OK Lets hear what you think of my 3 day paint project

[meteoricide]

I ordered 48 12oz cans of Rustoleum Ultra Flat Camouflage Paint from Home Depot and 2 60 foot rolls of 2.85 inch Blue Tape. Since Lucille will be principally operating in desert environments - I chose khaki, Army Green which is a light green similar to Army dress uniform shirts - I call it mint green, and dark brown as my colors. I further came to the assumption that the khaki would end up the primary color so I ordered twice as much of it - 4 cases of 6 cans or 24 khakis. 2 cases of 6 for 12 each of green and brown. The whole package was $220 delivered to my door. Home Depot sells spray paint at ~ $4.50 a can while everyone else was up in the ~$6.50 - $7.50 range. I have no idea why, but it was obvious who to buy from with very little research. Rustoleum drop shipped the stuff direct from their factory. At the start, my two lady friends wanted to know where to begin. I told them let's start painting khaki and cover as much yellow as we can (since Maryland's 45% law had to be met) since we had no idea what sort of coverage per can to expect.... to be cont

[bstewrat3]

I like it. I would never be able to convince my wife to go camouflage though. I am planning to roll mine with Rustloleum implement paint, but before committing I am going to do a test panel to see the finish.

[produster]

I think that is pretty cool. I need to paint mine too. as above doubt the camo would go over well.

Only question I have is, what kind of door are you using?

[meteoricide]

It is amazing how effective the non-reflectivity of the flat paint is at hiding vehicles - even a bus. Remember Jonesy the sonar tech in Red October describing "acting like a hole in the water"? This paint acts like a "hole in the light"

[meteoricide]

You mean the front access door? That's the standard folding glass door in aluminum frame that comes with the bus. For security I've attached d rings to the center rib of each side of the door to which I padlock a length of chain. The other doors have been rigged the same way but from the inside. I took the additional step of tack welding the d-rings and hardware on the rear doors. It's still way easy to defeat with cutters but criminals are always harder to stop. They probably won't like my ptz cloud cameras that are uploading their face to the web ... not to mention my vehicle tracking modules

[Robin97396]

I'm using camo colors but I'm making them look sorta like a motorhome paint job. Bought a gallon of Rustoleum for $26, a roller and a 2" brush.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by meteoricide

(since Maryland's 45% law had to be met)

Where did you see/hear that? I called MVA and they were about as useful as wet newspaper. I asked about "below the windows" and was told as long as "it's not recognizable as a school bus". Helpful as purple with pink poka dots still looks like a school bus.

Anywho, I did pass a state inspection.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by meteoricide

You mean the front access door? That's the standard folding glass door in aluminum frame that comes with the bus. For security I've attached d rings to the center rib of each side of the door to which I padlock a length of chain. The other doors have been rigged the same way but from the inside. I took the additional step of tack welding the d-rings and hardware on the rear doors. It's still way easy to defeat with cutters but criminals are always harder to stop. They probably won't like my ptz cloud cameras that are uploading their face to the web ... not to mention my vehicle tracking modules

A shotgun and piano wire works too. Semi-auto works best.

[Robin97396]

Your shotgun security system is going to cost you a lot of windows unless you're talking about very close range. I've thought of tazers, but they cost a fair amount. Now cattle prods have some knock down power, they're not that expensive and people don't immediately recognize them as a threat.

In the past on older buses I put 3/8ths eye bolts through both sides of the entry door secured with a chain and padlock. Lots of people use a latch and hasp until they realize they can be locked in by children using anything to hold the latch on the hasp closed.

I'm wanting to put keyed deadbolts on the rear and lift doors. Luckily this bus's front door already has a key lock using the ignition key. These things are hard to secure.

[ColoradoCummins]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

I'm wanting to put keyed deadbolts on the rear and lift doors. Luckily this bus's front door already has a key lock using the ignition key. These things are hard to secure.

Tell me about it! I left mine unattended overnight in a WM parking lot, and some **shole kicked in one of the glass panels in the door and squeezed through. They took an axe to my chuck box, but didn't really hurt it. Thankfully the glass was fine, and so was the seal. Popped it back in, and all was good. I guess if you ever do get locked out, and have the original skoolie door, there's one way to avoid a locksmith!

[joeblack5]

Love that movie,

especially the " if I am not kissing babies then I am stealing their lolipops. Never heard a more thruthful line.

Nice camo job.

Later J

[meteoricide]

Added some detail from another favorite movie, the Punisher.

The bus' name is Lucille, for Walking Dead Negan's notorious bat - which he uses to punish people. We are huge fans of the show so we're talking about taking her down to Georgia to try and get her on the show. I dunno .. its something to keep busy with lol.


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[Robin97396]

You guys put that together fast. Now who has got a sore index finger from all those cans?

[CaptSquid]

OK, color me confused. "Maryland's 45% law"?

Splain, please.

[Robin97396]

I think that's about covering the school bus yellow. Some states require a percentage of it to be covered.

[meteoricide]

Ok I was looking around DMV.org - its a clearinghouse website for DMV info from all over. I was looking for school bus related rules and regs. When you get a search hit on that site it usually brings up specific caselaw links to the statutes supporting the rule you're looking at ... thats how I stumbled into the 45% rule.

And yes that's the specific percentage of school bus yellow that must become something else...

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[Robin97396]

It's not uncommon for certain states to require 50% coverage of the yellow. I think there's a state or two that don't let you be yellow at all unless you're actually a school bus actively hauling kids.

I've got to wonder how how your state came up with 45%? It seems kind of random.

Then there's states like mine that don't seem to care if your bus is yellow as long as it doesn't have working flashers, stop sign or school bus lettering. Here I think they know we want to paint out buses with soft pastel colors. Frequently minty green.

[CaptSquid]

Considering that I don't intend to move Brunhilde about frequently, I guess I'm still safe if I don't travel in Maryland. Besides, I see a LOT of buses in Montana that are still SBY.

[meteoricide]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

It's not uncommon for certain states to require 50% coverage of the yellow. I think there's a state or two that don't let you be yellow at all unless you're actually a school bus actively hauling kids.

I've got to wonder how how your state came up with 45%? It seems kind of random.

Then there's states like mine that don't seem to care if your bus is yellow as long as it doesn't have working flashers, stop sign or school bus lettering. Here I think they know we want to paint out buses with soft pastel colors. Frequently minty green.

The flasher, sign and lettering work was done by the school district as a prerequisite to sale. Flashers were electrically disabled and blacked out by paint as well.

Lol I know, I know the minty green is not that great but it's the primary color of desert foliage. Forest green is conspicuously absent.


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[milkmania]

I recently had to paint six 4x8 steel panels that were previously "store display panels", for a project.....

I've now vowed that I will never paint anything (other than small projects) with spray cans. Because I used a Wagner Power painter that we had down at the shop!
Once I thinned my Barn Red Semi-Gloss Exterior Oil Enamel w/ mineral spirits) to the consistency I wanted, it was flawless to spray and very controllable. Picked the paint from our local Farm Supply...

I'd used Wagner's Power Painter in the past.... way before the internet... and had very substandard results! So, I never tried one again.
After watching a few youtube videos, and thinning my paint... I am sold!

I'll soon be cleaning my boat trailer and finding Banner Red or a Ford Red to shoot it with... I'm that please with the results!

Plus, painting one side of all 6 panels only used 1/3 of a gallon!

this is the painter I used
Wagner Double Duty HVLP Sprayer, Model# 0518050 | Paint Spray Guns| Northern Tool + Equipment

I used Van Sickle's paint Van Sickle Paint - Welcome to our website

and they even have a camo line
Camo Paint | Van Sickle Paint