Vanning


Vanning is a compulsion, an obsession, an occupation, an affliction, a fascination, a fate. It is not a hobby. Those who do it, must. Those who don't, think it's a waste of time. For me it is a calling.

Monday, September 21, 2009

WHAT NEXT ??

The last post was awhile ago. Never fear,I'm still here! Besides being super busy. I have been trying to catch up on some long ignored projects.
I have a customer with a mustang that wants a panel painted with a fink in the car. Got it started but have been waiting for the paint to dry.LOL. This should be finished soon. Did this Lincoln and the olds 442 recently ,also..It was hot that day!!


The saga of the Death star is revving up. the last post had us putting a coat of black down as a base coat. Laying out the graphic panels has been a long process also. They have to be just right. the van is to have the same Star Wars theme as before, but we had to try to include the story of the 3 newest movies. Actually that was a problem. Condensing 6 movies into one vans' worth of scenes was a daunting task. My plan is to strip off all the side stories and concentrate on the main theme of the Star Wars series. That is, the life of Darth Vader/Aniken Skywalker. We see him in movie 1 as a little boy, He progresses to a young adult, who becomes a Jedi knight ,goes bad and is eventually redeemed by his son. The original paint had many murals all over the van depicting scenes from the origional 3 Star Wars movies. The problem was they didn't really show off any of the custom work that had been done to the van. In fact , the murals did much to hide the real shape of the van and you didn't notice all the custom bodywork. What I am striving to do is accentuate the shape of the van.Bring out the bodylines with panels and color along with other details,while working murals into those shapes, to tell a story.

After a year of sketching on paper , it's time to draw on the van with tape. They never transfer without some modification. then after looking at them for a while , it comes off and I do it again,till it looks just right. this was the first draft, it's changed already.... stay tuned....








Monday, September 7, 2009

MAKING A CAREER OUT OF THIS VAN???

Getting this van ready to paint has been a long drawn out process. Besides stripping the paint off, there are a few places where the body needed repair. The gullwing door hinges are stressed and the metal is fatigued beyond welding. We welded a brace to the surface to strengthen the surrounding metal.
The old paint is finally off. Time for primer and block sanding....YUK.
Primer!!!! finally one color!!
And then..................BLOCK SANDING!!! I FEEL LIKE MY ARMS ARE GOING TO FALL OFF!
TOM! ... What did you hit!!! Well, it will soon be a base color, and then the fun begins!!!

C&A Harley show.

Last month I did a show at the local Harley dealer. I've done this show the last several years. It'sbeen a good one. Here are a few of the bikes I did that weekend.






















It was hot that weekend but I had a bay in the building to work out of. I want to thank Adonna for her hospitality. Hope to be there next year!!!