Two tone painting help.

[loman4ec]

I am going to attempt to paint my VF 56 two tone red and white. I have never tried this before. Is there any advice anyone can give me? How should I tape it off? I know I should paint the white first but should I paint the whole machine white first? Thanks in advance.

[firemun]

Josh,
There are 2 ways I go about it:

1.   Paint the area that is going to be white and gradually taper the paint off in a light fog several inches past where the “stop” line will be for the color change.  Then when you paint the second color (red, I assume) you tape off the white and wet sand up to the tape line.

2.    If you know exactly where the line is going to be, you can just tape it off, paint and sand the line down after you done.  This method is much better if you are using a stripe decal or similar to break the line…otherwise the first method would be the I would use.

jeff

[BryanH]

I used Jeff's option #2 with single stage paint.  With base + clearcoat it would be way easier.  Make sure you use auto grade tape.  It'll minimize runs and won't harm new paint.

[loman4ec]

I have heard that there is striping tape that is vinyl. Has anyone ever used anything like this? I like #2 as well. I know right where I want it to be but wouldnt it be easier to paint the whole machine white and then tape it off and paint the red? The white would lay a nice base layer for the red wouldn't it? I have plenty of paint and this Sherwin Williams paint is cheep enough that I am not too worried about using a bunch. What do you think?

[firemun]

Josh,
Easier is relative I suppose.  The more "wrong color" paint you have to paint over...the more you have to wet sand.  I go for easy meaning less manual labor.

If you were quick enough you might catch the first coat while it is still tacky enough not to need sanding.

jeff

[Eric]

Yeah there's a 3M tape that will leave a pretty crisp line (seen it on OVERHAULED cool show)
Check a NAPA store...

[firemun]

I think the 3m version is called "fine line".

jeff

[loman4ec]

I will Think I will follow Jeff's advice and just paint white where it needs to be. I am going to finish the body work tomorrow and spray real primer (what is on there is just spray bomb) and I should have it painted by early next week.

[sodaworks]

I would stay away from using spray paint primer on the whole machine. You may run into some problems with paint adhesion. Get yourself some poly primer, it goes on thick and blocks out nicely. I would also spray a primer sealer prior to top coat. '>

[loman4ec]

No the spray paint was just a guide coat and is really thin. It will be completely sanded off. I also just painted the flat surfaces so it is easy to sand. I like to do this to help ensure I have gotten everything while doing the body work. It is easier to see dints and scratches when the machine is all one color instead of several from old paint and body filler. I use spray paint since it is alot cheeper and is able to cover in light coats so it is easy to sand off.

[zadd]

Here's what I did to my vendo 126. I painted and cleared the whole machine red , Then I sanded the whole machine with 800 grit dry on a DA , used blue fine line tape to mark off the area I wanted white , masked up the red area (covered up) ,then had some cheap vinyl decals made to cover the red area I  wanted to stay red where it says have a coke. Painted the white and then peeled the decals off to revile the red and unmasked the whole thing ,and then cleared the whole machine again. Looks AWESOME!

[loman4ec]

I painted the white today. It looks great. Tomorrow I am going to tape it off and shoot the red. I went and bought the tape a few days ago. It is blue vinyl tape used for painting flames and pin stripes. I hope it all works out. Here is a pic of the white.

[dr galaga]

When you paint your machines, do you paint the entire inside?

[loman4ec]

I use automotive undercoating on the insides. It comes in a spray can and works great. It also helps to insulate and really protects the metal. I attached a pic. This is what it looked like after the first coat. It took two cans and two coats to cover well. I am sorry but I dont have a pic of after both coates.

[Jim]

Josh,

Looks good!
I would like to point out that the door looks as if it has sagged with age OR is this just an illusion because the liner will pull things back into alignment once everything is put back together...

Keep your lines straight! '>

[zadd]

Yea. I seam seal the inside cabinet,And  outside seams and then paint the complete machine inside and out.The outside seams I use a battery powered seam seal gun to get a flat constant look. Like the factor does on automobiles.

[loman4ec]

It must just be an illusion. It does have a little sag but it is less than most machines. I would say it sags less than 1/8 inch. I think it just looks that way due to the angle and the way the door is open.

[collecture]

Jim,
Josh - correct me if I am wrong, but don't the 56's have a door support bracket on the bottom which is sort of like a ramp and helps bring the door up into alignment when it is closed.

[loman4ec]

The square tops do but I am not sure on the round tops. This one does not but I bet it is do to this one is a really early square top. The door sag it does have is really minor. Here is a before pic. You can see that the door sag is hardly visable.

[collecture]

None of the round tops I have ever owned had one. I am pretty sure it was a modification that Vendo came up with after the sag problem surfaced many years later.

[loman4ec]

Well the painting is done!! The machine looks great. I did mess up one tape line but it will be covered up by chrome. You can see just to the right of the bottle door opening the line slopes down a little. I cant believe I didn't see that. Oh well. I painte dthe red and clear coated today and it really looks nice. It does need buffed so I will do that in a few days. One piece of bad news. I had finished painting and everything was dry enough to handle so I wanted to move the coin door so I dould work in that area. Well It was hanging by a coat hanger and the coat hanger decided to give out as I was picking it up and the coin door did a face plant into the concrete floor. So I guess I will be mixing up some more red paint tomorrow. Oh well. Other than that I am really happy with how this turned out. This is my first machine to do all of the painting myself. not too bad.

[Creighton]

Looks good Josh!! Sorry about the butter side down face plant.
Question: How does it work when painting assembled hinges. What tip is there to keep the paint from flaking when the door is opened?
Thanks!
Creighton

[Pat Pixley]

Josh looks good, Is this the RC  cola machine that you had.
 and is it going to be the RC machine when your done.
 Pat.   '>

[coke_and_stuff]

Looks nice, looks real nice keep us posted.

Joey

[loman4ec]

This was the Rc machine. It is going to be Coke. I was going to do it as an Rc machine to keep for myself but then I snagged the VMC88 from Joey and changed my mind on keeping it. I need to recover the $$ spent on the 88 so I am going to put this one on ebay when it is done. I am hoping to make enough on this machine to restore the 88 and the C55 I am working on.

[Pat Pixley]

Sound good to me Josh, Still looks great would like
 to see it when it's done, also the 88 when thats done.
 Pat