Photo shoot with Kat Creasey and the JD

This afternoon I had the pleasure of having Mark Greenmantle from Military photography and the wonderful Kat Creasey down in the shed for a shoot using the JD. These couple of tease pics show Marks eye for detail as a photographer and Kats natural vintage look.

Do ya dig hand painted stuff?

Been having a lot of fun slingin enamel in the shed over the last month or so, getting ready for the Rat Rod & Rockabilly show in Brisbane.
Hand formed Cowl for Lil Miss Eight Ball, pin striped the cabinet, did some groovey little wall hangings and even got envolved with some heels.

Secrete Santa to Belgium

Finally finished a secret santa gift for a member of the Pinstripers Garage community, off it goes to a bloke in Belgium.  Can't wait to see what's coming my way.

Cabinet project

A few months back I picked up 3 box cabinets that fit inside each other from a 2nd hand store, they caught my eye as ive always liked that styled shape, as far as design goes.
So, here we have another project underway which iam jazzed about as it's taking shape how I visualized it.
The tedious task of laying out and fitting the rivets with its first lick of paint done, now the pinstriping and decorative cogs are grinding away...... watch this space.

How to bang out free style bash, for beginners of the brush

Thought I would do a couple of demonstration videos for those starting out in signwriting. What prompted me was the amount of questions being asked by members of Pinstripers Garage  https://www.facebook.com/groups/112044882202139/ .

Iam an active member of this 4000+ community which is dedicated to pinstriping and lettering using the traditional methods, the member base ranges from world renowned gurus through to beginners just starting out.

If you've been pushing the brush since day dot or just beginning, click on the above Facebook link  and join up, real cool folk, real cool brush work.

In the below videos iam showing how to form letters by single stroke using a  haydn 200 series brush and One Shot enamel. A common beginners error iam seeing on Pinstripers Garage is not having the correct brush, unless your using a Haydn or the likes, forget about lettering until you get these brushes, I cant stress that enough, they have a chisel / flat tip that holds a consistent width stroke which is the key to attractive lettering, along with consistent stroke angle. 

Practice practice practice until your fingers are bleeding, focus on pulling consistent strokes, how to start and end a stroke along with twisting and reducing pressure, keeping your brush loaded with paint, all these factors put together equal "consistency".

Once you've mastered these basic fundamentals, your now on your way to understanding brush control and "consistency".

And remember Kids, have patience, this will not happen over night. To give you an idea and appreciation for the Craft, in 1985 at age 16 I started my 5 year Signwriting apprenticeship with Design Craft Graphics in New Zealand, at the end of my time I had a good understanding of the trade, developed a personal brush style and was well on my way, yet I had only just started becoming at one with the brush and attractive layout, it takes years to master the art.

Feel free to ask questions if you have any, I will upload some more techniques when time allows.

Hope these clips are of some help, ENJOY!                                      

                                                 

 

latest Bobber pics, Fastback.

Managed a bit more time on the build this week,  chopped out the seat pan section of the Fastback and formed the seat pan it's self.  Nothing terribly tricky, chain drilled the shape out of the cowl, final cut with snips, filed then created a template for the seat pan.
The most important part of this task was the visual aspect, being such a focal point of the bike. After initially cutting out the seat shape and fitting it on frame I thought it was way too high so after an afternoon of pondering I lowered the pan further by about 3/4" .
Iam pretty stoked with the overall out come, will tack the pan in place and Leave it be for a while to see how it grows on me.
One thing I do know is that I need to Get serious about practicing my AC welding!

 

 

 

Cheese scone sculpture

This sculpture iam working on clearly represents the termoil of the modern coastal shed dwelling male and his continuous struggle to find cheese scones.

Not really, just a bit of 1 mm steel forming practice, hammer & bag, English Wheel & TIG.
Being a work in progress I can see copper rivets, some brass and a dash of leather lacing getting involved somewhere.