A Pulse Storm is brewing...

[nausea]

Just finished this project so final pictures are on their way but thought I'll first show a few progress pictures as it was an interesting process...

I've used Craftmaster Coach Enamel paint rather than the more normal, automotive style paint system used for bikes. Craftmaster Paint is the type used for canal boats and steam engines and seeing as I have about £1000 worth left over from my boat painting days it seemed sensible to use that...

I've also opted for mainly brush application and matching undercoat colours. In the world of boat painting, a strong colour over white undercoat is something I could never bring myself to do! However, I've come to accept that this is not quite such a cardinal sin with bike paint schemes as the clear coat used provides extra protection that is not present on most boat paint jobs where clear coat is usually just used to give UV protection to intricate artwork.

Anyway, here's a picture documenting some of the process... After stripping and priming we have two coats of colored undercoat brushed on, then three or four coats of brushed top coat colour. Brushing the paint builds up the layers much thicker and I can also do it inside with no complex set up. The brush marks all but disappear on the convex surface of the tubing. The fading was then airbrushed on over the top with the masking and airbrushing of the cloud section added at the end.

 

[nausea]

I studied pretty much every Storm picture in existence and was interested to find that this paint scheme seems open to interpretation to some degree. For example, Tinkers famous Storm Adroit is quite different to the more modern versions.

For my version I have used RAL 4003 coloured pink paint (neons are not available in this paint system). The purple and violet I mixed myself from the paint I have - exact colour codes seem to be hard to pin down. The cloud section has a white base then layered purple, violet and then pink on top. The lightening was hand painted with a lining brush then lightly airbrushed over the top. The whole thing was finished off with two brushed coats of clearcoat.

It's slightly different from what seems to have become the standard interpretation of this scheme but I'm more than happy with the result - particularly as this was my first go with an airbrush!

 

[nausea]

...and here are some more pics. I've got another couple of Pulse frames and potentially a Mantra that will probably get the same treatment because I'm interested in perfecting the technique for this paint scheme. There are a few tiny things I'd like to improve but as I mentioned I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

 

[1552]

This is amazing!
The fact you have done this using brushes mostly with some air brushing absolutely floors me.

I'm dropping you a PM

 

[nausea]

This is amazing!
The fact you have done this using brushes mostly with some air brushing absolutely floors me.

I'm dropping you a PM

Thankyou very much! I just much prefer brushing where possible - I like the thicker application it gives and perhaps even better is the fact that I can get away with doing it in the house and with almost zero setting up hassles!

 

[PhillB]

Simply superb job!! Incredible to get that finish using brushes. A super design too!

 

[Elfman]

I agree, this is amazing and have been planning on trying the same paint job although not brushed. I'm particularly interested in your recipe/process for the clouds and lightning. At some point I'll send you a PM as well. Kudos!

 

[pwebb]

very impressive, I also assume that boat paint is pretty robust (?) and will withstand some inevitable risk of damage if the bikes are ridden and hopefully shown off to admiring people outside the cafe etc.
Its great to see such time and care taken to preserve what are classy frames to begin with, this takes them to another level.

 

[nausea]

I agree, this is amazing and have been planning on trying the same paint job although not brushed. I'm particularly interested in your recipe/process for the clouds and lightning. At some point I'll send you a PM as well. Kudos!

Thankyou Elfnan! Basically, everything underneath what you can see was brushed but there's an airbrushed layer on top to achieve the fading. If you look at the Storms people have done over the years, the cloud section seems to vary. My approach was to start with a white base, mask the cloud shapes off and airbrush the dark purple along the edges of them. Then airbrush a mottled texture over the whole thing with the mid-purple making sure you don't go over the edges of the clouds. Then do the same with the dark purple, followed by the pink. I think this is a bit different to what has been done previously (I'm not sure the pink usually features) but I'm happy with the overall effect.

 

[nausea]

very impressive, I also assume that boat paint is pretty robust (?) and will withstand some inevitable risk of damage if the bikes are ridden and hopefully shown off to admiring people outside the cafe etc.
Its great to see such time and care taken to preserve what are classy frames to begin with, this takes them to another level.

Thankyou very much - yes, I thought boat paint would be ideal as the requirements for a bike are pretty much the same. I painted my Santa Cruz Superlight frame with it years back and it's holding up nicely. The paint is tough enough not to need a clear coat but a bike really benefits from one because it adds protection for the delicate elements of the paint job, gives a shinier finish and enriches the colour too.