Challenge Livery Help Needed ! (maybe some Photo Shop help too?)

 I also think the turquoise of the door should go on the entire car. Spray cans are cheap and easy....

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

 .......... Spray cans are cheap and easy....

I'm kinda feeling & thinking this way too, but Gariation is concerned that it'll be more difficult to come back later on and do a proper paint job if we go that route, he may be right.  For this year, we have the budget room for a rattle can paint job, but the prep time would need to be near zero.   Because Challenge.

I mean I'm kinda feeling the turquoise. I was under it on the lift today and there is quite a bit of bare metal really. Would help show more of the imperfections for mud later...

In reply to Indy - Guy :

Since the goal is nice paint later, I suggest a small bit of vinyl wrap for the event and remove shortly after the event.  

 If using vinyl, look up "knifeless tape". This will allow for applying vinyl which follows the contour of the body lines.  

Speaking of painting later, you might want to consider mounting your GRM supplied stickers to sheet magnet.  That will keep you from any sticker residue after the event.  It will also add longevity to your event graphics allowing you to keep them out of the elements if you want to reapply them again in the future.  

Sheet magnet

In years past I used sheet magnet but I kept the product out of the budget under my rationalization that it gave me no competitive advantage for the event.  It's only purpose was my personal gain after the event.  

Random sample video on knifeless tape usage.  This tape is also a tool so budget exempt. 

The year I used vinyl, my budget was tight.  I measured my waste vinyl and I backed those square inches out so what I budgeted was only the amount of vinyl that actually went down the dragstrip.

DO NOT USE RATTLE CAN OR RUSTOLEUM if the goal is real paint on those areas later. It all has to come back off, as it WILL react over time with automotive grade products. It may not do it immediately, but it definitely will over time. 

Ask me how I know.....

Yea this is going to be primarily a challenge/autocross/race car. So we need to keep that in mind.

Thanks for your help everyone.  I think the team has come to a concensus:

This for the side:

And this for the hood:

And Maybe this for the trunk area:

Then after the Challenge, we can discuss an actual paint job.

Tom Suddard said:

Tom's Guide to getting on the cover:

 

Don't paint it a dark color. Period. Definitely don't paint the hood black.

Don't sticker it up with anything controversial, like the rising sun flag. Doesn't bother you? Doesn't matter--we pick cover photos for a worldwide audience. 

Do properly apply the sponsors decals.

Do paint the car with a single, cohesive theme.

Do leave room and plan for the sponsor decals.

Do make it visually interesting.

The official GRM livery is fairly intentional, and purposefully easy to replicate if it provides any inspiration for what you're going for.

Thanks Tom for the nudge off the original idea and for sharing these tips.

To everyone else who contributed in this thread:  Thank you ! ! !

This car has been a team / community effort and the discussion, suggestions, tips, hints and photo shop work lead us to this eventual design, that is /was  a million times better than our original thought.  It's been very humbling to realize that I don't have the best idea.  I'm glad I wasn't too stubborn to change directions.

The end result speaks for itself: (yes, that's painters tape {blue} and duct tape {yellow})

Thanks again, you guys are the best !

That looks great! Seeing you do this in tape is inspirational--I'm going to go get some tape this weekend and mock up my own livery! It's great that you did the slits in the grill, too. That's a nice bit of detail!

I thought you guys did a great job. Looked terrific!

Awesome "Paint" job!

Now that we've seen it, I really like the idea of replicating the livery in paint. Same stripes, same everything, and paint everything else gloss gray, including the turquoise bits on the door. 

Understated and classy. 

I like it! Nice job!

I didn't realize that was just tape until now. Can't wait to see what the team does to hone this thing in over the next year.