Good new for owners of enamel painted cobalt blue XTCs: Humbrol perfect match

[JWestland]

Hi -

So, a bit of good new for owners of enamel painted cobalt blue XTCs (and other cobalt blue metallic enamel painted thorns): Humbrol is a perfect match.

There are two blue metallic Humbrol colours, you need to buy both. Then mix a tiny bit of the very dark blue one (222 moonlight blue) into the lighter one (52 baltic blue) to get the right hue of blue.

A few notes on Humbrol:

1: Often chips are quite deep. Drip a drop of Humbrol into the chip and then paint AROUND the chip, spreading the surplus humbrol. Check every 30 minutes or so for 2 hours and spread out paint again around deep chip to prevent drips.
2: Humbrol can be applied very thin if you just want to give your frame an overall touch-up.
3: Lay the frame flat if you need to fill up a deep chip else the paint will drip out. It will thicken up though if you use strategy above.
4: Humbrol is quite transparant. For a full cover you need 2-3 layers, as undercoat is going to be white or grey. If you use Red Oxide or another rustkiller, you need several layers too.

Be prepared to dump brush, or get some thinner. I put my brush in water after to prevent hardening as I didn't get thinner.

So far so good, I rustkilled the spots on my XTC with Hammerite Kurust. If you have a wirebrush you can also brush down and put red oxide on. The red needs more paint layers. But for mine it was simply to get rid of the unsightly white spots where paint fully chipped, and to protect the frame as the back dropouts had some nasty rust spots on it.

Who knows...save up and Bob Jackson maybe next year?

[Andybg]

Really pleased for you Jawine. I know you put a lot of thought and deliberation into this one and you definetly deserve to have found a solution that has worked.

Looking forward to some pictures of the new and improved and ever so shinny XTC

Andy

[Andybg]

I think the "good new" mispelling in the title must be a freudian slip because that will be how your xtc will be looking after all its tlc.

Andy

[Danneaux]

Yay! Good on you and well done, Jawine! I'll bet the XtC is in a state of "ecstacy" after its touch-up and looks ever-so-nice.

Very nicely done write-up in the how-to.

Any chance of a gallery pic soon, showing it in its "new clothes"? The last we saw was of the new 'bar tape, and we're getting hungry for more! (and a desperate need for more der Thorn pics in the Gallery)!

All the best,

Dan.

[JWestland]

I am hoping for decent weather tomorrow at work where the harbor provides a nice backdrop 
Tested the spiked tires they do sound like rice crispies! Bit of a slog uphill at 1KG a piece, but on the flat you barely notice them.

The XTC does seem "pleased" with fatter tires, handling is less nervy (fat tires, more rake) CR18s are not really made for skinny tires anyway. But the bike feels like it wants weight and thicker tires. But then Thorn has made it to be that way. It is after all a light tourer in the CR18 setup.

I am on the hunt on e-bay for lighter rims for daily use. It's fun to play around with different rims/tires. With lighter/skinnier rims it goes more audaxy I suspect, though again handling is less nervy on fatter tires compared to sportcontacts. It's fun to play with bike setups and e-bay with the load of secondhand parts makes it affordable too

You can't get a perfect touch-up obviously with home tools, some drips and deep scars are impossible to fully smooth out, but at least now the frame is protected again and the worst gone.