Using a Stencil for Painting

geauxturbo · Post by **geauxturbo** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:37 pm

I had a few dads ask about our flames as to whether it was a decal or not. They liked the outcome but seemed apprehensive to use a stencil. So, I thought I'd quickly go over how we did it. It's easy and very customizable, which is cool when your scout can make his car stand out.

We couldn't find decals that had the flame pattern he liked. Luckily, I ran accross Derby Evolution's site on here and they had a bunch of cool stencils. Including the flames we used.

1 - Sand and prime according to the primer instructions.
2 - We sanded the primer with a 600 grit wet sand after that per Duplicolor's instructions. Wet sanding is very scoutable since its hard to get too crazy with 600 grit. Just lightly sand, have your scout close his eyes and feel for rough spots. Its good to have a smooth base so the stencil lays down nicely.

3 - Sprayed out base coat per the instructions.
4 - Let base coat dry for at least 24 hours (probably the hardest part)

5 - Pick your color(s) for your stencil pattern.
6 - Peel off bottom of stencil (non-see through side) see below.. clear side is on top and opaque side is on bottom in the picture. It is a farily thin vinyl like sticker so you don't get a large build up of paint along the sides like you do if you cut painters tape. And, its pretty tough. So, if you don't get it down right the first time you can peel it back up and try again. We did three times.

7 - Line up stencil and lay down (press down and get out any bubbles...I don't think we had any)
8 - Peel off clear side of stencil. Then tape off the rest of the car so you don't get paint on the car where you don't want it. We just used blue painters tape I had leftover from painting the house.
9 - Lay down your color. I laid down the thin tack coat, then let my 8 year old hit it the rest of the way.
10 - I blended in a darker red with metal flake using a sanding disk to block off the part that didnt get the darker treatment.
11 - Let dry a couple minutes then carefully peel off while still tacky. We peeled from the back of the car to the front so the decal would come off easier (just the way the flames are cut).
12 - Let dry for however long the paint says before clear coating. We added some racing decals (champion, Fram, etc) before clear coating.
13 - Lay down clear.
14 - Lightly wet sand with 2000 grit and then hand buff and polish or just leave as is.

Voila, cool custom graphics and no requirement to be awesome with a pencil and an Xacto knife. I like the idea that they can be green, purple, yellow, chrome, ghost, whatever your scout wants.

Good Luck and hope this helped someone.

Noskills · Post by **Noskills** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:53 pm

What do you use to polish?

drathbun · Post by **drathbun** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 8:14 pm

It's interesting that you remove the template (stencil) while the paint is still tacky. Is that what the instructions that come with the stencil say to do? I've always left mine on until the paint is dry, but just because I didn't know any better...

Derby Evolution · Post by **Derby Evolution** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 8:38 pm

I have found that lifting the stencil off while the paint is slightly tacky is better. I use a lot of House of Kolor paint and I let it dry, but my coats are very thin. If you spray it to heavy and your surface is not prepared correctly you could pull some of your paint up when lifting the stencil if you allow it to completely dry.

Derby Evolution · Post by **Derby Evolution** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 10:40 pm

Thank you for posting this. It is a great example of how a painting stencil from any of the vendors can dress up a car. Adding a little flare to a car by painting with a stencil can make a young mans race. It often sets their car apart from the rest of the field. Even if every child has the same stencil, they can place it in a different location or paint it another color.

My wife makes it a point to give stencils away to kids that attend events I sponsor. She believes that it will make a child more involved in the build. Often very young children are not very involved in the build of the body as it would not be safe for them to use saws or even drill presses, but they can paint. They can apply the stencil and then paint. They will feel more involved in the project.

geauxturbo · Post by **geauxturbo** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 6:54 am

We buffed by HAND with 3M Rubbing Compound and polished with Mequires Scratch X then Turlte waxed it.

And yes, like DE said, pull up while tacky. Paint is more likely to come up with the stencil if its dry. Forms a film and wants to stay together.

Noskills · Post by **Noskills** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 7:14 am

Few more questions:
Where do you buy 3M rubbing compound, Mequires Scratch X. (Turtle waz I am sure is at an automotive store).

Also with your colored paint: do you use flat or gloss? Seems that it would not matter with all the clear coat and waxing.

(We used a black rustoleum gloss and it was so shiny I skipped the clear coat-but my car did not look nearly this sharp)

Noskills

geauxturbo · Post by **geauxturbo** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:24 am

Every autoparts store will probably have it. Ifn ot 3M use turtle wax rubbing compound or another brand. You want an even haze over the whole car before polishing. Meguires Scratch X is at autoparts places as well. Turtle wax also makes a scratch removing polish.

We used gloss. Flat base will be matte looking with a gloss clear coat. Kind of like a rat hotrod.

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