And you all thought MY helmet was cool :P

[chef]

i did my gf's over the weekend. it's not perfect by any means, but i'm very pleased with it when you take into account my limited tools and work space for painting. the colors are pactra spray cans meant for rc cars. the pin striping was my first time with a brush, so the lines are differing in thickness, and the clear has some dust in the back and was sprayed with a wagner all in one (compressor and gun). i enjoyed the striping though and have enlisted an old school sign painter i know through work to help me learn proper technique. the whole process was fun and i look forward to using my incredibly expensive clear coat on about 145,000 other helmets and items in the future who knew such a tiny bottle could last so long and be SO expensive? i feel much better about painting my jeep myself next summer. she picked all the colors out, and they're all candy, btw. quite stunning in the sun.



tried typing out the img tag, tried image, tried the img button above...for some reason i cannot get the image to load, it shows shows the url...

[mrblaine]

I'm guessing you don't have any pinstriping brushes?

Other than the painted on look of the striping, looks cool.

[chef]

no, i bought a striping brush for it. as per the usual adam-style, i jumped right to attempting to stripe the helmet, rather then practicing. fortunately, i have a girlfriend who doesn't care, and is just ecstatic that i did the work for her and thinks it's awesome :P i'm signed up to take a course at coast airbrush whenever they get enough interest, and will be practicing on every bit of scrap gatorboard, pvc and sintra i've got at work until then, as well as the old timer giving me tips. i've long been a street rod nut interested in pinstriping, so i look forward to practicing and hopefully someday perfecting the art. i wanted to stripe the nose of my first car, a karmann ghia, and lately my jeep, so it's nice to finally get the brush and some 1shot and try to learn how. keeping my hand steady without supporting it is the obvious issue i must get over.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by chef
no, i bought a striping brush for it. as per the usual adam-style, i jumped right to attempting to stripe the helmet, rather then practicing. fortunately, i have a girlfriend who doesn't care, and is just ecstatic that i did the work for her and thinks it's awesome :P i'm signed up to take a course at coast airbrush whenever they get enough interest, and will be practicing on every bit of scrap gatorboard, pvc and sintra i've got at work until then, as well as the old timer giving me tips. i've long been a street rod nut interested in pinstriping, so i look forward to practicing and hopefully someday perfecting the art. i wanted to stripe the nose of my first car, a karmann ghia, and lately my jeep, so it's nice to finally get the brush and some 1shot and try to learn how. keeping my hand steady without supporting it is the obvious issue i must get over.

Enter this in the category of "those who can, do, those who can't, teach" and sometimes those of us who observe can offer some useful tips.

I'm responsible for the very fine computer cut vinyl graphics on our ambulances. Before they were vinyl, they were hand lettered and hand striped with One Shot lettering paint. Roy Johnson was a very old school, as well as a very old sign painter.

Hand needle punched templates he made from originals and then dusted chalk powder through for the big logos.

He never one time hit a stroke on a unit without one of these.
http://www.dickblick.com/itemgroups-m/mahlstick/ They work awesome and when you practice with one enough, they become an extension of your hand.

I'll bet I have more hours talking to and watching him work than should be legal.

I haven't seen him in years, I'm pretty sure fast horses, old whiskey, and wild women finally extracted their toll. In fact, all of his little cards for wiping his brushes on to get the paint just right were betting cards from the racetrack. He had huge stacks of them.

[blkTJ]

Dude... ummm... your girlfriend doesn't have a body!!!

pretty neat flame job though.

[chef]

that's why she doesn't mind the pinstriping being sloppy

[TObject]

My guess, the body is in the closet. No need to drag the whole thing out just for a helmet job.

[chef]

Originally posted by mrblaine

watching is definitely one of the better ways to pick up small nuances that can really help. it's unfortunate that many of the shops are not around anymore, and that i work long hours prohibiting me from visiting any of the remaining. i do make a point of visiting any of the good old school rod shows, as there are plenty of talented people to watch. von franco is hosting a show in anaheim on the 4th, and the following saturday is the annual mooneyes show, last years was fun. http://bustedknuckles.net/mooneyesshow/output/index.htm

i've seen tools like the one you listed used, and i definitely need to pick one up. there were many times on the helmet i could have used one. i don't expect to be a von dutch or anyone similar overnight, but i am certain that with practice i'll be able to put down a clean line in time to decorate my jeep next summer.

[Paradiddle]

That is cool looking, but one question?

If you dump her can you repaint the name part?

[chef]

eh, 3 years running. no grief on either end so i'm not too worried.

[Paradiddle]

Originally posted by chef
eh, 3 years running. no grief on either end so i'm not too worried.

True grief doesn't start until year 8 or 9...

[chef]

see? the helmet will be in need of a new paint job by that time. no worries