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diy or pro? military/rat respray


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I'm looking for some advice on respraying the fairings of an f650gs I've just bought. Partly because it's scratched up and has areas where paint is chipping off but mainly because I just don't like the colour.


I want to go for a military/rat look. Not a glossy metallic professional look but not an airfix paint look either. So probably a dark matt olive green.


It's got to be durable, I intend to ride it all year round on all sorts of terrain so this is my main concern.


Would it be wiser to just pay someone to do it or is a job of this standard done easily enough at home at a relatively cheaper cost?


If it's easy and cheap enough to do myself then any advice on preparation, paints, coats, drying times etc. would be very much appreciated.


Thanks.

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I used Kobra spray paint on my msx panels and I'm pretty happy with it. Seems durable enough, looks pretty good (not professional, but not completely rubbish either)


And I didn't need to do all that primer related nonsense. Just scruffed up the panels with a random bit of sand paper if I could be bothered then stick a couple of coats on.

Can cost £5 or something from Amazon.

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Halfords do camo green in a spray can. Four tins did my XJ.


Did the old CG in urban camo with white and black tins of Hammerite and a paint brush.


Pay someone? You can pay me a couple of hundred. :lol:

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I used Kobra spray paint on my msx panels and I'm pretty happy with it. Seems durable enough, looks pretty good (not professional, but not completely rubbish either)


And I didn't need to do all that primer related nonsense. Just scruffed up the panels with a random bit of sand paper if I could be bothered then stick a couple of coats on.

Can cost £5 or something from Amazon.

Thanks. Got any pics? I assume Kobra is just a brand name, what sort of paint is it?

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Ok I'm pretty much ready to go just need a little advice on preparation.


I've got a few patches where the paint has chipped off, should I sand the loose edges down or will all the paint need sanding off anyway? I've got one of those paint and rust remover pads from halfords or should I use my electric sander?


For the deep scratches I was going to sand them, fill them with the car bodywork filler from halfords and then sand again. Will that do it?


I'm not going to paint over the black vents or bmw logo. Will normal masking tape do? I'm worried about the paint bleeding into the edges.

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Ok I'm pretty much ready to go just need a little advice on preparation.


I've got a few patches where the paint has chipped off, should I sand the loose edges down or will all the paint need sanding off anyway? I've got one of those paint and rust remover pads from halfords or should I use my electric sander?


For the deep scratches I was going to sand them, fill them with the car bodywork filler from halfords and then sand again. Will that do it?


I'm not going to paint over the black vents or bmw logo. Will normal masking tape do? I'm worried about the paint bleeding into the edges.

It's gonna be the best painted rat bike ever!

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I've seen dozens of Rally Rep mods of the F650 (for obvious reasons), and a whole load of Enduro mods, but I don't think I've ever seen a ratted F650! Looking forward to seeing how this turns out, make sure you get some before/after pics [mention]frazer[/mention] :thumb:


Well, apart from the one I read about that suffered the dreaded water pump failure in the middle of rural Thailand, ended up with an externally mounted washing machine pump that had to be switched on before the bike was started :P That being said, there are a fair few things to check and good mods to carry out that can make owning one of these a much more comfortable experience! If you ever get the thing in bits, let me know and I'll give you the list :lol:

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I've seen dozens of Rally Rep mods of the F650 (for obvious reasons), and a whole load of Enduro mods, but I don't think I've ever seen a ratted F650! Looking forward to seeing how this turns out, make sure you get some before/after pics @frazer :thumb:


Well, apart from the one I read about that suffered the dreaded water pump failure in the middle of rural Thailand, ended up with an externally mounted washing machine pump that had to be switched on before the bike was started :P That being said, there are a fair few things to check and good mods to carry out that can make owning one of these a much more comfortable experience! If you ever get the thing in bits, let me know and I'll give you the list :lol:

Cheers. I'm not going to make any big mods just yet, it'll become rattier naturally as it ages but for now I just want to get rid of the ugly pale blue silver colour. Going with the camo green from halfords, not a camo pattern just the green and im going to get some bags to use as panniers from a local army surplus store.

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I'd go over the whole lot with course, and then fine paper in the sander.....The new paint needs a decent surface to key into, but it needs to be fairly matt, without any deep scratches that would show through the new paint finish.......and don't make the same mistake as a "professional " paint sprayer that used to be on here made.....Make sure you thoroughly degrease the surfaces before painting, or the new paint will just crinkle up.......especially around the filler hole on the tank...... :wink:

And, as RantMachine says, you're best off removing any badges, etc rather than trying to mask round them...... 8-)

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Oh yeah, the light blue ones are seriously fugly :puke:

I always thought the yellow ones had potential, though. Before the suspension in mine failed for the second time and I lost all remaining patience with it, I was going to paint the side panels dark blue and the central stripe white like Suzuki do on some of the M1800Rs, always thought that'd be pretty awesome... and a front mudguard swap, headlight mod, and various others. They sure do have a lot of potential for customisation.

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20170806_152841.jpg

I've put on about 6 light coats over the day.

It looks grey in the photo but a sage colour irl, it's nowhere near the camo green on the can.

You can't see it in the picture but the area I filled is appearing lighter through the paint.

My local halfords only had 3 small cans, I only got a good 1 or 2 coats out of each one, so I'll have to wait until they are restocked.


Have I done something wrong or should I not worry and keep spraying?

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Well it's f**ked. In place the paint just brushes off and the fillers still showing through etc. I've used 6x300ml cans! I can't see any point continuing it and I can't afford to get them sorted so for now I'm skint and my bikes practically non road worthy for the foreseeable future. Not happy at all.

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Did you rub them down and prime them first?

What paint did you use?

Too late to say now, but should have tried a small part first rather than everything at once..

Take off all the paint and vinyl wrap or plastidip all the parts :thumb:

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