[grumbern]

Well, the rectifier is done.
Here it is after glass blasting:




With primer:




And painted (below the genuine part for comparison):






Also I got a small paint sample with stripes (only stickers for now), to get an idea of how it will look. just another three weeks...



So long,
Andreas

[grumbern]

Here comes another small (big?!) update: The parts are painted! Next week three layers of clear coat will finish the job and the tank will go to Mr. Pala.

First some older pictures, that I seem to have forgotten to post, showing the parts after filling, sanding and base coate:










And now (a little small) the really exciting part:

Gold paint, followed by three layers of ruby red candy laquer:










The excitement grows!
So long,
Andreas

[heloego]

That is turning into a BEEEEAUTIFUL color! I definitely understand your excitement!
Not being much of a painter myself, I ask what is the purpose of the gold paint. Will that be the base for a metallic effect?
Also, what primer did you use?

[grumbern]

Hi,
first of all: I am not painting this myself! I took all the parts to a man who is known as maybe THE expert for candy paints here in Germany. He is a specialist for Japanese Candy paints of the 60s and 70s, but also BMW with their sunburst and pearl effekt and so on. He's been working for more than 40 years in his profession and is retired, so he does this only for selected customers to fight the boredom, as he claims

But your assumptions are right. Being a candy paint, the metallic effect comes from the base colour, in this case gold. On top come several layers of a translucent laquer to create the actual colour desired, depending on the number and thickness of the layers. As you can see, it's getting darker with every layer added. This gives the paint much more depth and shine, than just  metallic paint, but is harder to do and takes longer.
Most Japanese bikes used a silver base paint and also the blue tones on REs do, so the gold base really is something special.

The primer should be an epoxy type and is also infrared treated to give a better result (better "drying").

The whole paintjob will have taken four months, when it's finished, so waiting is really hard to take
So long,
Andreas

[heloego]

The end result looks to be amazing. 
You better post some more pics as the process continues! 

[mattsz]

Yes please! (I'm all out of popcorn, but you get the idea...)

[Adrian II]

The whole paintjob will have taken four months, when it's finished, so waiting is really hard to take

With the huge amount of work that has already gone into this restoration I cannot imagine that you would be prepared to cut any corners now. We are looking forward to seeing a stunning result almost as much as you are. 

A.

[grumbern]

Thanks, I'll keep you informed

[grumbern]

Saturday's pick up day!

[grumbern]

Unfortunately, due to health issues, I can't collect the parts on Saturday. So yet more waiting...

But I have another picture:

[mattsz]

Sure looks pretty!!

[heloego]

What can I say?
How about WOW!

[grumbern]

Ok, right now my own health keeps me from working on the Chief...
But I still owe you some pictures.

First I got some laser cut electrical connectors and made a small tool for bending them:











Cleaned everything up...




...and turned the living room into a meth lab




The result did not keep me waiting, but the surface turned out a little dull. Perhaps the concentration was too high:




And for the ones who are not into old school electrics that much:




And the very nice, ahnd drawn detail:




Hopefully there's someprogress soon .
So long,
Andreas

[heloego]

Looks like some amazing progress already!
That tank is gorgeous!!!!!!

[Adrian II]

Done right, the tank is the crowning glory of a restoration. The looks to be done very right...

Note the different lining-out pattern of the Redditch RE and the Redditch Indian tanks, suggesting that the Indian models weren't intended to have the stick-on knee pads that were fitted to some REs.

And for the ones who are not into old school electrics that much:

Your attention to detail is probably doing our heads in! 

A.