painting cabon fibre

[Nick F40]

is there a way to paint it, as I need to do my bottom part of the front clip on my Accord.

[allgosvo]

there is a pretty easy way to copy carbon fiber. the technique is covered in the house of kolor paint book (not sure of the title) they use a type of tape that looks like mesh screen (from the local home depot or lowes) . i'll see if i can dig up the book,alot of our stuff is packed up since we're moving.

paul

here is what the book looks like in case someone else has a copy they can refer to for you.....

Edited August 24, 2008 by allgosvo

[Brendan]

The easiest way is to lay down the base of a metallic color. Let it cure. Then take your girlfriend's, your wife's, or your mom's nylons and wrap the nylon tightly against the painted section and spray your black on it. And you'll get a weaved pattern. I used to do this a long time ago. Turns out good.

[Harry P.]

The easiest way is to use CF decals. They're available from several aftermarket sources, including Studio 27 and Scale Motorsports.

http://www.stradasportsstore.com/studio274.html

http://www.detailmaster.com/Merchant2/merc...tegory_Code=SMT

[Nick F40]

I know Harry, I have some ScaleMotorsports decals but it's hard to do the bottom part of the front clip on the PIAA Accord

Thanks Brendan, I'll try that.

[Jairus]

I would do it the other way around: Spray flat black and then shoot gold, silver, gray or whatever through a piece of nylon fabric.

[Harry P.]

Spraying through nylon mesh will work if the mesh is flush and tight against the surface...but if the surface is irregular or has deep indentations, like on this model, wherever the mesh doesn't make direct contact with the surface you won't get a crisp pattern. That's why decals are the way to go...decals and lots of setting solution and/or a hair dryer to heat and soften the decals.

Check the "Building the Perfect Porsche" feature in the April issue of MCM. That's how it's done.

[Olle F]

Spraying through nylon mesh will work if the mesh is flush and tight against the surface...but if the surface is irregular or has deep indentations, like on this model, wherever the mesh doesn't make direct contact with the surface you won't get a crisp pattern.

How about hitting the fabric with some spray adhesive? I haven't tried this myself, but I'm thinking that the tacky, non-permanent stuff could work.

[Harry P.]

How about hitting the fabric with some spray adhesive? I haven't tried this myself, but I'm thinking that the tacky, non-permanent stuff could work.

Yeah, that might work... but by this point you've created as much, if not more work, than just using decals in the first place.

[Olle F]

Yeah, that might work... but by this point you've created as much, if not more work, than just using decals in the first place.

Maybe... I'm just intimidated by the process of applying decals on curved surfaces. I usually end up diddling around with decals and setting solution to the point where the decals are wrinkled and cracked, and the adhesive is washed out. When I finally get all the bubbles out and the decals are stuck good, they are usually misaligned or in the wrong place. I figure that nylon with a tacky back would be more forgiving, but that's just me.

And of course, I'm cheap too. I usually keep spray adhesive in the house, and I'm sure I can swipe some of my wife's nylons without her noticing.

[dub]

Hey Nick, why don't you just order some of that spray can carbon fiber from the April 07 issue?

[Nick F40]

Hey Nick, why don't you just order some of that spray can carbon fiber from the April 07 issue? :P

I should

Decals might be able to work but how would I cut it? I might just paint gunmetal or black in the indentations and curves of the front bumper.

[Harry P.]

Decals might be able to work but how would I cut it?

Cover the area of the model you want to be decaled with masking tape and use a fine tip marker to draw where the edges of the decal area are. Then take off the tape, put it onto a sheet of paper, and cut out the paper template. Finally, put your tape/paper template over the decal sheet and trim out the area of decal you need... but allow a bit of extra margin because you won't be able to place the decal on the model exactly. It's better to have a piece slightly larger than the area you want covered... just like when your foiling.