# Custom Paint and Graphics for Eastvale, California > Sprayed multi-tone layouts, fades, candy and pearl effects with tape edges buried under clear and sanded flat. Source: https://ocrv.info/services/paint-and-refinishing/custom-paint-and-graphics Custom paint and graphics is sprayed artwork rather than applied vinyl: multi-tone layouts, fades, candy and pearl effects, flake, pinstriping and airbrushed detail masked out with fine line tape, sprayed in sequence, then buried under enough clearcoat that every tape edge sands flat. ## Pricing Range $1,500 to $9,500. Labor band 10 to 40 hours. Performed in shop at 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887. Sprayed graphics and applied vinyl solve the same visual problem in completely different ways. Vinyl sits on the surface, can be removed, and has a service life measured against sun exposure. Sprayed artwork becomes part of the coating stack, cannot be peeled off, and lasts as long as the clear protecting it. Owners choosing between them are really choosing between reversibility and permanence. Layout comes before any spraying. Full size proportions are worked out on the vehicle itself with tape, because a design that reads beautifully on a scaled drawing can collide with a compartment door, cross a slide seam awkwardly or dive under a rub rail on the real coach. Lines are taped, stepped back from, adjusted, photographed, then approved by the owner while everything can still be moved with a thumbnail. The technical challenge is film build. Every additional color adds thickness, and every tape edge creates a step. Bury those steps under too little clear and the finished flank will show ridges you can feel with a fingertip and see under low sun. Multi-color work therefore plans clear coats between stages, sands the steps flat, and then adds final clear on top of a surface that is already level. ## What brings this in - Factory graphics dated and no longer matching the owner intent - Vinyl removed, leaving a plain flank that needs artwork - Show coach or rally vehicle needing a distinctive finish - Bus conversion or skoolie finished in primer awaiting a design - Existing custom paint damaged and partially resprayed poorly - Business owner wanting sprayed livery rather than applied vinyl ## Laying out a design on a forty foot canvas Scale deceives people. A sweep that looks bold on a rendering can shrink to a thin ribbon across a real sidewall, and a graphic sized for the front cap may run out of room before it clears the entry door. Layout tape goes on the actual vehicle so proportions are judged at full size, from thirty feet away, from the front three quarter view that most people actually see, and from the low angle that a person standing next to the coach experiences. Obstacles get designed around rather than ignored. Baggage doors, fill ports, slide-out boxes, ladders, awning rails and marker lights all interrupt a surface. A line that crosses a door gap will never align perfectly once that door opens and closes a few hundred times, so smart layouts either run parallel to gaps or cross them at a steep angle where slight misalignment reads as intentional. Hinged doors are the worst offenders because they sag over time, and a graphic that crossed one squarely at installation will step by a sixteenth of an inch later. Approval is documented with photographs from several distances before a single mask is cut. Changing a line at the tape stage costs minutes. Changing it after three colors have been sprayed and cleared costs days, because the affected area has to be sanded back through the stack and rebuilt. Owners are encouraged to look at the taped layout twice, on two different days, in two different lights. Morning and late afternoon light land on a curved cap differently, and a sweep that looks balanced at noon can look top heavy by evening. - Full size tape layout on the vehicle, not on a scaled drawing - Judged from thirty feet, from the three quarter view and from close up - Lines routed to avoid crossing door gaps at shallow angles - Photographic approval before any mask is cut ## How are sprayed graphics actually built up? Base color goes down first across the whole area, sprayed to full hiding exactly as a standard refinish would be. Once that has flashed and, depending on the design, received a coat of intercoat clear, fine line tape defines the first graphic boundary. Fine line is used at the edge because it conforms to curves and leaves a crisp line, with wider masking paper and plastic filling in behind it to protect the rest of the surface. Colors are sprayed in a planned order, generally light to dark, with each stage flashed and de-masked carefully so tape is pulled while the film is still slightly soft. Pull tape too late and the cured paint tears along the edge, leaving a ragged line that has to be sanded and redone. Pull it at the right moment and the edge lays down clean, which is a matter of feel and timing rather than a number on a chart. Effects layers ride on top. Candy toners are transparent and build color with each pass, so coverage has to be even or the panel will look striped. Flake is sprayed in a binder and then requires extra clear to bury the texture. Airbrushed fades and drop shadows are done by hand with the graphic tape still in place, which is what gives a good custom job depth that vinyl cannot reproduce. - Fine line tape defines the edge, paper and plastic protect the rest - Light colors before dark, each stage flashed properly - Tape pulled while film is still slightly soft - Candy toners built in even passes to avoid striping - Flake buried under additional clear before leveling - Airbrushed fades and shadows applied with masks in place ## Burying the edges: why clear coat strategy matters most A three color graphic can leave a step three film thicknesses tall at the innermost boundary. That step is the difference between a custom job that looks painted on and one that looks stuck on. The remedy is intermediate clear: after the color stages, clear is applied over the whole area, allowed to cure, then wet sanded flat with a block so the tape ridges are removed rather than merely covered. Sanding at this stage is a controlled risk. Cut too far and the abrasive breaks through into the graphic color, which means respraying that section. Sanding is done wet with 800 grit, and each ridge is approached from its high side so the abrasive does not dig into adjacent color. The block is used with light pressure and frequent inspection, and a guide coat helps show which areas are still low. Once the surface passes a fingertip test across every boundary, the final clear coats go on over a level foundation. Final clear is built with enough film that the entire surface can be cut and buffed afterward. That is what produces the deep, glass-like finish associated with quality custom work. Skimping here to save material means the finish cannot be polished later without exposing color, and it means the artwork sits under a thin shell that will not tolerate the ordinary abuse a coach exterior receives. Three coats is a common target on graphics work rather than the two a plain refinish would take, and the mil gauge confirms it. ## What should you expect to spend time and thought on? Design decisions consume more calendar time than most owners anticipate. Choosing a palette, resolving how a graphic wraps the front cap, deciding whether the pattern repeats on both flanks or mirrors, and settling on whether the roof cove is included are all conversations that happen before scheduling. Booth time is booked against a fixed number of days, so a design still in flux pushes the whole job back rather than compressing the spray schedule. Bringing reference images of finishes you like, and finishes you dislike, shortens this stage considerably. Maintenance expectations should be set at the same time. Sprayed graphics live under clear, so they are maintained exactly like any other painted surface: washed with pH neutral soap, kept out of automated brush washes, and polished or protected periodically. Dark candy colors and deep blacks show swirl marks more readily than light metallics, which is worth knowing before the palette is locked in. A silica coating applied once the clear has fully cured, typically a matter of weeks, is the cheapest way to keep a dark custom finish looking correct. Finally, plan for repairability. Complex candy and multi-stage work is harder to repair invisibly after a parking lot incident, because matching a transparent build depends on reproducing the pass count. Keeping the sprayed formula record and the pass counts with the vehicle file makes a future repair far more predictable, and the shop retains that documentation as a matter of course. Where a design has hard boundaries, a repair can often be confined to one taped section and resprayed complete, which is another reason to build them into the layout. - Bring reference images of finishes you like and dislike - Decide early whether graphics mirror or repeat across flanks - Dark and candy colors show swirls more than light metallics - Automated brush washes are the fastest way to damage the work - Formula and pass count records make future repairs predictable ## Frequently asked questions ### Should I get sprayed graphics or vinyl wrap on my coach? Choose sprayed work if you want depth, candy or pearl effects, and a finish that is part of the paint rather than laid over it. Choose vinyl if you may want to change the design later, if you need faster turnaround, or if the underlying paint is sound and you would rather protect it than sand it. Sprayed graphics cost more and take longer, and they cannot be reversed. ### How long does a custom paint job take on a motorhome? Considerably longer than a straight refinish. Layout and approval alone can take several days, then each color stage needs spray time and cure time, and the intermediate clear must fully cure before it can be sanded flat. A multi-color design with effects work commonly occupies four to ten weeks of shop time depending on complexity and how much of the vehicle is involved. ### Can you repair custom paint that another shop damaged? Often yes, though the assessment comes first. Straight lines, solid colors and simple fades are usually reproducible. Transparent candy layers and hand airbrushed detail are harder because the appearance depends on pass count and technique, so recreating a section may mean redoing a whole bounded area to keep it uniform. Photographs of the finish before the damage help significantly. ### Will custom paint hold up parked outside in the sun? Its durability depends on the clear coat above it, which is the same situation as any painted surface. Clears carrying ultraviolet absorbers hold gloss for years under Southern California exposure when the vehicle is washed properly and protected with a coating or sealant. Storing under cover extends that considerably. Dark colors run hotter and are the most sensitive to neglect. ### Do I need to have my design finished before I bring the RV in? A concept is enough. Bring color preferences, reference photographs and any logo artwork in vector form if a business name is involved. Final layout happens on the vehicle with tape, because that is the only way to judge proportion honestly. Arriving with a fixed rendering sometimes creates disappointment when the design meets a baggage door that was not on the drawing. --- OCRV Center. 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887. (949) 799-3387. info@ocrvcenter.com. Serving Eastvale, California in Riverside County, about 20 miles from the shop. All work is performed in shop at the Yorba Linda facility. No mobile, roadside or on-site service is offered. Scope is body, paint, structural, fiberglass, interior and vehicle systems work. Engine rebuilds, transmission rebuilds, drivetrain work, DOT inspections and emission testing are not performed.