I really want to repaint my car and lace the roof. I started to experiment on how to lace with a couple fender skirts I have and one of my wifes shirts. Here is what I have so far: This panel had no prep work, so al little paint peeled off when i took the tape off. I shot the light brown first, then I laced over it on the darker color, then I went over that with the dark edges. I am not sure if thats the right way to do it, but here is how it turned out. This next one I painted different. First I painted the base color, then I masked off the pattern and laced over that. It turned out pretty good. Still I am not sure if its the right way to do it. This last one is on the top of my drill press. I purposely put a heavy coat of paint on too see what would happen. It didnt really bleed, but there isnt as much definition on the lace. So what am I missing or doing wrong? Whats the proper way to do it to get the best results?
Its all custom.......... experiment with it ..... most of the time its done over your basecoat in a slightly darkened tone of the same color or a darker color or a pearled clear then candied over......
Back in about 1974, I painted my nephews El Camino. he wanted lace on it so I masked off the sides, and taped the lace on, and painted a White over the green base. after taking the masking off, I sprayed a clear coat over the lace. It all came out about the way you are doing it. Of Course you have to allow for the many years of my memory.
It will look nicer if you tape off the area you want laced, fade in an edge, then lay your lace down and spray.
you wanna try and get the lace tight over your panel. a coat of intercoat clear, or bull dog (laquer clear, if you are spraying laquer)can help crisp up the edged and hold the pattern. spray over the lace lightly, you can always add more coats, but if you screw it up with too much............ as said, a little expierimenting goes along way skull
I've seen some older lace that looks better (to me) with a few layers of candy shot over the panel, after the edges are blended with the lace color. It makes it less "blatant" for lack of a better word.
Im still learning as well! However, these pictures may help you out with some ideas on how people treat the edges. These are just pictures Ive saved off of various HAMB threads. These are NOT my paint jobs! I wish!
I remember a local painter having several old table cloths hanging up on a wall with lots of paint on them. He said the patterns "worked" (whatever that meant) better after they were used a couple of times and had some build up on them. Guess it blocked the paint and kept it from soaking through. Usually lacquer back then.
Did it before in college on a project. The keypoints i can pick out are coats over the lace are very light maybe 2-3, the lace needs to be tight stretch from one corner to the other get it down over the panel, similar colors work out good for a subtle look. I've always wanted to do a lace job of a slightly flattened paint over gloss. If you want to do a fade in i'd suggest doing it after the lace before you de-mask. Look at a lot of photos and you'll get the process just by looking at it. Finish it off by pinstriping the edge If you're doing a large panel like a roof having help is great. There's a write up on it in one of the mags, can't remember which one i'll have to check but check out tech write ups from them.
A buddy of mine does this stuff and it look's real good. Wish he would post some of his work on here to get some "pointers". What about it..." High Yellow " ?
look for posts done by Gambino Kustoms when they painted Kirk's '60 Ford. also, look for books by Larry Watson, and others that did lace jobs. really hot stuff in the 70's, so there should be info out on the web. I like lace stuff, and will play with it as I get closer to a paint job for my '51 Ford
Check out www.losboulevardos.com web site. Lace paint is their speciality. My method is, I tape off the panel, add a 1/4" tape pinstripe spaced 1/4" from the panel edge. (run a double row of tape, then peel off the inside one). I spray a light coat of adhesive fixative from the art store to the lace. Let it dry so the glue doesn't transfer to your panel. Tack off your panel. Stick the lace to your panel. Spray your contrast color on. Peel off the lace before the paint is dry, then spray around the edge with the contrast color for your fogged edge. Remove the 1/4" stripe and outline masking before it is dry. Let the whole panel dry completely prior to clearcoating. Use a wax & grease remover to pick up any fixative residue prior to clear. Also use your tack rag prior to clear. Build up lots of layers of clear, wetsand & buff.
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