Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Taking shape

 Painting the frame implied  reaching "some" compromises between historical accuracy and feasibility.

Mixing the original colours was quite simple, merging  them at the right spot posed some more trouble and avoiding drops was a bit of a nightmare but at last the frame started to fall back onto its original look (or what I guess it was when new).



 
The fork was another story and here some decisions were to be taken (though a bit reluctantly).
Originally the whole fork was chromed but rust had eaten through it leaving huge gaps on the surface. One option was to have it rechromed but in an attempt to save time and money I opted to give it a more stylish finish. So after lots of polishing I painted it in the front blue colour leaving crown and tips uncoated.



The right chainstay -after painful considerations- was also left in its original condition (just water sanded it as much as I dared hoping not to take away too much chrome and gave a final coat of lacquer) .




 The quill stem was in good condition but its original black paint was obviously not matching the frame colours so it got a fresh layer of blue paint (the logo was preserved)



Finally, the seat stem and the bottle cage underwent a similar process for the very same reason. In this case I opted for a slightly brighter blue to avoid a sharp contrast

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