unwrap.

The painting is finally finished!!  There was nothing more satisfying (except maybe when I take that first cruise) than peeling all of the tape off for the last time.  (: After taping off yellow... then white... then black... then the text... then all of it... Hah. It felt great to spray the last coat of gloss on wildly.

The solid color stripes and bands were actually pretty easy...  I covered the entire bike with newspaper to keep from making a mess, then just adjusted the taped off parts as I needed to.  The only part I ran into a bit of trouble with was the text.  I had printed stencils onto card stock, and I never even thought about the rigidity of the paper.  The little bits inside the letters wouldn't conform to the bike... duh. So, my solution was to trace the text onto layered painter's tape and then cut out the letters with an exacto.  Worked like a charm! See??

detail.

I love details. This, for me, is where the fun is at... and cleaning up old parts, I suppose. Since I'm quite a "n00b" at this, I'm trying to keep it simple to stencil. And, because I loved the feel of the bike from the beginning (slightly retro,) the new look is going to be reminiscent of the old decals.

The new graphics are clean, simple, and they pop. Yellow, black, and white. A symmetrical sun. Futuristic font in all caps. I wanted something that would speak of me and my design choices. Nothing over the top...

And every good bike needs a name, right? The word "Sunna" was the Old High German name of the sun goddess in germanic mythology.  The sister of the moon. I found it quite fitting.  (more here. )

sand.

Wet sanding = Epic Fail.

In my book, anyways.  I started a test patch a couple of days ago to test out the "wet sanding" before I apply the technique to the entire bike... Good thing. The idea is that you use a super-fine paper (try 400-grit, waterproof) and windex (or any glass cleaner) to sand the surface of the final color coat lightly.  Then you apply your gloss (or other finish coat.)  It may have to do with the very dark color I'm using, but after a light all-over with the wet paper, the look was pastel and streaky. Ugh. Even after a wipe down with a damp cloth, the look didn't change. Now, in it's defense, as I sprayed the gloss, the streaks and lightness disappeared; I was left with a great looking finish. But. Really, who wants to do all the extra (and might I add, very messy) work to get the same finish as you would without the wet-sand?  If you're an expert, I have a few questions... Does this help the top coat out in any way? Maybe the gloss lasts longer, or adheres better? I'm going to check mine out in the morning to see if it's just really fantastic, but otherwise, the wet-sand is a step I'll be skipping.

Before and after gloss.  Using the bubbles as a reference, can you see a difference? I think the finish looks much the same... 

spray.

I think that this post finally catches up to current on the bike situation. Technically speaking...

As of right this moment, the painting is half-way finished. We stripped everything down to bare metal; we're talking sanded like crazy, which actually took us a couple of weeks. We used 80-grit paper, wire brushes, scouring pads, and a bit of paint stripper for the tough spots.  All in all, it turned out great.  A final once over with a 110-grit paper got it ready for primer.  I used a grey prime, since I'm using a darker color.  The jury is still out on whether or not the grey will also work under white paint.  Trial and error, my friends.

Two coats of purple later, here's the results... See for yourself:

There's still a bit to go: About two more coats of the base color, a round of wet-sanding for everyone, a little detail work to give it some pizazz, then a nice glossy top-coat.  If you've ever done this before, and you have any tips before I jump in to the top-coat, feel free to share.  I'm a little nervous about getting a nice gloss that will last for a while.