Before the two color coats go on I use the petcock gasket to trim some masking tape just bigger than the gasket to mask the petcock area on the tank. The 2K clear is a two part paint that chemically hardens, so can better stand up to gasoline, so for it I'll remove this tape and just cover the openings. This makes it less likely for the gas to get under the clear and bubble up the paint around the petcock.
First the tank is painted white. Top-coating regular rattle can paint over another can cause problems, since they just dry from solvent evaporation. A few ways to help prevent issues; make sure the first color has at least a week dry time, don't spray so heavy that paint pools up in any areas, and go with very light coats on the second color.
The white is then wet sanded with 800 grit and then taped for the stripes. This is 5.5mm 3M fine line masking tape from ebay seller motodad24.
Then the final color coat goes on.
I really like using the VHT engine paints. It doesn't have a lot of coverage, so takes more coats than most paints, so go light and do several coats. It doesn't flow out like some paints, so if you try to make it do so you can get runs. It dries very quickly, so you can do 4 or 5 coats, let it set 10-15 minutes, and then lightly sand with 800 grit before the last coat.
Here it is after the last coat, and the tape peeled off. I still need to lightly wet sand and clear coat. I'm really looking forward to see how it looks after the clear goes on. Once the 2K clear can is activated you have to use it all the same day, so I'm waiting until the rear fender is ready also. One can should just be enough for both.
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