snakeskin gas tank

[visionbobber]

Got a tank that had already been sealed but it had some gnarly dents in it.
After a bunch of work and then saying F#$K it about making it perfect...
Here is what I was left with.





Where it crimps at the bottom of the tank, I curved it out and I think it looks kinda gnarly!

[QBS]

What a facinating process.  It looks pretty perfect to me.  I can only imagine what it would look like in gloss black.

[visionbobber]

Thanks!  I actually did the gas cap in gloss black and I am not impressed, but it's black over red and not black over black which may be my meal ticket.  I might have to do the cap the same as the tank but I wanted to do a different color like white or black...

[fret not]

Holy wow!  How did you do that?????  ???:o :D ;)

[Kiwi]

It looks amazing... how the heck do i do that?
I have a ball python, and i'd love to do his skin pattern with that texture !

[vadasz1]

He explained it on the face book group page: xz550

[visionbobber]

Kiwi,
lots of bondo--my tank isn't crimped at the bottom anymore--it has smooth curves...
then 4 coats of sandable primer...sanded that down...then 4 coats of red or more....wet sanded that down with 600...
cleaned that real nice and took the petcock and gas cap off....threw on a fishnet stocking from target...size 2xl (190-250 pound woman)
took my time stretching it over...tightened it at the front with twist ties...same with the bottom....
I have a big log in the back yard I paint on...so I put a brick on it...put the tank on a brick and threw 4 more coats of red over the fishnets....
try to spray everything straight at the fishnets--no angles!  then I had it dry for 12-20 hours...not sure how long it was...
after it was dry I took my time peeling the fishnet off and spent some time saying, "damn that looks cooler than I thought it would!"
was too scared to wet sand it because I used spray paint and not automotive paint--so I threw over 4 coats of clear and called it a day.
Still have to buff it and maybe wet sand the clear with 1500--but I am pretty impressed with the rattle can job I did.

[fret not]

Well, it looks pretty good, so I think you have made a monster. ;)

[Lucky]

I wonder if you had sprayed a different color over the fishnets, say black, if when you took the fishnets off you would have had a black tank with a red pattern....

or a couple of different paint colors under the fishnets: blue to orange to red..a-la-flames...

That I might try on a spare beat up  tank i have!!!

fishnets for the wifes tank? lol   ;D

[visionbobber]

I did black over red for the gas cap...but every snakeskin paintjob I've seen has a different base color than the scale color and I wanted to do something different.  basically you could do anything!  if I could have done anything different--I would have used a thicker fishnet stocking. 

[Lucky]

excellent info!

[VFan]

... I used spray paint and not automotive paint... but I am pretty impressed with the rattle can job I did.

Well, I'm more than impressed what you were able to accomplish with paint cans.

Thanks for sharing!

VFan

[visionbobber]

... I used spray paint and not automotive paint... but I am pretty impressed with the rattle can job I did.

Well, I'm more than impressed what you were able to accomplish with paint cans.

Thanks for sharing!

VFan

Thank you!  Spray paint is pretty forgiving stuff if you use it correctly.  Know how the can / cap sprays and also, have the correct pace for laying the paint.  Some cans spray faster / slower, etc...and some caps will spray like crazy...if they do that--I usually switch out the cap.  I also shake for around 2 minutes and always flip the can and spray out only air in between coats.  Do thin coats and let the 1st coat dry completely.  In between the rest--don't let dry completely but also don't spray onto wet paint or it does some funny stuff like crack and run and I'd rather not spend all day sanding out mistakes...

I get spray paint for free so it's just practical for me to use.  But I am getting the frame Line-X'd by a family friend.  Probably the swingarm too...

[Lucky]

Where it crimps at the bottom of the tank, I curved it out and I think it looks kinda gnarly!

Looks like it just ate...a Ninja!!   ;D ;D

[Rick G]

A first I thought it had a really bad case of orange peel in the paint. Its certainly interesting. I hope the spray can paint holds up!

[calipanda]

Wow can you do that to my fuel tank?!??

[Lucky]

I wouldn't do that to an 83 tank....