The real trick to creating an effective kustom graphic is not to "copy" it from a magazine, but to "synthesize" it into something that is your own. Walking the tightrope between design complexity and nightmare clutter is what West Coast Radical is all about.

This article focuses on a full size that we finished up last year for the custom truck show circuit. Because of the number of colors and steps necessary for this paint job, I didn't include every detail (you could consider it the "Cliff Notes" version, which just points out a few techniques). Every paint job is different, but the application techniques remain the same. Mike Kaufman, one of our repeat customers, had been working on this truck for countless hours. He had added some radical body mods, not to mention a small fortune in chrome and leather. Mike's sole goal was not just to win a show here or there, but to dominate every show this truck rolled into. With an agenda like this, the paint job is definitely high on the list of priorities. Mike's only real specification were a killer orange, severe graphix, mega airbrush effects, every color known to mankind, and world peace. We may not have accomplished world peace, but Mike sure has taken a piece out of the show circuit this last year by claiming either "Best Paint" or "Best of Show" in whatever event his truck appeared.

STEP 1 When the truck shows up from Rick's shop, R-Customz, it is far from orange; as a matter of fact, it is black epoxy primer. With the body mods completed, K-Daddy and Dave block out the surface and begin laying the graphics. The first graphic they pull is the one that separates the main truck color from the graphics. This technique–using the actual vehicle color as a graphic–is a trick we use with a majority of our paint schemes. K-Daddy likes to use 3M Fine Line Tape for pulling the graphics. For turning corners, reposi-tioning, and preventing bleeds, this stuff rocks!

STEP 2 With the main graphic masked, individual graphics are laid out and the spraying begins. K-Daddy usually starts applying the graphics using "depth of field" as a guide. The graphic set deepest into the design is sprayed first, then he works his way out. It's easier when creating the intertwining effect, and it will help you avoid working yourself into a corner. For this graphic, K mixes up some House of Kolor (HoK) burple kandy with tru blue shimrin.

STEP 3 Giving the burple/blue graphic a half hour to set up, K-Daddy lays out and sprays a shimrin magenta in a scallop-style graphic. Although it may look like he is masking right over the fresh previous graphic, he's actually masking around it, using the masking paper to protect it. This one of K-Daddy's masking tricks allows him to paint up to five graphics in a day, without leaving tape residue on any of 'em. (Note: K-Daddy normally wears his respirator at all times, unless I make him re-pose for a photo that I missed).

STEP 4 To speed things up during one of our taping marathons, as K-Daddy works his way around with the blue fine line and 3/4 inch tape design, he has David finish the paper masking. Even though we are only spraying a small section, it is important to mask off the entire graphic area to prevent any overspray of the metallics onto the other colors.

STEP 5 As soon as David completes the masking, K-Daddy mixes up a batch of Limetime Shimrin green with a little basecoat white added. The basecoat white not only increases coverage, but also tones down the color, which enhances the airbrush effects. K prefers the Iwata LPH 94 spray gun to the siphon-feed version, since the top-mounted, gravity-feed cup provides better clearance for shooting graphics near the ground.

STEP 6 Mixing up a batch of kandy organic green koncentrate with SG-100 intercoat clear, I begin airbrushing in numerous circles and shadows with my HP-C top-feed gun. This effect is fairly simple and provides a nice reptile skin effect. (I know I've mentioned this at least a dozen times before, but always wear a respirator any time you're airbrushing. While urethanes are more toxic than water-based, all paints are dangerous to breath when atomized through an airbrush.)

STEP 7 Before Dion begins masking for the next color, we let the green set a little longer. The airbrush effects have been cleared lightly with intercoat to protect them from the masking. Here, you can see some of the underlying green overlapping into the next color. Any graphic to be painted over in an overlap is left exposed and then lightly sanded to knock down the edge so it won't show through.

STEP 8 Mixing up a batch of House of Kolor chrome yellow, K-Daddy sprays down the prepped graphic. Even though it may look a continuous yellow graphic, there are a number of taped areas masking any underlying colors that will overlap the yellow in the final product.

STEP 9 Another trademark in our graphics at Kal Koncepts is the use of red oxide airbrush streaks in our yellows. We rarely leave yellow alone without a fade, at least. By itself, yellow tends to stands out too brightly, competing with other colors. By airbrushing in a little color, you not only give the graphic more character, but you also balance it with the rest of the design (plus the yellow was a little too happy–we had to evil it up a bit).

STEP 10 Since the yellow is the last color sprayed in the graphics, the background silver is the last color to be shot (the only step you missed was the remasking of all the individual graphics so the silver could be laid down). Note the LPH-100 side-feed gun Dion is using now. If K-Daddy's top feed can go low, this thing can go lower. It's one of the few HVLP guns on the market that can be sprayed laying on its side.

STEP 11. Probably the most time consuming of all the graphic jobs I have to do is the silver F/X and drop shadows completed at this stage-before the final masking is removed. Using varying mixtures of silver, black, and white, I create a nice textured marble effect, which acts as a good background for the bright colors and also is a great space filler. There's nothing more boring then a large area of silver.

STEP 12. Since the front had such a large area of silver, I felt it would throw the design off balance. When you find something like this happening, improvise. Here, I'm using a funky little design (which doesn't really have a name yet-it's a combination of smoke, bubbles, and electricity). I emphasize the directional movement of the overall graphics with a mixture of HoK white and snow white pearl, all sprayed in detail with my Iwata HP-C.

STEP 13. To remove the monochromatic look of the pearled white "electro-bubbles" (K-Daddy named it eventually), I color in the design with some magenta kandy and a little lavender pearl. This mixture is highly transparent and lends a different look when it's sprayed over the silver-a bonus effect. (Bonus effects are always good. Just tell the client later what you did and mention that you won't even charge him extra!)

STEP 14. With the "Flash Gordon" effects completed, I come in and finish off the silver with transparent black drop shadows. This is a tricky step because you have to shadow graphics that are sometimes hard to see through all of the silver paint that covers the mask. It's important to do them now though, because if you wait until the vehicle is unmasked, your shadow overspray will kill the colors.

STEP 15. After unmasking the entire vehicle, it's time to start masking again. This time, the masking is simpler, because the graphics are masked as one large section in order to spray the Sunset Pearl base color. (Did you notice a lack of airbrushing in the green? We didn't miss an area; a section of the bed was modified in the middle of the paint job. I wasn't available when the green was resprayed. No big deal, I just redo the effect later.)

STEP 16. With all the graphics and remaining windows masked, Dion lays down an HoK white base, then begins spraying the Sunset Pearl Shimrin. The basecoat white not only helps to increase the coverage of the pearl, but also gives it a brighter hue. By spraying the base color this way, instead of first painting the whole truck orange, we eliminate the high edge of the graphics by the butting the two areas together. This saves on materials, not just the Sunset Pearl, but also the clear.

STEP 17. With all of the masking removed, you can see how the graphics are starting to take shape. Now it's time for touch-ups and airbrush effects. (Actually most airbrush effects serve the dual purpose of being a touch-up!) Using a mixture of tangerine and magenta kandy with some lavender pearl, I spray a streaking pattern into the orange. This pattern was initially to appear only around the scalloped edges of the graphics, but it eventually became a spiral pattern that covered 90% of the orange surface. 

STEP 18. With the airbrushed streaking finished, the entire truck is given a coat of clear and allowed a day to cure. The clear is then color-sanded with 600-grit wet/dry to knock down the edges of the graphics, which makes pinstriping much easier and cleaner. Bringing out the HoK striping urethanes and my 000 X-Caliber sword striper, I outline the graphics. The main graphic gets a funky slash stripe that has become another frequently requested look. (I originally did the slash effect years ago because I couldn't pull a decent line when I first started striping. Now people ask for it-go figure!) 

STEP 19. My favorite part, of course, is pinstriping and lettering upside down. At least the bed is not on the truck, otherwise this type of work would be nearly impossible. As you may have noticed, we like to disassemble the truck and hang it up in the booth in sections to work on. This is the only way to be sure to get paint and clear in hard-to-reach places. As you can see in Photo 17, even the backs of the fenders and firewall are completely painted. 

STEP 20. After about a dozen walk-arounds to make sure we got everything, Dion begins the final clearing with his LPH-100 side-feed gun. This second session is accomplished with a light tack coat followed by three wet coats of Valspar AC-2135, a high solid clear that flows nicely and buffs to the wettest shine you'll ever see. The third and last clearing session takes place the following day, after the entire truck has been gone over lightly with 600 again. With all three sessions, there are approximately 2-3 gallons of clear on the entire vehicle. That's more then enough material to color-sand and buff without worrying about burning through. 

STEP 21. Well, there you have it, one kustom truck show-killer, made to order. After a trip to the upholsterer and another hundred hours or so of putting all the chrome and goodies back on (without scratching the paint!), this sucker is ready for the shows. And, Mike was happy.