Duct tape "paint"?

[Beemobile]

I was thinking about what color I wanted to paint the Beemobile (don't have her yet, still in the planning stages) and it occurred to me that an easy-ish solution could be to cover it in duct-tape. But then the problem of weather comes in to play. So I come to you all to ask, could I cover a bus with duct tape, then cover that with a few layers of polyurethane to make it weather proof? Would that work?

Thanks in advance!

- Mr. Bee

 

[ol trunt]

That would be cool 8) . You could name it "The Mummy" after the tape starts to fray

 

[sdwarf36]

You can go to any sign shop and tell them you want a wrap. They can print any color or design you wish. And if you change your mind, you can peel it off and start over.

 

[PiedTyper]

Along the lines of sign shop materials, if you're going for solid colors and cheap is your price range; Oracal 951 is pretty solid stuff.
http://www.signwarehouse.com/VOR9511510 ... 0-070.html

 

[Beemobile]

You can go to any sign shop and tell them you want a wrap. They can print any color or design you wish. And if you change your mind, you can peel it off and start over.

I thought those were really expensive. One of the main goals with this bus is to keep costs low. My girlfriend and I plan on doing all the work ourselves thats why I was thinking real duct tape and then coating it with something to hold it on better.

 

[abwetzel63]

If you try to wrap your bus in duck tape, the price will climb climb climb. Using tape is going to be a cash in front, cash during and cash after affair. If you start out with a decent quality tape, you are looking upwards of $10.00 a roll (for really good gaffer/aviation quality tape) or more. If you use el-cheapo-walmarto tape, you are going to be redoing and redoing and, well, redoing tape all day long.

Only the really costly tapes will last any decent time under stress like rain, uv, and wind (whether you are driving or storing outside, wind will get you every time.) Thus, repeated removals and reapplications will be in order.

Then there is the day you want to put a cheap $200-300 paintjob on it. You will spend for-ever and ever and ever trying to remove old tape (which becomes crusty and almost permanently bonds to whatever you don't want it bonding to. And then the removal of tape goo. (Easiest way is to soak in gasoline, light on fire, walk away and start over somewhere else).

Soo... if you need to cover your bus, go get some really cheap paint, maybe check out a paint shop for stuff that's leftover or someone didn't buy, suck it up over the color and just go to town.

Now, on the other hand, if you are just trying to cover up the lettering, duck tape works wonders, but it has the same problems over a smaller area. So end removal and cleanup after it gets baked on can be a problem, but it won't kill you like doing a whole bus.

Done duck tape on cars, and on martial arts weapons for over 28 years, so I got a lot of experience with the tape. It goes on easy (on a clean surface) but removal and cleanup are the big negatives.

So, good luck.

 

[Beemobile]

If you try to wrap your bus in duck tape, the price will climb climb climb. Using tape is going to be a cash in front, cash during and cash after affair. If you start out with a decent quality tape, you are looking upwards of $10.00 a roll (for really good gaffer/aviation quality tape) or more. If you use el-cheapo-walmarto tape, you are going to be redoing and redoing and, well, redoing tape all day long.

Only the really costly tapes will last any decent time under stress like rain, uv, and wind (whether you are driving or storing outside, wind will get you every time.) Thus, repeated removals and reapplications will be in order.

Then there is the day you want to put a cheap $200-300 paintjob on it. You will spend for-ever and ever and ever trying to remove old tape (which becomes crusty and almost permanently bonds to whatever you don't want it bonding to. And then the removal of tape goo. (Easiest way is to soak in gasoline, light on fire, walk away and start over somewhere else).

Soo... if you need to cover your bus, go get some really cheap paint, maybe check out a paint shop for stuff that's leftover or someone didn't buy, suck it up over the color and just go to town.

Now, on the other hand, if you are just trying to cover up the lettering, duck tape works wonders, but it has the same problems over a smaller area. So end removal and cleanup after it gets baked on can be a problem, but it won't kill you like doing a whole bus.

Done duck tape on cars, and on martial arts weapons for over 28 years, so I got a lot of experience with the tape. It goes on easy (on a clean surface) but removal and cleanup are the big negatives.

So, good luck.

Thank you for a highly informative and well thought out post! You sir have just changed my mind! (but that's why I asked in the first place, I figured it was a bad idea and wanted to find a way to not let me get tempted -- lol)

 

[opus-SKO]

A bus wrap is about $6-7k, well for a Prevost at least.

 

[lornaschinske]

For a cheap paint job, check out the forums at http://rolledon.forummotion.com/. They are mostly based on $50 Paint Job. These guys put way too much time in sanding between coats (although they are doing cars not 40 ft buses). We deglossed and then painted with a custom tinted exterior Semi-Gloss oil base paint from ACE.


What I learned from painting our bus:
- Foam rollers work great and leave a faint texture like an eggshell. Touch up is easy with a foam roller.
- Surface prep is everything. I will make sure I fill/sand all imperfections (or it will transfer thru the new paint job, like that damned paint run from the previous owners bad spray job that I ALWAYS see ).
- wet sanding is better than deglossing (I was doing this in 100F and up plus daily wind storms)
- Don't paint when temps are above 95F and the wind is 45mph and up (everything dries far too fast... like in the time it takes to dip the paint brush into the paint and touch the bus).
- my next paint will be Behr Marquee Exterior Latex Paint (Semi Gloss) as I refuse to use oil based again. The ACE paint has faded quite a bit since I painted it in Summer 2010.
- I will be using a (tinted) oil-based primer because I am painting a latex based paint over an oil based paint. Tinted because my colours are medium dark.
- I will not use Rustoleum Hammered paint again. The Hammered Black died (turned dull then started flaking.... too hot while painting and drying is our guess as the other side of the bus that painted in the morning and in the shade is just fine). The Hammered Copper has dulled quite a bit as well. Not a bad as uncoated copper but it is slowly dulling down.

I will be repainting the rubrails late this summer when the temps start dropping. I will be using the Behr Marquee in Semi Gloss. All Hammered Copper will be painted with QE-13 Smoldering Copper. All the Hammered Black will be repainted with QE-16 Earth Chicory. We had painted the aluminum on the front of the bus with the Hammered Copper but David has since decided he liked the brushed aluminum look better. I like the brushed aluminum look but only when newly brushed. I will most likely sand down to bare metal then prime with an aluminum primer and paint the aluminum with the Smoldering Copper and/or Earth Chicory. Eventually the bus body will be completely repainted in the Behr Marquee (eiher Embellished Blue 510D-4 or Surfer 510D-5) if the paint on the rubrails holds up to the NM weather like it claims to.

A gallon of the Marquee in Semi Gloss is $48.98. I think I will pick it up the next time they run the $5 off per gallon rebate (Labour Day?). I prefer to not paint the bus all the time and the Marquee is supposed to shed dirt easily. The bus looks so grubby from the dust, etc. I look forward to seeing how well the rubrails hold up to the NM weather. Who knows, I may end up roller painting the Jeep with Marquee (QE-40 Alpine or QE-39 Willow Leaf) if the stuff does like it says (just need to get that clear coat off of the Jeep).

 

[opus-SKO]

Lorna hit it, "preparation is everything". I didnt do any sanding but I washed the bus with TSP. Its been 3 yrs I think and a lot of it is flaking off. I knew that when I did it, no complaints. I will eventually blast it off and leave it as it turns out. School bus paint is the most durable paint there is, so there is hardly a chance of getting it off without drastic measures.

A good paint job will cost you far more than what the bus is worth.

My son has friends that do graffiti....as in "tagging a train". I might let them have a go at it with spray bombs. I could really care less what the outside looks like.

 

[Beemobile]

Lorna hit it, "preparation is everything". I didnt do any sanding but I washed the bus with TSP. Its been 3 yrs I think and a lot of it is flaking off. I knew that when I did it, no complaints. I will eventually blast it off and leave it as it turns out. School bus paint is the most durable paint there is, so there is hardly a chance of getting it off without drastic measures.

A good paint job will cost you far more than what the bus is worth.

My son has friends that do graffiti....as in "tagging a train". I might let them have a go at it with spray bombs. I could really care less what the outside looks like.

How well does spray paint stand up to the elements?

 

[Das Mel]

I spray painted my hitch-haul the brightest yellow I could find in my local Wallyworld. I can't find the can so I can't tell you what brand it was, think it was Rustoleum. I did use a cheap primer first. Done it a good year and a half ago now, haven't had any problems with chipping yet.

 

[opus-SKO]

How well does spray paint stand up to the elements?

Probably fade like everything else.

 

[bansil]

on my bus I used rustoleum and foam rollers, one good thing about rustoleum; is the box stores have the same colors in spray cans....I used those to spray the rub rails first and then rolled to the edges, worked great

The paint still looks good after a few years, the spray paint is lighter in places now (so it has faded some) the coats were not as thick also

 

[roach711]

As Lorna said, prep is everything. If you think doing it right the first time is hard, just wait until the paint starts to peel off and you have to to strip off the old paint and do the prep AGAIN before painting the whole bus AGAIN.

At my last job someone had painted over some exterior fiberglass panels without roughing up the glossy surface. The paint held up fine for a few years then started peeling off a little at a time each winter. Of course it didn't all peel off at once and what didn't peel was still stuck on pretty well so I had to touch up those panels every....effing... spring. Eight years later that bloody paint still hadn't peeled all the way off. I cursed the guy that painted those panels over and over and over.......

Don't do the duct tape thing unless you're not planning to keep the bus long.

 

[Diesel Dan]

I used white Rustoleum oil based paint in the gallon can, thinned with acetone, and sprayed on with a HVLP air sprayer. I didn't use primer. I sanded the whole bus lightly with a orbital power sander. I then cleaned it with TSP. My paint job still looks fine 3 years later. You could also go with spray cans, but it would be expensive. I think the foam rollers & brushes probably work well enough. Or you could get one of those Wagner electric sprayers.

 

[lornaschinske]

I painted the popup with thinned Rustoleum Hunter Green paint and a little Wagner sprayer. We had an influx of little green bugs that year. They matched the Hunter Green on the popup. They also had a short life span.

 

[Das Mel]

We had an influx of little green bugs that year. They matched the Hunter Green on the popup. They also had a short life span.

*Snorts*

Ow, tea up my nose!

 

[abwetzel63]

So do enough bugs trapped in paint aid in its thermal properties of insulation? Blink... blink...

 

[lornaschinske]

wmkbailey needs to do some tests! :shock: