Custom paint schemes for trucks

Because we know it can be hard to find enough good information buried in a short, four-page tech story, we decided to cut through the flowery descriptions and long-winded explanations and compile this list of 101 paint and body tips. Some of the tips are common sense items that are easily overlooked, and some tips might make you say, "Hey, that's a great idea." To keep in line with this article's structure, we'll also keep this introduction short. So just read on already.

1. Performing an Internet picture search will give you the fastest results, but it might be hard to find any specific details about paint materials and techniques used on the specific paintjob you're looking at.

2. Watch movies, because you never know where inspiration will come from. Look at that-we just made watching television educational again.

3. Hot Wheels are not just for collecting, they can be a great source for painting inspiration. Plus, you get to keep the toy.

4.Of course, car and truck magazines are a great place to look for designs and styles.

5. Go to a new-car dealer lot and look at the new cars. OEM paint colors have become pretty cool of late, and this is a good place to see colors on sheetmetal in the sun.

6. Rummage through your old car show pictures. Trends recycle over time and you never know, that booger graphic may come back in style in another decade.

7. Go to a truck show. This will be the best place to find vehicles like yours and see how things look.

8. Check out your local cruise night. You'll be able to closely inspect the paint and find out who sprayed it.

9. Go to an automotive swap meet because there should be a selection of custom vehicles for sale and the owners are usually standing right there. You might even find a deal on sandpaper while you're there.

10. Visit custom fabrication and body shops to get ideas from other rides being worked on. It's not stealing, and imitation is the best form of flattery.

11. Tape out graphic designs on your truck in the driveway. Tape is cheap and it won't damage your paint.

12. Don't go too wild with your first paintjob. The loftier the plans, the bigger your wallet needs to be. Besides, you might want to change the paint scheme later on.

13. Have the neighbor kids draw pictures of your truck so you can see what other people think it should look like.

14. Have a rendering made. Get your ducks in a row before you contact an artist though. At least have a general plan and color choices in mind before you bug an artist for a rendering.

15. If you can track them down, talk to other truck owners about their experiences with a shop you want to use. If the shop is reputable, they'll put you in contact with clients they've made happy in the past.

16. Talk about the body mods you want during the estimate. Be specific and don't forget to mention any work you want the shop to perform. Nothing sucks worse than having your final bill jump up substantially from the estimate because halfway through the job you added more work and forgot about the added cost.