------



## twowheelfan (Oct 4, 2010)

Masking and spraying your lines is probably a good idea for at this time. 
The pinstripers use oneshot lettering enamel to pinstripe. enamel is the best (almost only) paint to stripe with. you need to have paint that dries slowely so that it flows off of the brush smoothly. striping is actually pretty hard to do. if you make a mistake or drag a line too thick you need to wipe it off. doing so with laq. on laq. wouldnt happen and also wiping red off of white paint would be very difficult.
paint the bike with laq. clearcoat, then use the lettering enamel to stripe. if you make a mistake you can use mineral spirits to wipe the enamel off of top coat (carefully). also pick up a book on lettering and pinstriping, it will be useful to you down the road.


----------



## supper15fiets (Oct 5, 2010)

....i would say, spend some money on a real pinstripe artist, in the states there a lot of them, i have a steady hand and i am painter, house painter that is and i am doing a lot of 1800 houses, with a lot of steady lines in it, but pinstiping is something else and the result is much better, you have to mix the paint right right otherwise is getting to hard or to wet, believe me i tried, and i am happy that a pinstripe guy didt it for me....good luck!


----------



## twowheelfan (Oct 9, 2010)

I love painting! i have done stripes both ways. the masking way is this way i started. masking for the stripes is VERY time consuming and you run the risk of messing up the paint underneath with the tape and its a pain, a lot of razor blade work. i did it this way because i was unsure of the steadiness of my hand. since, i have practiced a LOT and am a little more confident. dragging the a brush is Much faster. the stripes on the old paint jobs are done by hand and if you look its not always perfect. every bike that you do is going to be a learning experience, i say do what will feel comfortable on the first one, try something new on the second etc. eventually you will find the process that will be best for you. if you want to chat about the finer points of painting with spraybomb, airbrush or automotive paint i would be happy to chat. i'm no expert but i have made a LOT of mistakes and would be happy to share them with you. Email me. If you want.
Tim 
twowheelfan@yahoo.com
the fender was masked stripes( krylon and water based airbrush paint,ten years ago) the mailbox was brushed (House of Kolor automotive urethane basecoat /clearcoat)


----------

