Let's carpe this diem
Girthy Gerty
- Thread starter LeMad Hatter
- Start date
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The $5 patina combo. Dollar store oven cleaner and scrubby pad to clean the paint down to bare metal, then beer and white vinegar to accelerate rust growth
Oh, you thought the beer was for me? Silly rabbit, beer is for rust
Oh, you thought the beer was for me? Silly rabbit, beer is for rust
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I declare Alcohol Abuse!
Oh, it was for a bike…
Carry on!
That fender over that tire looks awesome.
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
Naw It's all good, it's Bud light
As my family calls it: Butt Wipe, lol
Really love this build it and the Full Monty, they are inspiring a future build for me.
The Renaissance Man
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Very ratisfying build! Heaps of rattitude! 
Love the rat cocktail!
After 12 hours of cooking in the rat cocktail, this is the progress. The rust layer is still extremely fragile, but it's looking pretty good
So I finally have some time to do a little faux-tina, which is one of my favorite paint methods. You'd think that with my background of painting $750k-1.5 million offshore racing powerboats, I'd like to keep things shiny and pristine
Nope.
Shiny paint is cool and all, but it's such a pain in the ... to keep up on. Which is where my love of Rat Rods comes from.
So, first things first, you need to match the major rust colors you're replicating
I decided to keep the tank on the bike for easier color and texture reference, so I ran tape around the tank
Next, I base painted the majority of where I want the rust to be, which was the top 2/3 of the tank. There's very little actual paint left on my frame, but I wanted some color to tie this repop Columbia tank into the fenders. The bottom half seemed like the best option. After getting a solid color, I went back and stipple painted some texture and a few other rust colors to give more depth and variety
Then I added in the main colors of the bike, red and green.
I made the colors much bolder and more obvious than intended, because I plan on going back over them and muting them out with more rust color to tie everything together
And here you can see the contrast between the original blue paint and the Faux-tina paint. After the new paint dries for a few hours, I'll rub some linseed oil on it to bring the shine up to match the frame.
Oh, I forgot to mention. All of this faux-tina paint, and the brushes used, only cost me $3.50. It's cheap craft acrylic paint I got from Walmart, the same stuff kids use to paint Christmas decorations
Nope.
Shiny paint is cool and all, but it's such a pain in the ... to keep up on. Which is where my love of Rat Rods comes from.
So, first things first, you need to match the major rust colors you're replicating
I decided to keep the tank on the bike for easier color and texture reference, so I ran tape around the tank
Next, I base painted the majority of where I want the rust to be, which was the top 2/3 of the tank. There's very little actual paint left on my frame, but I wanted some color to tie this repop Columbia tank into the fenders. The bottom half seemed like the best option. After getting a solid color, I went back and stipple painted some texture and a few other rust colors to give more depth and variety
Oh, I forgot to mention. All of this faux-tina paint, and the brushes used, only cost me $3.50. It's cheap craft acrylic paint I got from Walmart, the same stuff kids use to paint Christmas decorations
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MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
That is fantastic, thanks for the step by step guide
RaTina?! OhhHHHhh YeaaaahhHHhh!!
Nice work. Can't remember if I saw it in the photos, did you rust-ify that righteous rear swing arm too? Earlier photos showed it still as just bare metal.
Nice work. Can't remember if I saw it in the photos, did you rust-ify that righteous rear swing arm too? Earlier photos showed it still as just bare metal.
I'm working on it right now, as well as a few other final details
You know I just had to try it. Even with that righteous rear fender and tire, it still felt like something was missing. So I quickly fabbed a rear cargo rack to hug the fender
I lined the upright support legs up with the seat stay notches of the fender
And to top it off, a 1924 Michigan license plate
I lined the upright support legs up with the seat stay notches of the fender
And to top it off, a 1924 Michigan license plate
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How is it to pedal? Very cool stance!
It's heavy, but between the Springer fork and the seat springs, it rides like a Cadillac
I miss this look already....
Two words...OJ Awards....
Two words...OJ Awards....
Well stick a fork in this turkey cause the chicken done crossed the road. Or however that phrase goes... Anywho, Gerty's finally done. Finished the faux-tina this morning, repainted the wheels, and installed the brake light/rocket pack.
Sorcery!!
