Newfound respect for Pinstripers

[Ratfink1962]

Ive painted a lot of cars, trucks and etc. in my lifetime, but never pinstriped before. So I decided to give it a shot and went and bought a Mack 00 series 10 and some one shot. NOT as easy as you would think it is. I am trying to finish up my Indian bike and painted it Burgundy and cream, and here is my feeble attempt to do a simple black line....

Dont get me wrong, it dont look half bad, barely acceptable by my standards... I may go wipe it off before it fully dries! :lol:
I guess I just turned the bike into a good 20 footer, Ill just have to ride faster so nobody will see the mistakes! Go ahead and laugh at it, I know its not good.

Probaly should have practiced on the garage fridge for a few months before attempting to stripe something I actually like :roll:

Son of a beaver pelt that wasnt easy!!!

For those of you that can Pinstripe.... I salute you! 8)

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

What do you mean :? It looks great 8) You should be proud of it :wink:

 

[karfer67]

that is quite good especially if there was a large step between the colors

 

[Ratfink1962]

There was a ridge between the two colors and it was messing with me pretty good.

Like I said its not bad, but its got amatuer written all over it. If I decide to do any more striping, Im gonna have to practice.

 

[udallcustombikes]

I know what you mean. I am spent some time practicing on a sheet of glass and thought i was ready to move to my RRBBO bike. Now I think I am ready to have the whole frame media blasted and start over.

 

[g-ratter]

trying it for the first time on a tube,very gutsy.

 

[xddorox]

trying it for the first time on a tube,very gutsy.

I agree. That is very decent for a first try. I would leave it. Be proud of what you did there. It's not perfect, but I've seen a lot worst.

 

[karfer67]

those can be some of the hardest lines to do. actually bike frames over all are a pain to stripe. mostly because you end up doing a lot of what i call "blind lines" where you cant see exactly what the brush is doing and it is all by feel. seat post tubes are this way because most frames you have to sit off to one side. i still say well done and when in doubt practice more i would not do anything for other people until i had practiced for a solid 8 mo and i tried to spend at least an hr each night running lines on whatever i could find in the garage. glass works good too but i like to go back and see how far i have come.

 

[icyuod2]

any pointers? gonna attemp a little striping myself.

 

[Ratfink1962]

Good advice Karfer.

I was also having problems with getting my hand to slide smoothly, I shoulda got out the baby powder.

I thought beforehand... well maybe if I get good I can do other peoples stuff. Then about 5 minutes into this project... I changed my mind! :lol: :lol: No chance in the world I will ever stripe anybody elses' stuff.

I did end up pulling some lines on my garage fridge just for kicks. I did ok with that and it seemed much easier that striping on the tubing. I dunno... If I ever get some free time I might actually try to practice just to see if I can learn it.

 

[Ratfink1962]

any pointers? gonna attemp a little striping myself.

Only advice Im qualified to give out at this time.... just do it better than I did, :lol: :lol:

 

[X-RAY]

that must be one heck of a camera you got there if you think it doesnt look good! id be proud to have done as well as you!

 

[450redrider]

Looks good I might have to go out and do some practice now I know my grandpa has some one shot out at his house not sure on which colors though

 

[American Vintage Bicycle Supply]

Yea I just did my first ever strippes on my build off 5 schwinn tanks. It looks ok but I'm just happy I pulled it off my self.

 

[sensor]

heck those look about a million times better than my first lines! i still to this day hate striping bikes....small round tube,they sit at an angle,and also have a tendency to roll sometimes :roll:
stick with and practice till you never want to see a brush again.....then practice more :wink:

 

[aka_locojoe]

I think it looks good. Especially for a first try. Like others have said I think a bike would be hard to do.

 

[Lugisland]

I think you did a good job! I agree that striping isn't as easy as the pro's make it look. I just bought my first Mack OO, and a couple cans of One shot last week. I checked out a book on pinstriping from the local library, and have been practicing the last couple of days. I've also spent a lot of time on youtube watching people pull lines. It's frustrating, but I'm gonna keep at it! Tom

 

[karfer67]

the guys one you tube make it look way easy. one trick when i am nervous about a particular line is right before pulling take in a deep breath and tense up. when learning you may find yourself doing this a lot and it goes away as you become more comfortable. scallops are a pain to do no two ways about it. another trick if you have a big paint step is to make the line a bit fatter that way your brush is not as likely to skip side to side of the edge. oh and when in doubt pallet your brush

 

[deorman]

Probably the toughest part of any artistic endeavor is judging your own work, whether positive or negative. Looks decent in the photos.

 

[karfer67]

that is so true when showing someone my work i typically will point out all the spots i messed up in or are not even. a pinstriper is his or her own worst critic.