Frame color idea. Soliciting your input!

[Rick]

My frame is pitted and in need of some help, so I'm contemplating bringing it to a shop that does powder coating as well as plating.
Undecided on the swingarm, nor the frame spacers.
The only thing that is set is the WW subframe, which is in anodized red.

What do y'all think would be a good option on the frame color?

[ricksax]

My votes:
1. Restore the frame with 3M Red Scotchbrite, and have it clear coated.
2. Sand, sand, sand, and polish.

[6]

I've seen a lot of painted and powder coated hawk frames.. polished aluminum, matte black and gloss black and stock always seem to look best to me. Not sure why. They just seem to. Maybe because it's big blocks of aluminum with not a lot of visual design to them. ..

That said NA Rick's gold setup looked cool as fuck.. so I'm sure there are colors out there that work on them.

[Captain 80s]

If any of my aluminum frames were so bad I contemplated doing a finish, it would either be matte black / matte clear or 3M pad brushed and matte clearcoated.

Not a fan of powder coating. Mostly it's the powder coaters I don't like. Talk like experts, charge like experts. Then play dumb as shit when they didn't follow the most basic masking principles. Too many times, too many stories. Never again. I know there are good ones out there, not interested enough to experiment again.

[yorkshire]

Unless the frame is really bad, standard finish gets my vote

[Rick]

Ok.
GOod scrub down and leave as is. Thanks, all!

[rpcraft]

I'm a big fan of matte black powder coat. There is also another color called Cadillac Grey I am about to do on another Hawk before too long.

https://www.prismaticpowders.com/shop/powder-coating-colors/PMB-6377/cadillac-grey?gclid=CjwKCAjw7IeUBhBbEiwADhiEMWSt3yATV4Fyuyo8jynx_H2YWCpfPc3K0vtt2kH6Kr6eO0V-Gp8bJhoCCTwQAvD_BwE

[Fastmongrel]

If any of my aluminum frames were so bad I contemplated doing a finish, it would either be matte black / matte clear or 3M pad brushed and matte clearcoated.

Not a fan of powder coating. Mostly it's the powder coaters I don't like. Talk like experts, charge like experts. Then play dumb as shit when they didn't follow the most basic masking principles. Too many times, too many stories. Never again. I know there are good ones out there, not interested enough to experiment again.

My experiences with powder coaters mean the next time I need to refinish a frame it will be painted with aerosols. I can't possibly do a worse job than the last mouth breather did, his idea of masking was shoving a bit of newspaper into the holes before blasting. Frame sounded like a maracas.

[rpcraft]

My experiences with powder coaters mean the next time I need to refinish a frame it will be painted with aerosols. I can't possibly do a worse job than the last mouth breather did, his idea of masking was shoving a bit of newspaper into the holes before blasting. Frame sounded like a maracas.

It's a shame when guys do work like that. I don't normally powder coat other peoples stuff as a matter of principal but if I were too I would probably run into scenarios where I had to invest in a large vat of stripper and coating it twice due to missing a mask surface or something accidental. Even on my frame there in the picture there is a little spot where one of the hanger wires got too close and pulled away some powder, lol. I can fix it but it's just a shame when guys do poor prep on substrates. If it is repeat work it gets easier and obviously when you take it apart and know what goes where you have a better idea of what to mask off as well but still, I always ask if I get to a point where I am uncertain. Powder coat can be fantastic if applied correctly and the surface is prepped meticulously but it's a major pain to deal with if not, that is for sure.

[Yoke]

I got mine vapour blasted, I have to say the matt aluminium look is great and if I scratch it, it doesn’t matter.

7437872E-07DF-4CA2-AAC6-D4825B636603.png

[6]

I got mine vapour blasted, I have to say the matt aluminium look is great and if I scratch it, it doesn’t matter.

7437872E-07DF-4CA2-AAC6-D4825B636603.png

Ya, that's looks awesome!

[Rick]

That looks fantastic!
MAybe I should ask Dmitry

[rpcraft]

VApor blasting is a good finish. The only thing I am unsure of over time is how long will it take to oxidize if you don't put a finish on it. From what Dmitry explained to me is it will last a really long time though because the vapor blast media helps finish off the aluminum better than dry blasting. I'm hoping to get my cabinet finished in the near future and test blast some parts but it's not going to be a very big cabinet so will just be smaller items like engine parts and similar sized items. I'm not sure how big Dmitry's cabinet is but he has definitely turned out some great looking parts.

[Rick]

That finish looks awesome, and I'm glad to hear it will last. But, good consideration about longevity though...

[rpcraft]

Meanwhile I am tossing around the idea of this on a Hawk frame, subframe, swingarm and wheels.... Called Cadilac Grey from prismatic powders.

wheels-in-a-cadillac-grey-powder-coat-thumbnail.jpg?1543512372&size=1024&_gl=1*157n60v*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE2NTM0MDkxNDguQ2owS0NRandoTEtVQmhEaUFSSXNBTWFUTG5HdFhDeEp4Nl9NX1BlUHY3MElWMlMyTE5peXBZWUpkLUEweC0zVWpUeDN2VEFTX1JWc1NkQWFBblF5RUFMd193Y0I.*_ga*MTQ