Pinstriping Paint
It is essential to use pinstriping paint for drawing pinstripe graphics; you shouldn’t use normal car paint. One of the reasons is that standard car paint requires a clear coat, while pinstriping paint (which is an enamel paint) does not. There is a variety of pinstriping paints available on the market; the best ones are those with an optimum flow, high UV resistance, and high opacity even by critical shades.
The viscosity of pinstriping paint can be adjusted by a pinstripe reducer and hardness can be increased by a pinstripe hardener. Pinstripe reducers can be added at up to 10% of the paint’s volume without affecting opacity. Pinstripe hardeners too can be added at up to 10%, and they will increase the gloss and durability of the paint, as well as reduce drying times.
A wide range of pinstriping paint colours and shades are available, but you can also mix paints together to achieve unique shades. Use a colour wheel to help determine the colour you want to obtain – the wheel will indicate the primary colours needed to achieve the colour you want. Next, pour the can of base colour (the colour closest to the one you wish to obtain) into the mixing cup and then gradually add in the lightening/darkening colour until you achieve the tint you desire.
One of the most widely used pinstriping paints is 1 Shot enamel paint. 1 Shot Enamels are oil based and are excellent for pinstriping on metals, wood and glass. 1 Shot has been an industry’s favourite for over 50 years, and is renowned for its flow characteristics, single stroke coverage and vibrant durability. 1 Shot also produce a full line of hardeners and reducers. 1 Shot Enamels can be applied via brush, roller, spray or airbrush and are best used at temperatures above 65 F. Typical drying times are 2 to 5 hours to touch and 8 to 12 hours to handle. If you want to recoat, you should wait at least 12 hours. As with all oil-alkyl enamels, 1 Shot Enamel paints should not be mixed with latex or acrylic latex paints as there will be adhesion issues and different expansion/contraction rates. This can result in cracking of the paint.
It is extremely important that the surface you are working on is thoroughly cleaned before you apply the pinstriping paint as any residues will show up as bumps under the paint and can later come off leaving ‘spots’ in your design. You should first clean the surface with regular water and soap, and if some greasy residues remain, rub the area with isopropyl alcohol.