Project Boss 340's Gold & Silver Graphics - Graphic Detail

Before painting graphics, Mike and Rob Pitts mask off the upper area with paper, and use Prep-Well wax and grease remover to clean the 'Stang's bumper cover, lower doors, and other areas to be painted. Cleaning is important, as it ensures there won't be any debris or possible paint contaminants on the body surfaces before Rob starts spraying.

Super White is the first color to be sprayed, around the lower portion of Boss 340.

BASF waterborne paint and materials were selected for the project. The R-M Onyx HD Series is BASF's replacement for its R-M Diamont line of solvent-based finishes, which now are banned for use in California (for environmental reasons). In addition to the 2.0 Clear, Ultra-Low VOC reducer, Rapid HS hardener, and Low-VOC fast hardener, Rob will apply R-M Onyx HD Series Mars Gold Metallic, Viper Red, and Super White over the 'Stang's black basecoat. One of the qualities we like about this paint is its short cycle time.

The R-M Onyx HD can be shot in roughly 3 minutes, and only needs about 9 minutes to flash and 12 minutes (total) of process time.

Mars Gold Metallic is next. Since this color also is only being applied to the lower area of the body (below the door line), masking paper is used to protect the areas which are remaining black.

Here is Boss 340 with its base coat, white lower graphic, and gold graphic that runs through the Mustang's center area from front to rear. Masking and spraying in the stripes is next.

A huge spool of MACmask 28.180 (transparent/see-through material that is used for creating automotive paint masks) is loaded into Raceskinz's Allen i1060 Data Graph digital graphics cutter, and templates for Boss 340's bottom graphics are beamed out. Once the mask is cut, Mike and his staff must "weed" (remove everything that isn't needed) the mask before it can be applied on Boss 340.

Mike applies the graphics mask on Boss 340's driver-side door. The computer-cut mask actually is like a giant sticker with a light-tack adhesive that doesn't pull paint from the car. The mask covers the areas we want to keep and leaves unwanted sections exposed. Each color in the graphics scheme must be masked separately. When it's all said and done, our car will have had five different masks on its body panels.

Note that doing research is important when you embark on a custom paint or graphics concept for your 'Stang. Make sure you get the right company to do your graphics, be they paint or vinyl, and budget a significant amount of time for them to do the job right. "A lot of people want this type of work (setting up the graphics files, prepping, painting, and so on) done in 5 minutes and don't realize how time consuming it really is," says Mike. "Despite the large amount of time that goes into a job like the work we've done on Boss 340, the process actually becomes fun when we start applying graphics, as the stripes and logos, and more are the things that actually shape the personality of the car."

Fine detail, sharp cuts, and curves are done with masks, as are perfectly straight lines, which comprise a good portion of Boss 340's graphics package.

While there's more sanding to do-color sanding, to achieve smoothness (ensures that the paint job is completely flat and clean when you run your hand across the color transitions) and "pop" (brilliance from all of the colors)-here is Boss 340. Mike, Cochise, Rob, and the entire Raceskinz team did a great job developing our project Mustang's colorful exterior appearance. Remember, a Racecraft strutless wing and Weld's black-centered WeldStar RT wheels also will be added and play heavily in this visual. Now we will focus on the 'Stang's interior, with more of Raceskinz's custom and carbon-fiber touches to come.