70s Lettering on the Green Machine

Did some lettering on the sides of my van today. I did it in Vinyl because I want to be able to remove it easily when I ever sell this van (or change my name).

I started with black cutouts of the outline and shadow.

Next some special effects foil.

The some ribbon-shapes in chrome foil.

Then pinstriping black outlines and text.

Using airbrush for shadows & highlights. To create depth.

As Bruce Willis would say: "Yippie ca yay, motherfuckers!"

Green on top

The paint on the roof of my Green Machine has suffered from a common sunny-state  ailment: California sunburn. The clear has been desintegrated by UV rays. Plus some idiot has tried to waterproof the sunroof and vent using silicone sealant. He hadn't done a very neat job and although almost nobody can see the top of my van, I can. And I didn't like what I saw.

So, out with the sanding and stripping tools...

I resealed the sunroof with a proper sealant which can be painted over. I also removed the roofrack. It's a really nice vintage piece in super condition but I'm trying to achieve a clean, lean look and it wasn't helping. So, off it came and it's now for sale. If you're ineterested, send me an email. It was made by Topline MFG from aluminium and has little Chrysler logos cut out of the mounts, neat! Would look cool on any Mopar custom van.

I closed the holes left by the roofrack and sanded the roof down for primer. Next I had to prepare the paintbooth for the van.

I had to build some kind of scaffolding to be able to reach the entire roof with the paint gun.

Now it's primer time(r).

I mixed a dark metallic green for a base kolor and sprayed two light coats of a lighter, yellowish green, mixed with some pearl over that. The result doesn't really show in the pictures but it has a nice kolor shift to it.

Seen from the side, the darker roof kolor makes the van look even longer and lower.

I'm really pleased with the result. All the roof needs now is a new vent cover. It's a Jensen 14x 14 inch. I have found some US companies that still supply them (NOS?) but they seem reluctant to ship to the Netherlands for some reason. I'd really like a brown-kolored bubble shape, like the sunroof. Let me know if you know where to find one.

Next week I'll put on my company logo on the sides in period 70's lettering. Watch out!

Liberator finished.

Today I continued work on the flowers on the lib tins.
I left last time after I had painted the flowers blue. Today I removed the stencils.

Then I took a small brush and pinstriped a thin gold size outline around them. Took some time because there are around 25 flowers to be done. Then I put gold leaf on them and here's the result. I am well pleased. Hope the customer is too!

Work in Progress

on the Hawaii Lib.

Done some masking this morning. I had about 25 hibiscus flowers cut out of masking material. I placed them on the tanks & fenders and then peeled out the parts I wanted to paint.

Then I used three shades of blue to kolor them in.

Next I used the airbrush and a dark blue transparant paint to add fades. It gives the flowers "depth".

Then I ran out of time. Will continue tomorrow with gold leaf outlines on the flowers.
Pretty!

Hawaii Liberator

Mark sent me his tins awhile ago for some Hawai-Style decoration. He is building a shiny-looking WLA and has already painted a two-tone kolor scheme himself. Here's a mockup-pic:

He wanted the works: pinups, outlines and hibiscus flowers. For budget reasons, we decided to use stickers for the pinups. Airbrushing them would have cost way too much time and this looks just as cool. Under a few layers of clear, you won't be able to notice they are "fake".

The gold leaf outlines are real, though. I had to tape off the outline and HD logo and spray gold-size (a goldleaf-glue) on the exposed surfaces.

After an hour or so, the gold can be applied. The access is wiped off using a very soft brush.

Et le voila!

The fenders get double outlines:

Next I will add flowers all over. Stay tuned for that update.

Yes! BBS!

Got my Honda over a year ago and have been annoyed by it's ugly-ass alloy wheels. They look way too modern for the typical 80s Honda style. So I've been on the hunt for some more period-perfect wheels. Found these BBS-es this evening! They will fit nicely.