painting a headbadge

[41DX]

is there a good post here on the best way to repaint a headbadge. I have tried rattlecan (it may have been too cold) and a brush. not happy with my results yet, I keep wiping the slate clean with a little MEK to start over. Tried the search function but coming up empty.
Thanks,
T

 

[Anonymous]

I dont ever recall somebody posting about painting one on here,but somebody HAD to repaint one Im sure.

The badge for my '50 Schwinn built BF Goodrich DX looks like its brass,so rather than repaint it I just polished it and called it good.

 

[Slick Rick]

This is one of those applications where a pre-cut vinyl mask would ROCK!!! I can not for the life of me understand why someone has not done it! If I knew more about the process I would be all over it like white on rice! Think about it, your on E-pay and you see an auction for a Schwinn Headbadge mask "Buy it now only $6.00 + shipping" How fast would you pull that trigger!!! :wink: BTW it can be done(manually) I have done it before.Paint your raised letters first by hand with a fine brush.Let it dry well,mask the entire head badge surface with a low tack masking tape.Fit your exacto knife with a new blade, set the badge on a towel on your kitchen table and cut out the letters and outside frame like your operating! Cause pretty much you are.Once you have it "cut out" change your blade and start the "removal" process.I emphasize blade change out because no matter how well you thought you cut it out, you WILL find an area you missed. A sharp blade tip will be needed to delicatley re-cut your OOPS! And the first blade tip would have been dulled by the initial cut out. A tedious process to be sure, but it has worked for me. 8) Later & PEACE!!!!

 

[hutch73]

i am interested in find a good way as well. i tried to redo a schwinn badge. spray painted it white and tried to brush the raised parts with black. i used a tiny brush and it still looked like crap.

 

[dos cruiser]

You might want to put something like blue tac on the back of the headbadge first so it's easier to hold.
Paint your whole headbadge the background color first, then put just a small amount of paint on a plastic lid or something and spread it thin. Roll your badge through the paint to just cover the raised part with paint.

 

[johnny nightwolf]

A trick I picked up for doing finned car parts is to spray the whole deal with the color that you want the raised part. When that's dry, hit it with the background color. While that's tacky, wipe the raised parts down with a lint free rag with a little (LITTLE!!!) paint thinner on it, and they will show the original color. Works really well, and you don't have to mess around with a brush at all!

 

[The Heron]

I would try using some rubber cement (and respective thinner) as a mask applied with a fine brush. The cement easily rubs of when dry. I've done this with one or 2 art projects and can imagine working with a headbadge.

 

[Anonymous]

There is a liquid mask available at craft stores or hobby shops.

But I think if you're having trouble painting the letters...you'll have trouble painting the mask.

 

[Anonymous]

silk screen ink
covers nice and holds up in all weather/wind speeds well above 200+ MPH
wipes off easy when wet. comes in many colors.
only set back is it takes about 24 hours to dry.. my 2 cents



what does the badge look like?

 

[41DX]

The day I got it it looked like this:

And this is what I am looking to achieve:

I have cleaned mine up with some MEK and a little bit of elbow grease. Looks good now, just needs the Red, White, and Blue.

 

[B607]

I painted this one a while back with enamel. It's the 3rd or 4th one I've done and the first one that came out "acceptable". I used a new method this time. It's been on a bike for a while and it's already banged up a bit. If you like it, I'll take some pics of how I did it. I have another badge exactly the same and can do a step by step on it if you want. B607

 

[Anonymous]

WOW B',That looks nice!

I would be interested to see how its done.

 

[skoda]

A trick I picked up for doing finned car parts is to spray the whole deal with the color that you want the raised part. When that's dry, hit it with the background color. While that's tacky, wipe the raised parts down with a lint free rag with a little (LITTLE!!!) paint thinner on it, and they will show the original color. Works really well, and you don't have to mess around with a brush at all!

I have done this with some car emblems and hub cap centers on Volvos and it works pretty well. I use a q-tip and some lacquer thinner.

One method that works if you just need a single color on the lower parts is to spray everything, let it dry and go back with one of those wet sanding sponges but dry. A sanding block would work too, but the sponge makes it nice and feathered. Just go slow and light.