Pinstriping Tips

 Jim Hingst shares pinstriping tips learned from master pinstripers, such as Steve Kafka (shown below)...

By Jim Hingst @hingst_jim

1. Before pinstriping, you must prep the surface. To remove any water soluble contaminants, you must thoroughly wash the substrate with detergent and water.  Then to remove wax, grease, tar or other oil soluble contamination, prep the surface with a grease and wax remover.  After saturating the surface with the remover and waiting a few minutes, use clean, lint-free toweling to dry the surface. The toweling will mop up the solvent and any contaminants on the surface.  Since some solvents can leave any oily residue, complete your surface preparation by wiping the surface again with denatured alcohol or isopropyl alcohol. As an safer alternative to wax and grease remover, some pinstripers have switched to using RapidPrep. 

NOTE: Prepping a surface for pinstriping is similar to prepping a surface prior to applying vinyl graphics. Read my story on 3 Step Prep for Vehicle Graphics. 

2. Over time the various components, of which paint is comprised, begin separate into layers. To ensure that these ingredients are proportionately mixed before use, be sure to stir the can well.

3. Many pinstripers use wax-free Dixie cups as containers for their paint. Use the wax-free type to prevent  contamination of you paint. As you are transferring paint from the can to the Dixie cup, filter it using a Kafka paint filter (shown below) to strain out any dried chucks and congealing globs of paint.  It is always easier to strain these globs of paint, than to try to remove them from your artwork. Many of the old timers will keep their paint in small plastic bottles, and store these bottles upside down with the idea that the skin that forms on the top of the paint will now be at the bottle. To play it safe you still need to strain the paint. 

4. Steve Kafka feels that using lacquer thinner rather than mineral spirits cleans the brush better. If you oil your brush, as most people do, the lacquer thinner will wash away all of the oil. Failure to completely clean out the oil will contaminate and consequently weaken the paint, because it doesn’t allow the paint to completely cure. In setting up for work, fill a large can with lacquer thinner (such as a 15oz. size) and a small can, such a the short cans that tuna comes in, with mineral spirits.  Use the large can of lacquer thinner to wash your brushes. Then rinse the brush in mineral spirits.  For thinning paint, keep an additional can handy for the reducer recommended by the paint manufacturer.  For more information about solvents read my article: Essential Solvents for Sign Painters.

5. To achieve the desired consistency, you need to thin the paint. Each color of paint, however, has its own flow characteristics. Some colors just flow better than others. White for example, does not flow out as readily as other colors.  To improve the flow characteristics of white paint, Steve Kafka recommends adding a few drops of silver. “Nothing flows better than  silver,” he says. To improve the flow of the paint, pinstripers will also mix in various additives. Some painters will mix in a couple of drops of Penetrol Paint Conditioner. Painters also will add a couple drops of Marson® Smoothie® into their paint cup to eliminate fisheyes and enhance the paint gloss. 

6. In paletting or charging your brush with paint, dip your brush in the Dixie cup with paint and brush back and forth onto a palette.The key in palleting your brush is to thin the paint so that there is no drag on the brush hairs. According to Steve Kafka, the best way to learn what is and is not the proper consistency of the paint when palleting your brush is to work with an experienced pinstriper.  Nothing beats having a tutor, who can correct you when you are making a mistake, and encourage you when you are making progress. “Once you get the right feel of the paint,” says Kafka, “you’ll know what to look for.” Pinstripers use a variety of materials as a palette.  Most will use the glossy pages of old magazines as a palette.  Some people will use plastic lids from food containers, such as a tub of margarine.  

7. The viscosity of the paint is critical to how it flows out as you are pinstriping. To thin your paint to the desired consistency, dip your brush into the cup of reducer and palette the brush back and forth, until the drag on the brush is just right. The paletting process also helps load the brush with paint.  Periodically, squiggle the brush into the mixture, so the paint thoroughly coats all of the hairs of the brush. After each stroke in striping, you should re-palette your brush.

8. In cleaning your brushes, squeeze out as much residual paint as you can in a rag or paper towel. In doing this, do not pull on the hair of the brush or you could pull them out. Using  two cups of reducer or mineral spirits wash and rinse any residual paint. For more information, read Caring for your Brushes.

9. After thoroughly cleaning your brushes in mineral spirits, dip the brushes in brush oil to prevent any remaining paint from hardening.

10. Opinions vary regarding whether or not you should clear coat after pinstriping. In many cases, clear coat is unnecessary. Pinstriping is often done after the base paint has been clear coated. Any mistakes that you might make easily wipe away. Pinstriping directly on the base paint is not advised and mistakes are not easily corrected.

Pinstriping is usually performed after clear coating.

Usually 1 Shot lettering enamels will often last for many years. Clear coating, however, can provide added protection from abrasion, UV light and gasoline spillage. The issue with respect to clear coating involves problems relating to incompatibility between the paint and urethane clears. Incompatibility can result in the paint wrinkling.  

To avoid problems, if your customer wants the striping clear coated, you should use paints compatible with urethane clears, such as House of Kolor (HOK). Or, if you are using 1 Shot paints, you will need to add 5% to 10% of their #4700 hardener to the paint. After you have pinstriped the job, wait 24 hours before clear coating. Spray on two light coats of a catalyzed automotive clear. Allow sufficient time for drying between each coat according to the manufacturer’s instructions. After the two initial coats are thoroughly dry, you can spray additional coats.   

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About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer.  Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for  publications, such as  Signs Canada, SignCraft,  Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and  Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 325 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.  Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon. 

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© 2016 Jim Hingst