Painting Pantographs

Sorry if this is peaz, but I did search and turned up nothing.

I have a rusty as hell OLMO frame which I intend to rattlecan. I've done a few bikes before, and get fairly good results because I'm boring and meticulous, but the frames I've done have never had pantographs. This frame has a number of OLMO pantographs on fork crowns, seat stays etc, and they are painted a different colour in what looks to be enamel. Does anyone know what sort of paint and technique I should use for painting these once the main colour is done? Presumably you do it before the lacquer, but I have no idea what paint to use, although I guess you'd do it very patiently with a brush.

Any ideas/experience?

Sam

one shot sign writing paint and an teeny weeny brush ;-) good for lugs get it on ebay.

OLMO may deserve better than rattle cans imho.

I kind of agree, but it's going to be a 2nd bike (quasi-beater) and I want something that's nice to ride, but not overly tempting to nick. I don't really want to paint it but if left to rust more it may get structural, so it's functional rather than visual really (hence the pantograph painting is more just to get some practice in...), Columbus seems to rust much more readily than Reynolds.

if you are steady with your hands, you can use a pippet (sp)

Any paint will do just make sure it's not too thick or thin.

Wipe excess away with a finger, squeegee, paper towel etc...

You need to let it dry a few minutes otherwise wiping will take paint out of the panto, so you may need to experiment with the timings.

Deeper pantos are easier to do than shallow ones.

This video will give you an idea.

YouTube - ‪DIY Coloring AR15 Lower Receiver‬‏

Is that Tipp-Ex!?

Yes.

Those little paint pen things are good for doing lug-lining - maybe you could try that?

Make sure to test that they don't react with the lacquer though.

Ray Dobbins has some advice

any Humrbol enamel, a small brush and some strong absorbent paper folded to a sharp edge moistened with white spirit to remove the excess worked for me...
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=keyalbum.KeywordAlbum&g2_keyword=shimano&g2_itemId=80438

Roughly how long should i be waiting for the paint (humbrol enamel) to dry before attempting to wipe away the excess?

I keep removing the pantograph along with the excess

Zombie thread, but I just repainted some Ciocc panto items.

I let it sit for half an hour or so to thicken in a bit.

It's reasonably easy, the tricky bits are the small edges for numbers/the numbers on stems with height indication.

Another thing to watch is that Humbrol/other paints drip to ensure you lay your panto item FLAT.

A hack solution if you don't have a small brush and white spirit, use a Bic Pen cap end and wrap kitchen towel on it to wipe away excess + use the thread head of an ordinary needle.

Put some paint on the needle head, tick it on a piece of paper to get rid of excess (as this will go over the edge of the shallow panto lines for numbers), paint it in.

If you do go over the lines, use the paper wrapped over end of Bic Pen cap to remove excess. Change paper every time you touch paint, else you end up smearing it all over.

And presto. Once paint is dry you will need white spirit though so ensure you clean up well before it's dry.

csb

dont need 'hacks' to paint things

I forgot trying to be helpful is frowned upon here by some. Should have known better it's not that I'm a forum newbie.

Intresting link regarding painting flutes, pantographes, and more

http://www.raydobbins.com/misc/paintfill_tips.htm

Haven't tried it myself though!

It works, the paint will move a little as it takes ages to dry. So make sure your paint surface is level, otherwise your fluting may have a little more paint on one side.