21 replies to this topic

[Ethel]

I like Beans idea! I had thought of something similar. Yea i think I may phone up a sign writers or a spray shop.

that's just what I said!


You could also turn her on her side 'n dip her in a really big tin of paint to the required depth.

[Bean]

sorry ethel! I didn't read the whole thread

[Ethel]

I like Beans idea! I had thought of something similar. Yea i think I may phone up a sign writers or a spray shop.

that's just what I said!


You could also turn her on her side 'n dip her in a really big tin of paint to the required depth.

S'ok Bean

'n to save any confusion by 'her' I meant your Mini, not Beanjardo

[Dan]

You could also turn her on her side 'n dip her in a really big tin of paint to the required depth.

The answer is, you can't. Minis are curved, lines can either look straight or be straight. Not both.

If you want to use a laser then get one with a beam lens that projects a line and mount it above the car projecting onto the roof, or turn the car on its side and project it from the side.

Or use a chalk line like a signwriter would...

[The Matt]

Aaaaah, this line is on the roof? Or on the side of the car?

I still reckon the LASER thing is a good idea myself. As for projecting images onto curved surfaces, yeah it's either going to look straight or be straight, it can't really be both. Also, you need to pick where you want it to look straight from. It's actually a problem we have at work, mapping artwork onto special shaped hot air balloons and the like. You start off by deciding what angle you want it to look straight from (your base viewpoint) and work from there. One good example of that is a smiley face (yep a round yellow smiley, like this ) that my GF had to design into a balloon. The customer kept on bringing it back because it looked elliptical. We had to explain to him that it would only look circular from one specific viewpoint and that from all other angles it would look like an ellipse.


My God I've just gone off on a right tangent.

LASER <----- Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation!

[cooper_shaz]

Measure up from the lip at the top of the sill, this will give you a reference point.

Put 2 marks on the car, 1 at the A panel side of the front door, and one infront of the rear wheel at what ever height you want.
Stick some masking tape at the front mark and unroll a loooong piece of tape. with one end stuck to the car hold the other end far out, i.e. not touching the body and stand behind the car and slowly bring the tape in pulling on it slightly and making it line up with the rear mark.
If you do it right it will give you a line that is straight to the eye but follows the contour of the body.

Hope that makes sense.

You get fine line masking tape for painting on lines or pin striping, this prevents bleed through of the paint.

[Jammy]

Cheers Cooper Shaz, its a Minus, so no seams, or sills, or A-panels, but I'm sure I can adapt that method. Thats for creating a line that appears straight on the side of the body yes?