Girthy Gerty

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Well, thanks to the helpful folks on the RRB FB page, and Mr Kingfish himself, they were able to identify my frame as a 1940 CWC bent tank. So I haven't been lying about it being a pre war frame all this time (thank the Gods)
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The finish on that Columbia tank is
powder coat. Paint stripper may work.
My usual go to, Aircraft Stripper, is sold out everywhere in my town. Trying this stuff out. It's working okayish on the fenders, but hasn't begun to touch the tank. I'll try and get my usual stuff after work tomorrow from the next town over.
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Sand blasting will get it off. I had a set of reproduction Columbia fenders in the same color. I scuffed it with scotchbrite and painted it. Its tough stuff!!
 
Even though I've seen your riding pics of this on FB, I finally took the time to step through you build journal to see the steps you went through.
Killer ideas as usual and excellent execution of another bolt on frame stretch. Great looking build!
 
Spent an hour or two late last night with a bucket of water and #OOOO steel wool rubbing on the patina. The bike was originally a green that I was able to identify as Christmas green.
View attachment 196593Somewhere in it's life, it looks like someone tried scraping the paint off with a knife, then painted at least the front half red. There's no red paint on the seat tube or rear endView attachment 196590View attachment 196591View attachment 196592View attachment 196594
This is going to make matching the frame's patina on the tank and fenders infinitely more difficult, but I accept this challenge
With fire in the background, it looks as if you are doing a ritual of some sort.
I like the workplace vibe! (from a long line of blacksmiths, but not me)
 
It's a crying shame how little paint is left overall on the frame. It's no wonder I couldn't tell what color it was when I first picked it up. I'm going to put some matt clear coat on the frame to preserve the finish and help prevent more rust from forming. I can already see that I bought way too much green paint and not enough rust and steel colors for the tank and fenders
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With fire in the background, it looks as if you are doing a ritual of some sort.
I like the workplace vibe! (from a long line of blacksmiths, but not me)
If it would get rid of the Mosquitopocalypse that is currently upon my area, I'm willing to be a part of some rituals. Lol, thanks for the compliment on my crazy backyard
 
Color update:
Christmas green is one single shade too bright and cheery to match the existing paint. Not bad for using my phone as a color reference when mixing paints. A drop or two of regular green and it's set.
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In other news, remember that airplane I bought?
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It's better than I imagined it would look and work. Two problems though. Nothing on my bike is going to be shiny, and it seems kind of small. Which is no longer a problem, because I came across this Lockheed P-38 model kit in a thrift store today.
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And to make it better, everything in the booth was half off! Scha wing! Going to put it together ASAP, then it will be mounted right on the gooseneck bolt
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Color update:
Christmas green is one single shade too bright and cheery to match the existing paint. Not bad for using my phone as a color reference when mixing paints. A drop or two of regular green and it's set.
View attachment 196748
In other news, remember that airplane I bought?View attachment 196749It's better than I imagined it would look and work. Two problems though. Nothing on my bike is going to be shiny, and it seems kind of small. Which is no longer a problem, because I came across this Lockheed P-38 model kit in a thrift store today.
View attachment 196750 And to make it better, everything in the booth was half off! Scha wing! Going to put it together ASAP, then it will be mounted right on the gooseneck boltView attachment 196751View attachment 196752View attachment 196753

Any progress on the cool plane model bash up?
 
What a crazy couple of weeks it's been. I've been working 50+ hours a week since February and it's been taking it's toll. I finally got a few days off to rest and relax, and decided to try to finish my bike. Got the 100mm rim laced onto the rear hub and realized it's just a bit too much
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Then mounted the chain guard and went back to the regular spring saddle. I threw an old project Springer I started last year on it because my Higgins Springer came up MIA. Once I finish painting the fenders, rims and tank to match the frames patina, I'll call it done
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And here I was, about to accuse my friend of moving the Higgins fork, never to be seen again, nearly went full Karen mode. Then I moved my coat and found it. Lol. And then I also realized that this steer tube is bent almost as badly as the one I still intend on putting on this bike. Oh well, at least this one's threads aren't destroyed
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This is the one I still want to put on. I just got my MIG gas refilled, so I can finally get to work on making it functional again.
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