Ian May rebuild

[JhnBssll]

A bit more progress this afternoon after my paint stocks were replenished by yodel yesterday

In my last update I showed a sneak peak of the fork lug painted ivory. It looked great when dry, right up until I peeled back the masking and found a hole in the bag a few inches down the fork leg which had left a nice ivory stripe across the otherwise perfect blue Since this is a project I'm in no hurry to finish I decided to strip all the paint off the forks and start again

So after an evening of stripping yesterday and a few hours this afternoon prepping and spraying the frame and forks now look like this...

I'm now in a quandry about how to proceed with the lugs. The options are:

- Original plan; mask them up, spray them Ivory. I think it would look great, but is a lot of work to get the masking done properly.

- Revised plan suggested above by @carpenter; line them with Ivory. Again I think it would look great and is close to the original paint scheme (red with white lining) but I'm confident I'd make a mess of it So if I choose this route I'll need someone to do it for me

- Wimp out; leave the frame plain blue and just laquer over the top of it as is. It would still look nice but I'd probably regret not trying a little harder in the long run

I've got a while to think on it, no hurry to get it done

 

[EltonFrog]

I like the sound of your original plan.

 

[midlife]

Different coloured lugs are a bit marmite. If you want something Ivory then perhaps the head tube and a seat tube panel? I know this is in black and red but but you see the idea....

 

[wisdom]

I am hooked on this thread as my old orbit 10 speed roadie is in bits in the garage roof.
Frames a bit tatty and would look nice repainted and rebuilt.its got a red and white fade on the paint.
I wonder if this could be replicated with car based rattle cans.
Would like to re decal but can only find a couple.
Food for thought though.

 

[JhnBssll]

I am hooked on this thread as my old orbit 10 speed roadie is in bits in the garage roof.
Frames a bit tatty and would look nice repainted and rebuilt.its got a red and white fade on the paint.
I wonder if this could be replicated with car based rattle cans.
Would like to re decal but can only find a couple.
Food for thought though.

Sounds like a fun project to me I'm sure you could buy a couple of can of spray paint and practice the fade effect before you tried it on the frame, doesnt sound particularly easy though Only one way to find out

I've decided to paint the lugs as per the original plan. I experimented with a fine brush and, as predicted, I'm terrible at lining So I bought a proper craft knife and some decent masking tape and set to masking up the forks (again).

This time I was careful to properly cover each fork leg - I bagged each one individually rather than trying to bag them both together and tape up the hole in between - as this is where it went wrong last week With them masked and triple checked I sprayed the lug and left it for 10 mins or so before removing the bags and the masking around the bearing seat. I'll leave the rest of the masking for another hour or two for the paint to touch dry before trying to remove it but if it's half as good as the edge I've achieved on the bearing seat I'll be ecstatic

Only time will tell but I'll update later one way or another If it's gone well I'll start masking up the frame until the forks are dry enough to fit the Reynolds decals then laquer For some reason I was sent two sets of decals, both on different layout backing sheets but otherwise apparently identical...

At least it means I get another shot at messing the forks up

 

[JhnBssll]

I'm chalking this one down as a success The masking tape came away cleanly and I have avoided the dreaded overspray this time around I think the colour scheme looks ace too, although I may be slightly biased

So with the paint on I decided to apply the decals to the fork legs...

I'll leave them overnight now and put some lacquer on tomorrow Hopefully it won't react and ruin everything but I'm waiting on painting the frame lugs just in case

 

[JhnBssll]

I'm so impatient

I've lacquered the forks

Some minor blemishes but overall I'm really pleased with them. I just hope no bugs land on them while they're curing overnight

I'm going to go back in to the garage shortly and start masking the frame up

 

[JhnBssll]

Last update for the night - I rather lost track of time

I masked up the decal area's of the frame and sprayed them Ivory. Waited for it to dry, unmasked and was pleased with the result:

I realised I didn't have enough Ivory paint left to do the lugs, so I have left them for now. I will try and get hold of more paint tomorrow if possible In the meantime I realised there was now nothing stopping me from applying the decals

So there she is, looking rather splendid even if I do say so myself Just the lugs to spray and a few coats of lacquer and the frame is finished Just the rest to do then...

 

[EltonFrog]

It looks bloody ACE.

 

[Illaveago]

You are doing a good job . I like the colour blue you have chosen .
Your finger must be aching from pressing the top of the aerosol cans ?
Cycle frames are not the easiest of things to spray with all their sides and bits in the way but you look to have done a very good job .

 

[Illaveago]

Last update for the night - I rather lost track of time

I masked up the decal area's of the frame and sprayed them Ivory. Waited for it to dry, unmasked and was pleased with the result:

View attachment 468089
I realised I didn't have enough Ivory paint left to do the lugs, so I have left them for now. I will try and get hold of more paint tomorrow if possible In the meantime I realised there was now nothing stopping me from applying the decals

View attachment 468090

So there she is, looking rather splendid even if I do say so myself Just the lugs to spray and a few coats of lacquer and the frame is finished Just the rest to do then...

Did you try your colour scheme out on the garage door first ?

 

[JhnBssll]

Did you try your colour scheme out on the garage door first ?

I wondered if anyone would spot that

I'm quite convinced it will have subconciously affected my decision, having been stood next to it when I chose the colours

 

[Illaveago]

I wondered if anyone would spot that

I'm quite convinced it will have subconciously affected my decision, having been stood next to it when I chose the colours

Nothing wrong with those colours .

 

[midlife]

That looks really nice

 

[JhnBssll]

I masked the lugs up this morning before whipping to the shop to get more paint It took over an hour to carefully mask and trim the tape back with a craft knife.

With that done I bagged the tubes and double checked there were no holes...

When I was happy I sprayed the lugs, now waiting for it to dry before I can peel back the tape to see how it's gone

All being well I'll wipe it down in an hour or so and give it some lacquer

Thanks for all the positive comments, I'm really pleased with how it has gone so far