Customer Reviews

How to Custom Paint Your Car (Motorbooks Workshop)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw the cover car at a GoodGuys Car Show and then saw this book. So I bought it and all I can say is wow. It was amazing to see the process of how the real flames were painted. She takes you through the whole thing, from start to finish. The story of how she came to paint these flames is pretty funny even. The rest of the book is also great. The author JoAnn really goes into detail explaining all the techniques, from traditional flames to graphics. I really liked the wide variety of techniques she goes through in this book. There's a chapter on painting pinup girls that really blew me away. I can now mix up skin tone and paint people after reading that chapter. There are good explanations of the tools used, airbrushes and spray guns. It was very easy to understand and you don't need to be an experienced painter to use this book. I am a beginner and I could follow the lessons in it. But my favorote was the real fire process. The photo on the cover does not really show how incredible this car looks in real life. Some of the photos inside the book show the car more accurately, but the depth of the flame layers is unreal. If you want to paint real flames, check out this book. I do have another of JoAnn's books and thought that one was good, but this one goes over things that the first one does not.

This book answered alot of questions I had when I painted my hot rod. The book is written in a very easy to understand, no nonsense style. It does not waste space on things you don't need. I especially liked the troubleshooting chapter. That came in very handy. One thing that helped is that there are plenty of pictures. There is a photo for every step of each technique. You can really see how it is done. If you are looking to get a tool that will make it easy to do any kind of custom paint work, this is the book for you. It covers flames, tribal graphics, even airbrush artwork. It tells the tools and materials you need for each each kind of artwork. Best $16.00 I ever spent.

I have a background in art. I pretty much read this book in one sitting. Plenty of pictures, lots of tips and tricks. Covers a ton of information. I'd consider this as not just a book, but a very exciting book. It covers thinking and rationale, it'll definitely give you some ideas. Well worth several rereads and study.

I have never painted a car, until I got this book. I bought it with another couple books on painting and it really helped. I had purchased an older MG that needed a paint job. So I used this book to help me with some idea and a little custom paint work.

You won't become an expert just by reading this book. I actually practiced several of the techniques in this book a couple dozen times before I put them on the car. I was surprised, though, at the results. In fact, a car I paid only $800 for sold for over $2000 after I painted it. I had only done minor engine work (mostly tuning and cleaning) and then the body/paint work.

The book is written for an average level reader. This is really good for someone that has little experience in car painting. I was most impressed with the fact the author gave clear instructions on several of the techniques being used.

The chapter on flake paints gave me just enough information to understand what I would be dealing with. Even better was the chapter on basic tools and the chapter on pinstriping. While I didn't use a flake paint on the first project I did use some of the same techniques. It helped me lay a better foundation, which then gave me a good start for the stripes. I put wider pin stripes on that some might thing, but it went well with the overall body flow for the little Midget.

My next project is a motorcycle gas tank and set of fenders. I'll try some of the other techniques from the book. So far my practice sessions have gone really well. I'm even surprised that I've been able to use some of the techniques with spray can paint, something I wasn't expecting. In all, the price of the book is very reasonable and the value was very high.