If you haven’t noticed the latest evolution in Monaco Coach Corporation full-body paint, you must have been living far from the highways and interstates of North America for the last year. They certainly aren’t as common as Honda Accords, but if you happen to come across one of Holiday Rambler’s most recent high line products, it’s not going to escape notice. In fact, it’s probably going to warrant a full-on, head-twisting stare.

That’s because the latest graphics on select Holiday Rambler models, including Endeavor, Imperial, Scepter and Navigator, are not just paint jobs, they are works of art. Here we have bold colors racing into and over each other in swirls and dives and fades.

By all accounts from dealers and RV shoppers, the most attention-grabbing change in paint has been the four and five-color blends and fades introduced in the last year. Instead of mere blocks of single color tones separated from the other colors on the body of the coach, Monaco Coach Corporation designers began blending two colors on a single graphic element, and fading one color into another.

Hitting the Booths

In order to uncover the secrets behind the art, we went to Paint Lead Jorge Ramirez for an in-depth tour of the paint shop where all of these changes have occurred. Ramirez has been working in Monaco Coach Corporation paint booths for 10 years, and along with Paint Supervisor Chris Bakken and the rest of the team, he has been instrumental in the transition to more dazzling graphics.

The Plant 18 Paint Shop, as it’s referred to by the company, is longer than a professional basketball court and just as wide, with a ceiling high enough to fit a double-decker bus. There are essentially two lanes for coaches, with several drive-in booths followed by open areas. When we arrive at one of these open areas, Ramirez and his team are working to “mask” a coach that already has a black base coat. They are using tape and paper to create the graphic stripes and swirls. Another coach that is already masked sits facing the other direction, fresh from the stripe booth.

“Compared to what we were doing two years ago, this is a 180-degree turnaround as far as graphics and processes are concerned,” Ramirez says. “The graphics are more extreme, up until last year we were using mostly straight lines. Now we’re using more curves with circles and points and pin striping. And we have more colors, more intricate designs and very different visual effects.”

All of this “more” doesn’t come without an investment in time and money. The process takes longer, about 170 hours just to paint one coach, and in addition to more labor, it also takes more materials. The paint technicians now use three paint guns instead of one to paint one stripe with blended paint, and the total amount of paint applied to the coach has gone up.

“We went from using 32 to 35 gallons per coach, to using 40 to 45 gallons per coach,” Ramirez said. “That’s a lot of paint.”

The Process

The initial base paint process hasn’t changed. All coaches start out with a gray primer. A sealer is added along with two base coats and the paint is then checked for flaws. After the check, two or three more coats are added and the entire coach is “baked” in the booth at a heat of 135-degrees for 30 minutes. At this point, the coach is ready

The latest graphics on select Holiday Rambler Coach models, including Endeavor, Imperial, Scepter and Navigator, are not just paint jobs, they are works of art. Here we have bold colors racing into and over each other in swirls and dives and fades.

for layout. This is where the paint changes have had an impact, and this is where Ramirez begins the tour. He starts with a sheet of paper — a computer printout with a 2009 prototype paint scheme on it.

“This is all we have when we create a new layout,” he said. “We do it all by hand.”

With the beauty and precision of the finished artwork rolling off the line, it’s easy to think that it was applied with whirring robotic arms, but Ramirez knows different. When they begin a new prototype, they simply look at the printout and use tape and paper to create the graphics. This is where the years of experience and honing a skill pay off, especially when the designs become more intricate.

Once the handmade prototype is approved by the product manager, the paint team then traces it on a giant sheet of plastic and that roll of plastic becomes the template. Small holes are punched in the plastic, outlining the stripes and swirls. When a coach with base paint rolls out of the booth, the plastic template is unfurled along the side. With 10 years at Monaco Coach Corporation, layout tech Zulma Gonzales

With the beauty and precision of the finished artwork rolling off the line, it’s easy to think that it was applied with whirring robotic arms, but when they begin a new prototype, they simply look at the printout and use tape and paper to create the graphics.

is one of the most experienced on the team, and together they pat chalk over the template, which marks the outline on the body of the coach. Following the chalk marks, the layout team puts down narrow tape for pin striping, using paper to mask off all areas that won’t be receiving graphic stripes.

“The masking is what they’re doing right now,” Ramirez said, gesturing to Gonzales and the others working on all sides of the coach. “It takes about three hours.”

Giving It the Fade

After masking, the coach goes to the stripe booth. Stripes are added in a solid color first with paint guns, and then the fade color is added over it. Like the creation of templates and masking, this takes a good deal of artistry and experience.

The fade process involves three different colors and three different paint guns. At the other side of the shop, Ramirez points to a red stripe fading to gold as an example.

“First we paint the stripe red,” he said. “Then we pick the spot where it will begin fading to gold and we paint that area gold. Then, in a third paint gun we blend the colors together 50/50. We start at the middle with the 50/50 mixture and then gradually add more red or more gold over the top.”

Once the stripes, the fades and the blends have been added, the coach is sent to receive its secondary color or “wall color.” The wall color is added in a third booth, and the coach is then unmasked completely. The paint technicians check the paint job and make any necessary repairs. The coach is cleaned thoroughly, with all dust and debris removed.

The last booth to visit is the clear booth, where 10 gallons of clear sealant are applied in four coats. This protects the paint job and gives it the illusion of depth. Finally, the coaches are sanded and buffed to a sparkle, and then sent to dealers lots where they will be ogled and eventually purchased by happy new owners.

The Pride

All throughout the tour, it’s easy to see that Ramirez and his team put a lot of energy into their work – that they truly care about what they’re doing. Sitting outside, looking at the row of immaculate motorcoaches with gleaming paint, Ramirez admits that he is proud of what he does.

“I tell my team that we need to take pride in what we do,” he said. “Because when we see [a motorcoach] outside with our friends and our family, they’re going to notice it, and we can say, ‘That’s what I do.’”

Ty Adams is a freelance writer, editor and photographer. After serving as an editor at Holidays magazine for five years, Ty purchased a motorcoach and hit the road full-time powering his coach with biodiesel. His project is available online at www.biotrekker.com.