37 colson

[ozzmonaut]

I picked this up from slick. I have since welded in the rear fender stay that was missing and done a lot of sanding. I'll put up a progress pic shortly. But here is how it started out. Once I started sanding the paint off I found that the dull white was originally a mint green or light blue color. So now I'm thinking of going with black to the rear and a metallic mint green towards the front.

 

[Ratfink1962]

Sweet! nice project. 8)

Hope to start on my 38 Colson Tandem here soon!

 

[ozzmonaut]

Right now the rear is duplicolor flat black laquer. Not only was it 99 cents a can at ollies , but it tends to create a smoother and more consistent base before covering with a gloss paint. The front is duplicolor metallic Hampsted green. I know metallic colors weren't correct in 37, but I wanted this bike to have an odd but subtle contrast. Hopefully this will achieve it. The fork will also be gloss black with green striping. Any thoughts?

 

[scott brownsey]

cool build goodluck

 

[ozzmonaut]

Here's the initial color layout. I put a second coat of the green on, so after it is dry I'll tape off some spikes like on the original paint. Then I'll start laying on some gloss black. Also going with the long green diamonds on the seat tube.

 

[Crassly]

You probably know this, but the fork is designed for the "waterfall" headbadge. Repros are out there and the going price is about $100 a pop. Since the frame has a head badge, you would have to assume that the fork is not original to the frame. But who knows, the day they were putting it together at the factory maybe the regular fork bin was empty.

 

[axsepul]

Very nice. This frame is very similar to the x-114 I'm building. Next bike I get will probably be a colson or a pre war schwinn dx. What ever shows up first, at a good price of course!

 

[scott brownsey]

looks cool

 

[ozzmonaut]

The holes are there for the badge. The underlying paint on the fork matched that of the frame. Who knows. I'm just going to shine up the colson badge and ride it like it is. Those waterfall badges look cool though. I might change it up depending on what I find.

 

[ozzmonaut]

Some skiptooth wheels with morrow hub. One more coat of white to go. I'm going to sand the spokes anyway to clean them a bit so I'll get the overspray then.

 

[ozzmonaut]

I moved my pics in photobucket and they disappeared...should be back now

 

[ozzmonaut]

I've decided to step away from tradition a little bit on this one. Probably gonna ditch the spikes in the paint layout. I feel like I want to incorporate a little more of the green into the frame so I might lay down the gloss black behind the green and then lightly spray green at the border to do a "fade", even though it won't actually fade from green to black I think it will look nice. I'm also making my own headbadge and it's going to be huge and very picturesque. I should be able to start on the badge on Friday, my next day off work. I've put down the green at the front of the front fender and back of the rear fender. Now I'm waiting on this paint to cure enough so I can tape stuff off without the tape pulling the paint. Luckily I can leave parts next to the woodstove at night and probably cut the cure time in half.

 

[ozzmonaut]

Here's the fork, rear fender, and the start of the headbadge I'll cut it with tin snips and clean up the edges. Then I'll punch the screw holes. One will be in the center of the windmill blades, and the other 2 3/16" below that.

 

[ozzmonaut]

I have hit a bit of a roadblock. I was going to go with the metallic green and gloss black, but after looking at the frame, I'm wondering if I night go with the flat black. The whole set will be getting a very glossy and durable clearcoat. I feel like the gloss black might make it too nice to put older parts on. Any comments or ideas on this? The dropstand will not look new, the handlebars might, but I want to leave the option open for older handlebars if the chance comes up. I don't want it to look too restored with a bunch of faded or rusted pieces incorporated.

 

[ozzmonaut]

Ok, here is the results of my endeavor to make a headbadge. I still need to remove it and clean a little more around the edges, but the holes lined up perfectly and all of that. Still a little stuck on whether to go with flat black or gloss.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Like the green you chose and how you blended it with the black
Where did you get the headbadge? It's very detailed and you did a nice job of installing it
Looking forward to seeing it together. Good Luck!

 

[ozzmonaut]

Thanks for the comment. I didn't think anybody was watching this build. I haven't actually blended the green and black yet. I'm still on the fence about going with flat or glossy black. I'm not even sure whether to tape and paint or fade the two. The green is a metallic mint green inspired by the original frame colors. I wanted this build to be vintage but funky. I think I'll go with gloss black for the rear but I'm still thinking on it. The brass was from a stamped flue cap. It is thin and flexible, but most of all decorative. I wanted this build to have some significant brass, so this was it. I may still paint the trusses brass color, but I'm not sure. I just cut out what I needed from the brass(wish I'd used a bit more), and shaped it to fit. It doesn't say "COLSON" but it feels vintage and seems to fit the persona of the bike. This will be coming together a little quicker now, so please check back. As always, comments (positive or negative) are appreciated. I haven't really blended custom and vintage this way before so any thoughts to help me achieve a nice look might help. Thanks

 

[ozzmonaut]

I decided on the gloss black and I'm very happy with it. Fenders are done. The paint went down so good. It's more difficult using accents that are lighter than the main color. I had to paint the area green then tape over what I needed to stay green, since it would be difficult to lay that light green over the black.

 

[jalopyjimmy13]

yeah there ya go

 

[ozzmonaut]

Here's the chainguard