Originally Posted by BigDogRacing

Hey guys, just wanted to let everyone know I've started painting bodies again. Got burned out for a long time, but I'm working on making the process more efficient so hopefully I won't get burned out again soon.

I use mostly vinyl masking cut from a $2500 Mimaki 24" plotter.
Pros- little or no score lines in the body which means bodies last longer, more value for customer.
- Symmetrical paint schemes. Paint lines always dead on.
Cons- I draw all my own vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator. Sometimes I spend 4-6 hours drawing one paint scheme.
- Vinyl masking actually takes LONGER than hand cutting. Trust me. I know.
- adds quite a bit of cost to the materials per body. I've found a muuuuuch better masking material lately. I get very few bleeds, but it's expensive. 15" X 10 yard roll cost me like $30. I was able to create enough masks for approx. 10 bodies with it. Add in the cost of hi perf. transfer paper, etc and you get the picture.....

I use mostly acrylic paints for obvious reasons. I back nitro bodies with Pactra white or silver. I back Steve and Donnie's bodies with Line-X truck bed liner so they'll last more than one heat.....

I'll soon be converting over to a new line of paint. No I won't tell you what it is, but it's awesome. The benefits are mostly on my side, but I know for a fact that it adheres better than regular Faskolor and Createx. I was given a bottle of white along with the special reducer that goes with it about 2 years ago when they were testing the new paints. I immediately fell in love with it!

Here are a few examples lately or in the past couple years....

Originally Posted by jeff whiting

You be seeing quite a bit of that first scheme this summer