We're grateful to Nissan for allowing us the privilege of punishing the 2004 Sport Truck of the Year winner. After flogging the truck for several months, we decided to give the hauler a new look. With this in mind, we started with custom paint for our long-term loaner truck. To some, it may seem like a waste of time to paint a truck that we won't get to keep, but in our defense, this truck will probably end up in Nissan's museum, so we want to have it be representative of a Sport Truck-inspired build. Either way, we wanted to spend some time seeing what was under its skin, find out how it was built, and what it would take to modify the Titan.
Our Project Titan was previously a demo vehicle for the media to test drive, so it was pretty tore-up from being hammered by other media staff members. It had many scratches and dents that weren't going to play a part in our Sport Truck project-not to mention the interior was covered in dog hair and had one broken seat. The truck was in dire need of Sport Truck's custom touch to help it overcome the abuse it had seen as a media vehicle.
We took our Project Titan to Musso Motorsports in Las Vegas to have the skins recoated in some new-school pigments. There, Joe Musso and his band of misfits tore into Project Titan to bring to life our concept rendering. With the aid of Ryan Evans from Kaotik, the graphics were hand-tapped and sprayed to create the killer color scheme that are made up of stock Nissan colors. Here's how the whole thing went down.
1.The first order of business...
1.The first order of business was to straighten the bodywork and shave off the useful but ugly side compartment door.
2.With the welder in hand,...
2.With the welder in hand, Musso Motorsports shaved off the gas door and relocated the filler to inside the wheelwell.
3.The Titan had some hard...
3.The Titan had some hard miles on it, which left a few scratches in the paint. To eliminate the imperfections, the paint was sanded to feather the scratches smooth.
4.All the plastic accessories...
4.All the plastic accessories were removed so the paint could be laid over the body without any interference.
5.Even though the truck's...
5.Even though the truck's new paint scheme was going to include the stock silver color, the truck was sanded smooth and prepped for paint all the way around. This prevented any fluctuation of color that might appear from the mix of paint Musso laid down with the stock color.
6.The imperfections were packed...
6.The imperfections were packed with filler that was sanded flat to blend with the body panel.
7.Many of the stock plastic...
7.Many of the stock plastic components were also sanded smooth and prepped for pigment.
8.Sikkens paint products provided...
8.Sikkens paint products provided all the necessary goodies to bring our Project Titan to its new custom paint status.
9.In this case, a guide coat...
9.In this case, a guide coat of black was used to ensure the surface was straight. Spraying the black paint over the gray primer and block-sanding the panel showed the low and high spots in the body panels. At this point, the high spots were sanded down to remove the imperfections. The process was done until the guide coat came off evenly, indicating the body was smooth.
10.After the body was sanded...
10.After the body was sanded smooth, the freshly prepped panels were wiped down with a tack cloth to remove any dust particles. This cleaned the pores of the bounding surface, and prepared it for paint.
11. All the Sikkens Auto Base...
11. All the Sikkens Auto Base Plus and pigments were well-shaken to ensure the particle combination was evenly mixed.
12.After the basecoat was...
12.After the basecoat was laid down, it was sanded and cleaned to prepare for the first layer of pigment.
13.A hardener was added to...
13.A hardener was added to the paint in a pail that had measurements to help quickly mix the paint components to form the desired color.
14.The basecoat will provide...
14.The basecoat will provide a solid color canvas for the paint to lie over.
15.With the rendering of Sport...
15.With the rendering of Sport Truck's Project Titan in hand, Ryan Evans from Kaotik laid down the stylized graphics over the body contours to follow the shape of the cab lines, door handle divots, and other transitional lines. A straight line was stretched down the body to give the technician a reference point, keeping the graphics flowing in the right direction.
16a.Once the graphics were...
16a.Once the graphics were taped off on one side, paper was laid over the graphics. With the use of chalk, the pattern was transferred to the other side, so the left and righthand graphics would be close to being perfectly symmetrical.
16b.
17.A little clean up is in...
17.A little clean up is in order, after the tape was laid down. All the sharp ends on the flames and other tape tears were carefully sliced off to provide a smooth transition and clean graphic line.
18.Quick mask tape was laid...
18.Quick mask tape was laid over the graphic. The tape was laid down with the use of a squeegee to avoid air bubbles and so no paint could get under the tape.
19.The tape used to for the...
19.The tape used to for the graphic details is known as Fine-Line Tape. This tape can be seen through the quick mask. The area being prepped for paint was cut out, leaving the exposed graphic.
20.After the graphic was cut...
20.After the graphic was cut out, the rest of the truck was covered to prevent overspray.
21.Spraying a light coat provides...
21.Spraying a light coat provides a tacky surface for a thicker layer of paint to adhere to. The copper stylized flames were shot and left to set for the second phase of graphical treatment.
22.Ryan used the mighty airbrush...
22.Ryan used the mighty airbrush to add some dimension to the new graphics.
23.It may seam backwards to...
23.It may seam backwards to paint the bottom of the truck last, but the copper is lightly transparent so it needs to be shot over an evenly colored surface. The copper also relied on the silver to provide a metallic base and to help the color stand out. The stylized flames were re-covered with the quick mask, and the bottom was cut off to prep for the bottom color.
24.The blue was then laid...
24.The blue was then laid down. Both the orange and blue are stock Nissan colors for the 350Z cars.
25.All the plastics were smoothed...
25.All the plastics were smoothed and sprayed to enhance the custom appeal of Project Titan.
26.With all the main colors...
26.With all the main colors sprayed, it was time for a second session with the airbrush. Once again, dimension was added to the graphic element to help break up the silver and blue transition area. A drop-shadows effect was added to the stylized flames to match the copper shadows.
27.If you were to ask any...
27.If you were to ask any pinstriper about color choice, you'd probably think he was nuts. And maybe some of them are, but there is no denying their ability to add eye-stopping detail with their obnoxious choice of colors. As seen here, Ryan laid down House of Kolor Limetime Green over the graphic to make it stand out from the blue and silver base colors.
28.Just like lip-gloss is...
28.Just like lip-gloss is used to bring out a woman's sex appeal, the clearcoat was used to bring out the new color of our Titan. About six coats later, the freshly painted Titan was ready for the next phase.
29.With the parts painted,...
29.With the parts painted, all that was left to do was final assembly and polishing. Here, you can see the interior starting to take shape.
30.Wet sandpaper was used...
30.Wet sandpaper was used to knock off the orange peel. After it was removed, the clearcoat was hit with a fine polish and glaze, leaving behind a glossy smooth finish.