DIY Adventures: Custom Car Fun

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

(Keep in mind - this is a project that is fun for an older point-a to point-b car, the kind that's reliable but not necessarily worth the bother of paying a lot for professional paint or wraps)

When the paint on the front end of my 2009 Honda CR-V started peeling, I decided to try a lil custom paint touch up on my own. I chose my favorite Nintendo inspired images for a theme in celebration of childhood memories of playing games with my dad.

I may have gotten carried away.. but I also always wanted a life-sized 90's hot wheels paint job, so I went for it, and I'm here today to share my adventure!

Project Theme:

Nintendo + Hot Wheels + 90s = NintenDUH

Click here to find a youtube short video tour of the result of my custom paint shenanigans.

Click here to see part 2 of how the project looked in-progress on youtube.

Click here to see part 3 progress on youtube.

(Please excuse my sandblasted headlights in some of the photos. They fog up quickly in my windy desert home. It took me a long time to find a light cover cleaner that works well for me.)

Materials I used for Project NintenDUH:

- favorite nintendo inspired images

- plastic bags

- painters tape

- wet-sand paper

- Rustoleum Primer (water-based)

- pencil

- black sharpie marker

- Acrylic Paint

- Acrylic Gloss Medium

- Krylon UV Protection Gloss

- Rustoleum Automotive Clear Lacquer

Process Steps for Project NintenDUH:

1. Tape off the target area with plastic.

2. Wetsand the target area to remove old layers of clear coat and even out peeling areas.

3. Spray even coats of Rustoleum Primer and allow to dry. (I used grey, white would also work.

4. I used a pencil and then a sharpie to mark where I want my NintenDUH doodles to live.

5. I mixed acrylic paint with a gloss medium to apply thin layers of color to my doodles. Observation: since gloss medium is dirt resistant, the resulting effect was beneficial to preserving my colors.

6. Spray even coats of Krylon UV Protective gloss to help protect colors from fading and allow to dry.

7. Spray even coats of Rustoleum Automotive Lacquer to seal your work.

Below is a shorter process list with images:

The resulting texture of Project NintenDUH produces the look and feel of a vinyl wrap, which is perfect for the hot wheels aspect of my project goal. An airbrush would provide thinner coats and therefore smoother texture. As of December 2022, the paint job is still bright with minimal fading. This project made my old car feel brand new and fun with some time and less than $200. This project has been one of my favorite DIY Adventures, so far.

To see what others think about Project NintenDuh, so far, check out: Facebook and Instagram