Earning your stripes as a hobby kit car painter is not as hard as you might think, though it does require you to be tenacious, thorough, and tremendously talented in wielding a spray gun. Remember, the only way to improve is through practice.
Performing body and paintwork on an automobile is an enormous undertaking. If you're a kit car enthusiast who enjoys doing something you haven't tried before in the construction of your replicar, doing body and paint may be for you. Being a detail-oriented sort of builder helps, as does having the tenacity to be meticulous and not satisfied with good enough. Should you be up to the tasks at hand, this article is designed to give a step-by-step guide to adding Le Mans stripes on an already painted FFR Type 65 coupe.
Since we don't wish to throw you completely into the deep end of the painting pool (so to speak), we'll give you a little advice on the body and painting of this coupe first. You can also obtain a wealth of valuable information from your neighborhood automotive paint and supply store, should you be desire to do all the body and paintwork from start to finish.
Plastic sheeting lines the walls of the detached garage that is Marshal Custom Paintworks. Two floor fans are also deployed for keeping dust away. In the past couple years, within this very converted garage, we've laid down award-winning paint jobs on two Factory Five Racing roadsters and two FFR coupes, the second of which is the star of this stripe story.
So, see how the striping is done and decide whether you wish to render some art on your kit car yourself.
Editor's Note: The author of this how-to coupe striping story, Marshal Gilliland, had a bustling body and paint shop for 10 years before embarking on a different career. Presently, Marshal Custom Paintworks performs body and paint jobs for customers as a fun, artistic-expression fulfilling sideline, which proves that body and paint can be an engrossing, rewarding pursuit for those meticulous sorts of kit car craftsmen. By reading on, you'll get some tips from a part-time car painting pro, which could give you the courage to do some striping yourself. Stripe on!
