Rags to Riches, our new project, was in crazy need of paint. Since we were in a time crunch and on a crappy budget, we called somebody we knew who could get this done in a rush. We called Nostalgic Restyling out of Hemet, California, which is located behind Bio Kustumz. Josh, the owner and mad painter down there, told us he could throw down on the truck, do bodywork, and paint it in seven days. He didn't only deliver on time, but we got a much nicer paintjob than we had expected or for so fast.
1. After completing some serious...
1. After completing some serious bodywork, taking out dents, and shaving a laundry list of items, Josh primed our truck in a light-gray primer.
2. Once the gray primer was...
2. Once the gray primer was sprayed and dried, Josh added an even basecoat of black to the areas where silver and clear will be applied. Josh says that silver should always have a base, and his base of preference is black.
3 and 4. After the black,...
3 and 4. After the black, Josh applied an even coat of Xotic Sparklee Silver basecoat in the areas where blue candy would be applied.
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5. Here's our silver base...
5. Here's our silver base ready to be candied.
6. Josh quickly applied the...
6. Josh quickly applied the Cobalt Blue candy paint by House of Kolor. Josh mixed it by using a 1:4 ratio.
7 and 8. Josh then mixed the...
7 and 8. Josh then mixed the clear to spray over the candy that would be our flames and scallops (four parts clear, one part hardener). The reason we sprayed our graphics first wasn't because we really wanted to make things difficult for ourselves, but to leave less of a tape line on our graphics when finished.
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9. Wow, it looked so pretty...
9. Wow, it looked so pretty in candy blue, maybe we should have just painted it, instead of just suede.
10-12. Josh laid out our scallops...
10-12. Josh laid out our scallops by hand, then moved on to drawing the flames by hand. He's probably done more flame jobs than most people twice his age.
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13 and 14. Here, you can clearly...
13 and 14. Here, you can clearly see the pattern for our graphics. Josh made sure that both sides were even the old-skool way-by eyeballing it.
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15. Even though we don't show...
15. Even though we don't show every step, this section of the paintjob is crucial. Josh color-sanded and buffed the area of our graphics, because it would be very difficult to do this at the end. You don't ever want to buff your dull clear because it will bring out the shine. Once our graphics were taped, he also sanded to the edge of our tape line.
16. The last bit of primer...
16. The last bit of primer to be sprayed on the truck was a gray sealer primer, which Josh laid a very light and smooth layer over the whole truck.
17 and 18. Now, our truck...
17 and 18. Now, our truck was ready for paint. Josh had this blue Velspar paint he was going to use on a Cadillac. Because we were on a budget, we decided to use it now. It's a custom color, but was based on a 72 Cadillac color, and was two parts paint, to one part reducer.
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19. Josh is applying the paint...
19. Josh is applying the paint to the truck. Josh recommends applying medium to light coats of paint, and it should be cross-hatched.
20 and 21. Midway through...
20 and 21. Midway through the paintjob, it's still very lightly coated. We needed another coat to take away the transparency.
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22-25. Our last step was the...
22-25. Our last step was the most crucial, so as to ensure a "suede" paint look. Josh mixed our clear as before, four parts clear to one part hardener. Once this was mixed, he re-mixed it as one part already mixed clear to one part mating agent. This gave us a dull-paint look. This is great because you can wash it just like paint and it won't dull like primer. It will also give that cool hot-rod look. Just make sure you don't ever buff this, because if you do, it will bring the shine out of it.
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26. Josh applied clearcoat...
26. Josh applied clearcoat over the entire body and made sure not to miss any spots.
27 and 28. Once the truck...
27 and 28. Once the truck was dry, Josh came back to remove the tape. The blue candy pops just the right amount against the flat blue. We still have a noticeable tape line, as could be expected, but it's not nearly so bad as it would have if we hadn't sprayed it first.
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29. Here's the finished project....
29. Here's the finished project. Once the truck is put back together, we'll return to Josh to have him stripe the hood, tailgate, and the graphics in silver.