Hand pinstriping 101

Any advice to someone wanting to get started in hand pinstriping.. What do I really need? Brushes, paint, etc. Thanks

A steady hand.

Artistic skills if you want to do more than run lines along a fender.

A bugler wheel unit is great for uniform lines. A brush is great for creativity.

You need to find someone who's experienced in hand pinstriping. Then ask them what materials you need. Its one of those bygone era type of things, so there are still some people hiding in the cracks that know and do this stuff well.

Short answer? Can of one shot, some reducer, and a Kafka 0 brush. Watch some videos on Youtube. I bought several striping books as well to get some ideas.... but the videos are far more instrumental in giving me an idea of how it all should look. There's differing ideas on what good brush care is, how to pallet, etc. Most of the stripers out there use Mack Swords- and they're great brushes, but it's a LOT easier to work turns/scrolling with a Kafka- and you don't have to trim it before you get started. If you have a Dick Blick art supply store close- go check it out. Also- Avoid the Kafka "starter kit". It's 80$ for a DVD and a paper grid. Then. prepare to practice your ass off. Stripe anything you can. Skateboard decks work REALLY well, and you can usually find no name blanks for like 20$ at your local flatbiller dispensary. Plus they look sweet when they're done.

Get the right brush(es), they're worth the investment. Paint consistency is important as well.

Practice practice practice, and when you get done practicing, practice some more. I've dabbled in hand striping, but this is where I failed to follow through, and it shows.

A small pane of glass is nice to work on, cause its smooth and you can clean dried paint off of it so you can reuse it til it breaks.

foxtrapper wrote: A steady hand. Artistic skills if you want to do more than run lines along a fender. A bugler wheel unit is great for uniform lines. A brush is great for creativity.

http://www.beugler.com/how2.html

JohnInKansas wrote: A small pane of glass is nice to work on, cause its smooth and you can clean dried paint off of it so you can reuse it til it breaks.

Using a piece of glass with grid paper underneath it also helps lining up the lines too....

-Rob

Check out info on other forums - I used to read a lot about it over on the HAMB (Jalopyjournal.com) but the signal to noise ration on those forums has gone way up. Still, there are probably more guys doing real pinstriping now than there were 5-10 years ago, and most of them cross the HAMB radar at some point.

Always wanted to try it, but i don't think my hands are steady enough now.

andy the pinstriper

I bought a starter kit from Speedway Motors two years ago as a Birthday present to myself. I have still not really gotten a chance to do much but I have a very large canvas to practice on in my 1986 GMC Van that I car not how it looks. So practice practice practice, and it's good to have some artistic skill.

ultraclyde wrote: Check out info on other forums - I used to read a lot about it over on the HAMB (Jalopyjournal.com) but the signal to noise ration on those forums has gone way down. Still, there are probably more guys doing real pinstriping now than there were 5-10 years ago, and most of them cross the HAMB radar at some point. Always wanted to try it, but i don't think my hands are steady enough now.

FTFY

(I'm assuming that you're complaining - correctly, IMHO - that the amount of drivel at the HAMB has gone up, causing the useful info to be a smaller portion of the site. Totally, correct....stopped actively reading there several years ago. It is still has good info, but unless it is in the tech archive you may need google to find it.)

See if there is a sign painters supply store left in your part of the world. Most everything is vinyl now, but I have a friend that still keeps a small selection of signpainters paint, brushes and supplies in stock. Crossman Graphic Supply in Saskatoon.

I presume signpainting and pinstriping use similar products...

As others have said, get a can of one shot and a brush (Mack or Kafka) and get started :)

Then get some free time and go through this thread. The information here and in the links within it are all I used to get started.

http://volksrods.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13026&highlight=attempting+stripes