BO15 RaTs GaSs...Great year all!...pg 26

[Psychographic]

Unless you know what the plastic/acrylic piece is made of so you can match the paint, it can be very difficult to get it to adhere. It will usually stand up to average wear, but not masking. If I could be sure that the Metalcast would have stood up to masking, I would have liked to put that down first.

I had no trust in the size holding up to masking either, as it could be masked afterwords to spray the Metalcast. An adhesion promoter might have worked, but again, I didn't want to risk messing up your part.


I bet a candy yellow lacquer would have worked. I just don't have any clear lacquer to mix up the concentrate with. The problem with lacquer, it can craze some plastics. Sometimes your darned if you do, sometimes not!


There is always next time!

 

[Johnny Wolf]

Looks great!!! I love everything drag race related. I have one question. When you striped with the black, why not separate the flames like one of these options

:

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Love the engine turned gold leaf!

 

[Psychographic]

Looks great!!! I love everything drag race related. I have one question. When you striped with the black, why not separate the flames like one of these optionsView attachment 132692View attachment 132693:

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, it depends on my mood and what I want to see as a final design.

 

[Captain Awesome]

Engine turning gets my engine turning

 

[kingfish254]

Great story and killer work @Psychographic ! I like option 2 the best. It really fits the vibe of the bike and matches well too.

 

[OddJob]

So far we have lots of likes, a few comments, and only one vote. Thank you Kingfish for reading all the way through the text!

Yellow panel : 0
Clear panel with logo: 1
Clear panel and yellow panel together: 0

The primaries are waning guys! What say ye?

 

[Captain Awesome]

Clear panel and yellow panel together:

This gets my vote

 

[kingfish254]

So far we have lots of likes, a few comments, and only one vote. Thank you Kingfish for reading all the way through the text!

Yellow panel : 0
Clear panel with logo: 1
Clear panel and yellow panel together: 0

The primaries are waning guys! What say ye?

Maybe everyone else is mailing their ballots in?

 

[kingfish254]

Also you turned another page, so you may want to repost the pics and question this page.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Maybe everyone else is mailing their ballots in?

I'll make sure mine gets there by Nov. 4th.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Like @Psychographic pointed out, I would be reluctant to do anything that might damage the gold leaf work. My vote is for the second choice unless you can safely sandwich a yellow panel over each side.

 

[handyandy1100]

RaTs GaSs GlaSs ...... the LaSt step!

Last Fall during the Muscle Bike / 20" wheeled build off, I got to know @Psychographic a bit during convos related to our builds. This Spring, once the BO #15 got underway, we were soon back at it exchanging ideas and tips on my insights related to the 'mechanics' of a bicycle and his specialty, custom painting and graphic design.

I was able to help out with some specific bike parts that would work with Cyrus ( hot rod trike build) and in return, he said that he would like to paint up a tank insert for RaTs GaSs. I had made two of the acrylic inserts for RG, in case I broke one of them, so along with a couple specialty bike parts, I shipped the clear acrylic one off to Dave.

Last night I came home to a very cool surprise sitting on my front step! As I broke the seal, I recognized the handwriting on the card board protective padding....

View attachment 132672

I popped it open and found this!

View attachment 132670View attachment 132671

It really catches the light on the 'hand turned' gold leaf in person! And I really dig the flame design too. I asked Psycho a couple questions about the A/RG designation this morning, and about his process in making the panel. What follows are his insights, and some process photos along the way.

"
It's been a long time since I've followed drag racing, so I'm not sure I'm 100% correct on this.

The letters represent weight and class. IIRC the designation for the lightest Gasser was A/Gas. Most of the cars had the lettering on the glass. If anyone who knows old time drag racing sees that along with all the other cool stuff you did, will know it's a Gasser Bike.

As for the gold, that is 18k Lemon Gold Leaf.

To apply it you paint the surface with Gold Size, which is an amber tinted clear of some sort. If you look, the can also has 3 patches of Gold Size on it. I am using a quick size which will be ready in 30-60 minutes, but has a short working time. A slow size takes about 24 hours to set.

View attachment 132675

Using the 3 patches on the can,,,,,,,

After 30 minutes I check the size on the first patch by touching it with my knuckle, it should stick slightly, and pull away without any sticking to me. If it's good, I apply the leaf. I use patent leaf with the about a 3" square of gold, lightly stuck to a piece of tissue like paper. Gold leaf is EXTREMELY fragile, you can blow on it and tear it to pieces. I place the sheet over the Size and lightly rub the back to help it contact the Size. Repeat until everything is covered. I then try to spin the gold ( more on that in a bit), if it tears the size was still too wet. If so wait another 10-15 minutes and try the next patch. If it tears again, Repeat with #3. By now it should be ready.

You can see a sheet of leaf in the upper right.

View attachment 132676

Using a soft make-up brush, I brush the excess gold off. Such a waste!!

The make-up brush on the left. My spinner is on the right. It's a piece of dowel this a notch filed around it, and drilled for a smaller rod to be the handle. The end is cushioned with cotton balls, then wrapped in velvet, and held in place with a rubber O-ring that fits in the filed groove.

View attachment 132677

Now it's time to spin the gold. I do it by hand, putting slight pressure on the gold. The velvet actually polishes and leaves micro fine scratches that catches the light .

View attachment 132678

The gold is adhered very well, but easily scratched, so I clear it as soon as possible, about 6-24 hours later.

Then it's time to brush in the black.

View attachment 132681

This was the first time I had to mirror an image on something clear, it was a bit of a challenge making sure both sides lined up. "



So there you have it. This is just another example of the sharing of skills, ideas, tips, and general 'good will exchange' that we all experience on this forum~!

Now, it's time for your input. Below I have three options; keep the yellow stained glass panel, replace it with the new clear / logo panel, or use both of them in the tank insert area.

Here are the photos, cast your votes!

View attachment 132673View attachment 132674View attachment 132669

The middle one, clear with logo.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[Psychographic]

I can't vote, I'm a bit biased.

 

[Brian macumber]

I vote clear with logo.

 

[Johnny Wolf]

I vote clear panel, already a lot going on and makes it look like it's floating in there.

 

[OddJob]

I vote clear panel, already a lot going on and makes it look like it's floating in there.

Yeah, that floating flame.....second year in a row....

 

[KJV]

If you have ever seen a rat fink animated cartoon, animated-cartoon, ; would notice:
RF ,, taps his pinky toes.
Also: the toe is not raised in on every figurine, or in every drawing of RF.

 

[OddJob]

Thanks everyone for casting your votes on the tank panels! And thank you @Psychographic for your cool custom design which will now be featured on RaTs GaSs !

I'm going clear panel with the A/RG logo. Now all I have to do is get some cool photos to choose from for my Final Voting Photo and put up my Finished Thread. Wish me luck!

Oh and, btw, I did get the guitar finished on Saturday night..... been playing it ever since.

 

[Psychographic]

I am going to caution you on clearing that panel. My lettering enamels don't play well with most clears.

Great looking guitar. I missed your performance last night, I was sound asleep at 8:30.