BLACKBIRD (Skylark Convertible)

[The Renaissance Man]

Took the mold back to the fiberglass shop this morning but Terry was busy making Corvette parts all day today. Maybe tomorrow.

Meanwhile back at the farm, the plug was stripped of all of its temporary HDU and hot glue. It will go back in the mold one last time for a nose graft as soon as possible.

 

[OddJob]

Hope the rhinoplasty goes as planned.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The first fender is done but waiting till tomorrow for extra curing time before taking it out of the mold.

The next piece of the puzzle will be a puzzle piece!
I cut it this way to add strength to the upcoming nose job.

It will also get some extra glass behind the fork dimples before I sand them back out.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Ew I like puzzles!

Marigold.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

And so concludes the making of the TRM Mullet Font Fender. (Finally)

The first piece is out of the mold without any unwelcome suprises!

 

[OddJob]

"And like a butterfly from a cocoon, the TRM Mullet Front Fender emerges; with elegance and form that hearken to the past, and hint of the future." ~ OJ (in his best documentary narrator voice)

 

[sandman]

"And like a butterfly from a cocoon, the TRM Mullet Front Fender emerges; with elegance and form that hearken to the past, and hint of the future." ~ OJ (in his best documentary narrator voice)

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee !

 

[kingfish254]

And so concludes the making of the TRM Mullet Font Fender. (Finally)

Which "Font" is that? Is it TRMs New Roman?

Looks awesome by the way! Definitely a Bold Italic statement!!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

TRM Serif Bold. (Extra long serif)

 

[Chad T]

TRM Serif Bold. (Extra long serif)

Good thing you got a fender for the font. Be a shame to get any of that serif on your trousers.

Great job on this! Real eye opener to see how you make your goods.

So you're using the plug for the fender on the build off bike? Will you trim the back of it? Do you have to wax that mold for every part?

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Yes, the plug will be on this bike and yes it will be trimmed. The rear fender was also the original plug for the very first Mullet Fenders.

As a matter of fact, I picked up the font fender this afternoon from the fiberglass shop. The rhinoplasty was a success!

The new mold needs multipal applications of wax before it's used. With time it becomes seasoned and only needs to be waxed after every few times it's used.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Do you think there would be a market for just selling the tips? I can see a set of those on a resto-mod cruiser


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[The Renaissance Man]

There was someoneon on the forum selling a tip similar to that made from cast aluminum. Can't remember his name off the top of my head.
They were pretty cool looking, I bought one myself but haven't used it yet.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

I have one too.
It didn’t quite fit the build I purchased it for, so it’s in the stash......[emoji57]


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[ifitsfreeitsforme]

good watching as always. keep it going.

 

[OddJob]

@Dr. Tankenstein and @The Renaissance Man , your discussion reminded me of this Seinfeld episode...Muffin Tops....

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I put some primer on the nose job and did the first mockup with the new fender today.

The blue tape is where I'm planning to cut the mullets tomorrow. They may still be a little long but it's easier to take more off than to add back on.

So now @OddJob I'll have to figure out what to do with the mullet stumps after I cut them.

 

[OddJob]

I put some primer on the nose job and did the first mockup with the new fender today.

The blue tape is where I'm planning to cut the mullets tomorrow. They may still be a little long but it's easier to take more off than to add back on.
View attachment 101259 View attachment 101260

So now @OddJob I'll have to figure out what to do with the mullet stumps after I cut them.

Feed em to your 'bird'...

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The dingo ate my birdie.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Well, after a six week detour from the primary build to focus on the fender, very little other progress has been made. So I have spent the last couple of evenings staring at the bike, sipping a beer and deciding how or if I can finish it before the deadline.

It has become painfully obvious that I will not be able to complete all of the body work and paint if I proceed with my initial plan for a polished restoration approach to this build. This leaves me with two options: (1) Drop out of the build off or (2) change my plan.

I don't want to loose my momentum so I''ve decided to drop the early Harley Davidson inspired paint job (for now) and take a more familiar rat rod direction.

I have two competing ideas for the finish. I can either take it down to bare metal and go with a traditional hot rod black primer which will allow me to easily take it back apart this winter and continue with finishing the body work and paint, or I can leave most of the patina as is and focus on creating a complimentary faux patina finish on the fenders and tank. My concern is that I'll like the patina and won't ever get back to stripping it all back down for a redo. I've gone back and forth yesterday and today but as I right this post I'm leaning more toward the latter.

Any thoughts?