We also used to use a sprayed-on friskit material, way back when I was in the exhibit and display industry, and was doing model work. Sprayed on, dried to a thin semi-flexible plastic-ish film, then trimmed with a #11 Xacto blade to the desired pattern or line. We used to get some pretty nice fine-line detail with intricate patterns. I've always wondered if this is used in bicycle frame detail painting, but some how never got around to talking about it with the painters I know. Is this a common practice, and if not, why? Compared to the material in the Schwinn pix, the sprayed-on friskit would seem to give a much cleaner line when cut, especially on a lug edge or even more so on a continuous surface like a frame tube where there is a curve, arc or pattern is used with color separation. It's also easier on curves and patterns than conventional masking (tape).
Maybe I should be asking this on the framebuilder list.
Wayne Bingham Lovettsville Virginia USA
On Sun, Sep 28, 2008 at 1:23 PM, Dale Brown <oroboyz@aol.com> wrote:
>
> << Presumably the worker is masking the lugs prior to painting, but not using tape, which would be very finicky with such intricate lugs. Can someone tell me exactly what this white stuff is and how this technique is done? >>
>
> I believe this is called "Frisket compound"...painted on, then peeled off. This can be done with a lot of materials including rubber cement or latex (looks similar to what they are using...?)
> In the Navy in the VietNam era, we used Vaseline to mask things prior to painting then just wipe off.
>
> Just my unsolicited opinion, but these "Schwinns" are about as ugly a design (not execution mind you...) as I could imagine.
> Dale Brown