Before you start airbrushing, accustomize yourself with how your airbrush handles. Start on a piece of card to practice, until you are confident with how your airbrush works.
Airbrushes use compressed air to spray the pigment from the gun. You can use an electric air compressor or canned propellant. For the first timers out there, the canned propellant is the cheapest and easiest route to take, electric air compressors tend to cost a lot of money. Either will be fine for this exercise, I used canned propellant for portability.
To start with I disassembled the bike so I could prepare the metal work. (Making sure I remembered how to put it back together). Using a fine grade sandpaper I sanded down the frame of the bike to reveal the bare metal underneath and to key in the primer. Next the primer is applied using the airbrush and a 1.3 to 2.5 mm paint nozzle to ensure even coverage. The primer is then sanded with 600 grit weight wet-dry sandpaper before the base coat is applied on top.
Use the same size nozzle as before to apply the base coat ensuring even coverage and not to spray too much in one area. Runs are easy to sort out with gentle sanding but if possible avoidance is the best course.
Once the base coat is thoroughly dry, a clear coat is applied on top, this protects the base coat from scratches, dirt and gives a nice shine. Before the design work can be airbrushed on, the area to be sprayed must be wet sanded with 600 to 1500 grit weight sandpaper, being very careful not to sand through to the base coat. For very uneven blemishes 600 grit sand paper is best. If the paintwork looks smooth and blemish free 1000 to 1500 will do.
This will smooth out any imperfections and give enough tooth for the airbrush paint to adhere to the surface. Sand the surface until it is uniformly dull. Keep the sandpaper wet, it may be easier to get a bucket of water and keep it close at hand. Once sanded to a dull finish use a soft cloth or soft paper towel and some degreaser to clean and remove oily fingerprints and any other muck that may be on the paint work. Dry the de-greased part immediately with a clean cloth or towel if it is allowed to evaporate rings will appear and spoil the final design.
This is now where your own creative flair comes in to play. Using a mask, I used frisket film, draw out your design, then using a scalpel and a sharp blade, cut out the different colour sections of your picture, being careful not to cut yourself. When finished stick your complete design on the frame, with all the cut out pieces in place.
Now one by one peel off each colour section and spray that colour. This is where the practice earlier comes in handy. You need to start spraying before you get to the area you want to paint and spray just passed where you want to stop spraying, that way you will get a nice even coverage and hopefully no runs. Once you have finished that section allow the paint to dry completely then replace the film over that section and move onto the next colour or section. Carry on till your design is complete.
When the design is finished and completely dry a final clear coat is applied as before over the top sealing and finishing your design. Now put the kettle on, make a cup of tea and admire your work.
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