For awhile now I’ve been claiming that I’m going to paint a giant red stegosaurus on the front of my white nissan altima. I really do intend to do it. I have the contact paper which will act as the stencil, the bright red paint, and the clear coat paint. What I’m missing is the method of first sanding off the top coat of paint.
I was discussing possibilities with the roommates. The problem is, I don’t want to sand the whole hood and repaint it because I’m lazy. Really, I just want to sand down the area of the stegosaurus. Here were the two ideas:
1. The Bologna Maneuver: Jesse reports that bologna, if stuck to a car, will remove the paint. I could put down the stencil, and then cover that area with bologna… leave it for a few hours, remove the meat, wash lightly, and then paint bright red.
2. The Egg Drop Classic: Thomas pointed out that egg whites do the same thing. I could paint the defined area with eggwhite and leave it for a few hours, then wash lightly, then paint.
So dear Reader, what do you think I should do to best paint my majestic stegosaurus?
I’d suggest using an orbital sander. Granted, for tiny details you’ll have to put the thing on edge, but I think you can handle it.
Here’s page with some stuff you’ll probably need:
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Automotive_Aftermarket/Home/Products/Mobile_Repair/Sanding/
while an orbital sander would be an excellent way to get the job done, I think it would require that I sand a significantly larger area than just the desired stego shape. And I would not be able to sand with the contact paper stencil on the car.
I think if I were to do it this way, I’d have to purchase a matching paint color for my car and paint the entire sanded area White first, then let that dry, then paint the red, let that dry, and then clear coat it.
If I could figure out a way to ONLY get rid of the paint within the stencil, I could skip the white paint step.
I vote for bologna.
But then again, I always do.
Does your company have a sandblaster?
I vote you make a delicious egg & bologna sandwich. Mmmm.
Remember that Sox logo on the visor of my car? I did that with contact paper and spray paint – no sanding at all. I made two stencils – one for the background (white) and then I covered the areas I wanted to remain white with a second contact paper stencil. I sprayed red over the whole thing and then sprayed with a couple coats of clear paint. It works great.
I’d start with bologna, for 1 basic reason, it won’t move. While I have doubts about the veracity of Jesse’s claim, if it’s true then you have to just put the bologna down (you may want to make your stencil with wax paper just in case), where the egg whites may run out of the defined stencil area.
Mike D,
If you are going through the trouble of cutting out a stencil in the first place, you might as well just cut out a vinyl decal from red material instead. Any sticker or logo printing shop will sell you some red vinyl material that is adhesive backed. Cut out your shapes, place them onto the hood, then spray with clear to lock them down for good. This would require very little effort since you admitted you are lazy.
Hmm. Creative thought! I will check prices. We’re all about thinking outside of the box here at mikedidonato.com.
When you used the clear coat, how far outside of the stencil did you coat?
It does, but I don’t think I could fit a hood inside the enclosure.
It’s impossible to argue with that logic.
If I do this, you can be sure that it will all be documented with video.
Wouldn’t it be easier to just put down the cutout of the Dino then paint the entire car red? Then you would have a nice White Stego on the hood.
I don’t know, out of the box? These ideas are still within the box to a degree.
Out of the box would be dremeling the shape of the stegosaurus right out of the hood, bolting a sheet of Lexan on the underside, and then mounting neon lighting under the hood so that your engine bay glows in the shape of the dino while driving. THAT would be thinking outside the box.
i have a friend who’s father has a silkscreening studio, where not only do they print t-shirts, but they also have the capabilities of making vinyl stickers and signs and stuff like that. I could give you his number or email adress.
Ohhh man… that would exceed amazingness.
Tim… this idea is phenominal. I wonder how a sheet of lexan would affect the crumple factor of the front of the car. the last thing I’d want is to have my passengers impaled with lexan in the unfortunate event of a car accident.
about an inch and a half on all sides
Well, the lexan would only be there really to keep water/debris out, so, you could probably get away with using something on the lines of 1/16″. If you got into an accident, I’m sure that stuff would just fold up or shatter.
Of course, who would be stupid enough to get in the way of a glowing shape of a stegosaurus and hit you anyways?
much appreciated! once I have a plan of action, i’ll let you know the means to stegosaurasize my car.
Is bologna delicious with egg?
probably.
Stencil it off and hand-sand carefully in the open areas. A small sanding block (like a 1″ thick piece of scotch-brite or similar abrasive pad) will really help hone in the details. Just sand it to like 400 grit, or maybe 320 and make sure it’s relatively even, and it’ll be plenty for any paint to tack onto.
If you could spare your hood for a week or so, I can lexan your stego! Or, find a spare hood at a junkyard. It’d look AWESOME. At night, anyway.
Dremel tool? Dude Tim it’s a hood, not a cookie sheet.
But my grinder with cutoff wheels o-plenty will do the job. Then add a deco border around all the rough edges to make it look clean on top (and to accent the shape in the daytime when the lights don’t show up well), and neon lights are just your local rice shop away.
I’m excited about this already. Or maybe it was the mention of bologna.
I wouldn’t use a dremel either, it was just the first tool I spit out while trying to convey the message. If MikeD does this, the Altima is going to be sick. I’m looking forward to this already.
I would question all of your sanities if I thought for a minute that this was going to happen.
Why would you question our sanity? Does the idea of a glowing stegosaurus not appeal to you?
Do I smell a hint of jealousy in the air, Mr. Abad?
he might just be hungry. Sometimes his enthusiasm for robots, dinosaurs, and light FX drops when he’s hungry.
its true.
i only had a poptart this morning since my food is in worcester and there’s nothing in our somerville kitchen.
so i’ve been snacking on lots of dried fruit here at the cube.
but a glowing stegosaurus on your hood does not call out to me. now if you did it as a wall mural, at least 10′ x 8, then we’d be talking.
Sander, do you have an angle grinder? I desperately need to re-grind the rims on my trials bike! Perhaps next time I am CT…