Base Coat is the first color sprayed on the coach. At this stage any necessary primers or sealers are applied. This is usually the background and pinstripe color. After the base color is applied the coach is baked at 140-165 degrees for 20 minutes. Baking the coach causes the paint to 'flash dry' to the touch, but on the molecular level the paint does not completely 'cure' yet. This technique can only be done in a state of the art spray booth, with advanced OEM RV paint technology. It actually produces a 'dry but still wet' state of the paint, allowing the paint to be masked off with a design. Because the coach is still 'wet' there is a chemical bond between the base color, accent colors, and clear coat. Each coach is inspected for quality and coverage at every stage.

The stripe department is where the color design layout is done by masking off the base color. Carrera's standard procedure employs the use of a computer generated/plotter cut spray-mask system. The spray-mask is comprised of 8/36' - 50' masks for the sides of the coach, and 3-4 masks for the front and back caps. Each mask is individually applied by a team of stripe technicians. Every line is 'sighted down' for smoothness: hand tucked around windows, trim, slide out facia, door jambs, lights, vents, and drip and awning rails. If slide-outs are striped, then each line on the slide-out is hand laid by the stripe technician. The use of the spray-mask system combined with the hand layout technique keeps lines smooth and crisp, making the overall paint design fluid. Once the coach has the base coat striped, the coach goes to the color and clear booths.

Color, Clear coat and Finish is the process during which the accent colors are sprayed and the gloss finish is applied. Color and clear are all done the same day. The paint on the based and striped coach remains in the 'dry but still wet' state. Because it is 'dry' the based color can be carefully striped without contaminating the base paint. While it is 'still wet' the accent colors are applied. Once the accent paint has flashed, the spray-mask is removed. Each line is then carefully 'hand bladed' - this is a skillful process of taking a razor blade and cutting along each line, feathering out the transitions among the colors. The motorhome is then inspected for any production issues.

Once the coach passes inspection it is cleared with a durable UV resistant high-gloss clear. OEM RV paint standards require a minimum clear coat thickness of 2 millimeters.