One of the first stages in airbrushing is determining the style, direction, theme, and, most importantly, the location on the car body for the subsequent application of the design. As a rule, the choice of workshop where you plan to order airbrushing can play a big role here. Most often, professional artists work at service stations that are equipped with a spray booth and other necessary equipment for body repair and car painting. Of course, it is cheaper to turn to a craftsman, but the result may be unexpected, since the final stage is varnishing the drawing, and this can only be done with high quality in a specially equipped service center. But if the choice is made correctly and the artist meets all your personal requirements, a masterpiece is guaranteed.
Once the customer has decided on their wishes, the artist begins to create a sketch and uses computer graphics to combine a photo of the car with the design. As a rule, the artist offers 3-4 options. If the customer wants to change the concept or details of the sketch, this is paid for separately. If the customer is satisfied with everything, they leave their car for airbrushing. Thus, the order goes into production, which consists of the following stages:
- The car is thoroughly washed.
- If the design is only applied to part of the car, the body is masked with film, but the parts adjacent to the area where the design will be applied are covered with paper. This is done so that splashes from the “dust” are absorbed, as they can get onto the design or lacquered surface from the film.
- Sometimes parts of the car are simply disassembled, in which case masking is not necessary.
- If the selected area has chips, dents, and scratches, body repair specialists will fix the problem.
- Then the area is “mattified” using an abrasive (P800 or P1000), a special paste, or Scotch-Brite.
- It is also necessary to remember to degrease the surface at all stages when this is required by the body painting technology. The surface can be degreased with either silicone degreasers or conventional ones.
- Now you can start painting. Here, the laws of art apply. First, the background is created, then the contours of the drawing, tones, halftones, and shadows are applied, and the details are drawn.
- After drying, the drawing is covered with a layer of varnish.
- Once the varnish has hardened, the surface is polished.
The parts on which the drawing was applied undoubtedly require care, but it is no different from caring for the rest of the body: protective polishes are applied, and if small scratches appear on the varnish, abrasive polishing is used.