Plastdip body color change... doin the Dip

[Pablito]

My matte Red rattle cans of Plastidip with prep spray came in yesterday and of course being the most impatient person on the planet i had to jump in and start my the project of doing a color change on my RS last night. I took pics along the way for those that are interested in this. Let me state that this is totally removable if at anytime you don't want this paint on your ride or want to change the color its a very simple process of just peeling it off and bam your back to stock. You do not scuff/sand anything!!! all you do is clean any grease, wax, oil off the part that you want to dip. Plastidip makes many colors that you can order however Matte black and sometimes even Matte white is pretty easy to find at just about any Home Depot/Lowes/Ace/walmart I even found cans of the Glossifier at Walmart which if you don't want the hod rod style matte finish will make your Plastidip glossy.

You will notice that I didn't do the best of tape/masking jobs. Actually I didn't even mask off the front Emblem at all and that is because you really don't have to. If the over spray is thick enough you just have to roll it up with your fingers until you can grab ahold of it then peel it right off. If its thin simply take a microfiber cloth and basically rub it right off. Check out the pics of my front emblem I just took a small flat head screwdriver and pulled back on it until I got a bit of a tear in the Plastidip I then grabbed it with my fingers and pulled it right off the emblem and it cuts a perfect edge all by itself. If you happen to get an area that doesn't want to pull free with a clean edge you can just take an xacto knife and cut the plastidip coating then peel it to keep the edge clean.

One more thing that I noticed is that the red is much like some of the other colors and translucent to a certain extent. Think of it sorta like spraying a candy color in that stuff underneath will show through unless you put a ton of coats on or use a preferably white base coat. I found this out for myself last night as the old owner of my RS had hand painted pinstripes put all over my bike. After 3 coats of red they were still very visible through the new color so i shot it with 2 coats of white and they disappeared then followed with 4 coats of Red. On my fenders and other parts I just started off with a couple coats of white and then Red took to it much better than without the white. I did the frunk panel first just to get pics of the progress to show what is involved in doing a color change any question feel free to hit me up.

Ok on to the pics

Here is the can of Red Plastidip that I used 20130403_142237_resized.jpg It took about one can to do the Frunk however i did waste probably 1/4 of a can at least before I figured out that I needed a white base coat in order to get the look that I wanted.
This is one first light coat then a 2nd heavier20130403_144835_resized.jpgcoat of red as you can see it's not covering my pinstripes well at all i did do 2 more coats and it kinda had a cool effect being all red with now black pinstipes coming through underneath but I didnt want to see them at all so I sprayed on 2 coats of White Plastidip
Here is what it looks like after one coat of white20130403_202409_resized.jpg
Here is after one coat of red on top of the white20130403_205807_resized.jpg
This is 3-4 coats of red and pretty much the finished product waiting to dry 20130403_220551_resized.jpg

[Pablito]

After drying 10 min between each coat and then 4 hours of letting the final coat dry its time to peel!

as you can see the front emblem is 100% painted over20130404_003216_resized.jpg
I took a small flat head screwdriver and pulled back until the Plastidip tore20130404_003253_resized.jpg
Then when I could grab a piece of it I slowly pulled it away 20130404_003309_resized_1.jpg20130404_003319_resized_1.jpg20130404_003330_resized_1.jpg

[Pablito]

and as you can see the emblem is perfectly fine no damage whatsoever without masking it off
20130404_003354_resized_1.jpg20130404_003406_resized_1.jpg
I then moved on and started painting the Fenders and side panels and pulled off the masking around the Frunk area but was getting really late and forgot to take pics of the front unmasked i'll get some tonight though and post them up for y'all to see.

[CyncySpyder]

I'm about ready to have Teddy get started on doing his bars and foot-peg supports. Couple of questions for you about this.

Since we're going over drab grey metal castings and not nice shiny painted body panels, do you think going over them with the black Plasti-Dip without the white bottom coat would work well? I'm thinking so, cause we're not going to be trying to cover another bright color like in your application, but figured it couldn't hurt to get your take on it

Also, & this is kinda off the wall and out there, but while at Ace the other day, I noticed that you can now buy that chamelian color changing paint in rattle cans just like any other paint. Tho the price compared to regular paint was a bit shocking, something like $19-$26 a can depending on flavor of the base color. But I thought it would be really neat to see what a chamelian painted Spyder might look like, but wouldn't want to take the chance & then maybe not like it but be stuck because its actual paint, so its a somewhat permanant solution. Here's my thought tho.

What if a person was to first Plasti-Dip which ever body panels they wanted to paint. Do you think the paint would be able to adhere to the dip, maybe needing a light sanding or something? I know this is a long shot, but would be neat to be able to try a bunch of different color schemes but always keeping your stock panels protected and intact.

[Pablito]

I'm about ready to have Teddy get started on doing his bars and foot-peg supports. Couple of questions for you about this.

Since we're going over drab grey metal castings and not nice shiny painted body panels, do you think going over them with the black Plasti-Dip without the white bottom coat would work well? I'm thinking so, cause we're not going to be trying to cover another bright color like in your application, but figured it couldn't hurt to get your take on it

The black and the white cover really well especially the black it covers up anything the white is just about as good. I have seen the other colors are a bit more translucent. Let me know how those Foot peg Guard thing turn out. I'm dying to do something with mine too but not sure how they will hold up. When you spray your stuff just do the first coat real light and only go for about 50% coverage you just want to get a nice thin coat down to serve as a base for the other following coats to adhere to then put on a good 3-4 coats after that first one and you'll be fine.

, & this is kinda off the wall and out there, but while at Ace the other day, I noticed that you can now buy that chamelian color changing paint in rattle cans just like any other paint. Tho the price compared to regular paint was a bit shocking, something like $19-$26 a can depending on flavor of the base color. But I thought it would be really neat to see what a chamelian painted Spyder might look like, but wouldn't want to take the chance & then maybe not like it but be stuck because its actual paint, so its a somewhat permanant solution. Here's my thought tho.


What if a person was to first Plasti-Dip which ever body panels they wanted to paint. Do you think the paint would be able to adhere to the dip, maybe needing a light sanding or something? I know this is a long shot, but would be neat to be able to try a bunch of different color schemes but always keeping your stock panels protected and intact.

I LOVE IT!!! Thats too funny that you brought this up cause just yesterday I was wondering the exact same thing! I was wondering how regular paint would stick say someone wanted air brush work done or something and then peel it off when they felt like a change. That Chameleon paint is crazy expensive I remember when that was the newest thing on cars and we were talking $1000/gallon of the stuff so I'm not surprised to see it that expensive in the rattle cans. I have no idea how well that stuff works in the first place or how well it or any paint would stick to the Plastidip coating since its kinda rubbery but sure would be an interesting experiment that I would love to try or see you try.

[PrairieSpyder]

I wonder if you could spray the PlastiDip thru a stencil. Like if I put some lace tight over my red frunk and then sprayed the black PlastiDip to get a lace effect. Or would the paint just end up "gluing" the lace down?

[Pablito]

I wonder if you could spray the PlastiDip thru a stencil. Like if I put some lace tight over my red frunk and then sprayed the black PlastiDip to get a lace effect. Or would the paint just end up "gluing" the lace down?

The way that I have seen stripes and other graphics done is to pull it up while it is still wet. with stripes they lay tape down then spray 2-3 coats and right after they spray the last coat the pull up the tape while it is still wet the newest coat is said to reactivate the coats that are already down and from what I've seen the tape pulls right up with a clean edge. I would imagine it wouldn't be much different for what your talking bout. The old lowrider paint trick with lace can be way cool. I would probably lay the lace down spray it and then carefully pull it right up while its still wet could even do in small section if need be i would think.

Worst case scenario is you waste $7 on a can of paint and a little time since you could always just peel it and/or buff it off with a microfiber towel if it doesn't come out to your liking.

[acinpcola]

The way that I have seen stripes and other graphics done is to pull it up while it is still wet. with stripes they lay tape down then spray 2-3 coats and right after they spray the last coat the pull up the tape while it is still wet the newest coat is said to reactivate the coats that are already down and from what I've seen the tape pulls right up with a clean edge. I would imagine it wouldn't be much different for what your talking bout. The old lowrider paint trick with lace can be way cool. I would probably lay the lace down spray it and then carefully pull it right up while its still wet could even do in small section if need be i would think.

Worst case scenario is you waste $7 on a can of paint and a little time since you could always just peel it and/or buff it off with a microfiber towel if it doesn't come out to your liking.

I used the plastidip on my trailer as you can see I had a vynal design on it when I sprayed it on. I let it sit about an hour then peeled off the vynal design and there is was my Chief Skull looked good, I think. Of course Grumpy is on the back.

[donec]

Thanks for this thread and the information provided. This is really a thread to follow and see what everyone comes up with.

[Pablito]

I cant wait to see what y'all come up with...

Doesn't get any better than a mod that is quick, easy, cheap, and you get a ton of satisfaction out it. Im from the school of you can have it Cheap, Fast, or Good but you can only pick 2 so for me this was the most exciting thing ever cause I get all 3!!! FINALLY!!!!! LOL

[Pablito]

I used the plastidip on my trailer as you can see I had a vynal design on it when I sprayed it on. I let it sit about an hour then peeled off the vynal design and there is was my Chief Skull looked good, I think. Of course Grumpy is on the back.

Thats pretty cool man!

[acinpcola]

Thats pretty cool man!

Thanks, my trailer is just an 18 cubic car top carrier on a trailer. The vynal was in white on the grey top. I was quite impressed with the way it looked when I pulled off the vynal and the designs were in grey...

[arntufun]

I'm not happy with you right now covering up a beautiful yellow Spyder........

[Pablito]

I'm not happy with you right now covering up a beautiful yellow Spyder........

Lol.... I'm sorry man but I'm not the biggest fan of yellow. However for yellow I admit it is a nice yellow and I kinda like it but I really don't care for all the pinstripes the old owner had painted on. They did an amazing job and I'm sure it wasn't cheap to have done but they are all over the thing. Just not my style however the paint is just too nice to sand and totally change forever so the god thing is I can always go back to the yellow :-)

[Chupaca]

very informative and the visuals are a great help..Thanks..!!

[Pablito]

Just about done! spyder red.jpg

[Sonrisa]

I'm reading this post and everything looks great. I have a question though about "cleaning" the . If all you need to remove the plastidip is a microfiber cloth, how do you keep the spyder clean.

[Pablito]

I'm reading this post and everything looks great. I have a question though about "cleaning" the . If all you need to remove the plastidip is a microfiber cloth, how do you keep the spyder clean.

I microfiber towel will easily remove over spray but once this stuff is on and full cured its on and no going anywhere unless you want to remove it. Here is a video of a whole Plastidip car going through a commercial car wash

[Pablito]

Here is another video addressing some of the myths of Plastidip

[Pablito]

Ok Y'all i promised pics of it when I was done and i was actually done with it and had the few pieces that I took off back on Saturday Morning but i couldn't upload pics from my phone here and have been out riding since the last panel went back on :-) I LOVE IT and I LOVE the new much more aggressive attitude my Spyder now has. You will notice that I Made the rear tail section and rear fender black that wasn't the original plan but I ran out of red and had to order another can. However I really like it black and think I'm going to leave it just like that just meaner looking to me. The best thing is if I change my mind i peel it off and paint it red... Need to rip the back wheel off and make it black and of course those foot peg mount too sounds like I have a project for this week :-)

Already thinking about my next color scheme thinking I'm going to change it up every 6 months or so hehe

spyder red finished01.jpgspyder red finished02.jpgspyder red finished03.jpg

[CyncySpyder]

We just finished our handlebars and front wheels in black plasti-dip & LOVE IT!!!

We primed & bed-linered the foot castings to make sure they'd hold up to the abuse. They both match very closely, don't think anyone could tell a difference if I didn't tell them.

[CyncySpyder]

20130407_202308-1.jpg20130407_202208-1.jpg20130407_202157.jpg20130407_164240.jpg20130407_163152.jpg

[CyncySpyder]

I've never really been an adventurous ............ oh wait....... skydiving ........... being married to my Ex ............ giving up living on the beach to live in Cincy ............. Never mind, I'm a gluton for punishment

So anyways, not leaving well enough alone, I was at the auto parts store when this can on the shelf just jumped out at me and I couldn't resist & picked up the only 3 that they had. Its the color changing paint, Galaxy Blue so its all kinds of different colors depending on the way the light hits it, tho it looks more of a dark blue/purple than anything else. It really caught my eye

So I figured I'd try it OVER the plasti-dip and see how well it worked, if it all. Directions say to apply over a black substrate, so black plasti-dip should work fine. In further research, I'm not so sure tho, as others that have tried coloring over plasti-dip have had various results. Seems, most paint that is added OVER the dip needs to have a flixible chemical added to it before being sprayed on, otherwise the dip looses is flexibility and then doesn't peel off as easily as normal.

I couldn't help myself tho, and had to give this a try. The color changing stuff goes on almost totally clear, but even after one coat, the color is very dramatic & it suggests 3 coats, with more dramatic effects with the more coats added. I did a total of 4 coats on the front rims over the 4 coats of black plasti-dip. The wheels, under the lights of the garage, looked ................................ WOW!!! Different for sure. Not so sure tho how the color scheme is going to look all together tho, with Teds Sled now being Red & Black for the most part, and now the front rims are going to be the color changing Dark Crystally Blue/Deep Purple hue with many others thrown in, but we'll see.

I DIdn't get finished & reinstalled until 8pm last night, and went to go for a quick test run & it started raining. So I have to wait til I get home from work today to take it out in the light and see what it really looks like. Should be different, that's for sure

I did a test piece on one of the passenger floor boards that was coated in the Black Bed-Liner, but wasn't sold on that look. Asked my buddy, and he agreed, no go. But then he's the one that suggested it would look good on the rims, and then to better tie it all together, I'm building a back-seat "throne" for Teddy out of FiberGlass, and he suggested painting it the same color-changing paint, to tie it all in. So, we'll see 20130407_164245.jpg 20130407_163152.jpg 20130407_175459.jpg 20130407_175448.jpg 20130407_164228.jpg

[CyncySpyder]

I cant wait to see what y'all come up with...Doesn't get any better than a mod that is quick, easy, cheap, and you get a ton of satisfaction out it. Im from the school of you can have it Cheap, Fast, or Good but you can only pick 2 so for me this as the most exciting thing ever cause I get all 3!!! FINALLY!!!!! LOL

We need a "He" made me do it Smiley

[Pablito]

So I figured I'd try it OVER the plasti-dip and see how well it worked, if it all. Directions say to apply over a black substrate, so black plasti-dip should work fine. In further research, I'm not so sure tho, as others that have tried coloring over plasti-dip have had various results. Seems, most paint that is added OVER the dip needs to have a flixible chemical added to it before being sprayed on
20130407_175448.jpg 20130407_164228.jpg

That looks pretty wild my man... I found the same things as you that yes you can spray overtop but it hardens the plastidip and doesn't peel off as easy BUT "as easy" is the term to pay attention too. I watched someone during a test try to peel it off and it didn't come off in nice big pieces but it did come off. I wonder if maybe putting a little heat to via heat gun would soften up the paint enough to make it pliable and therefore easier for the plastidip to peel off like before the following coats of paint were put on over top? The rims are cool looking thats for sure! Nice job!!!