Gallery

Native PEARL

This customer was a joy to work with, for she shared my passion for horses and Native American design. She brought in a t-shirt depicting what was to go on the sides of the tank, but let me design the top pattern. I handed her the House of Kolor chip book and asked her which colors she would like to incorporate. She chose Ketchme Kopper, Goldmine Pearl, Cinnamon Pearl, and Lite Teal Pearl. The following week I called her to come see if she liked any of the designs I had come up with. She choose one that resonated best with her (which was also my favorite) and the estimate was drawn up, the down payment received, and the work began.

This bike started with an after market tank so the interior needed to be pressure tested and sealed at Tank Re-Nu. Then the tank welds were smoothed and panels straightened resulting in 5 hours of bodywork labor. The front and rear fenders are made of fiberglass and did not require any bodywork. After the primer-surfacer was cured and sanded, and all parts deemed perfectly straight, the sealer was sprayed followed by a white base color, an opalescent pearl, and the clear coats. Now it was time for the graphics. It didn't work to have all the graphics being the same size since the rear fender was so much wider than the front. So I adjusted the widths until each panel was equal in its size difference from front fender-to tank-to rear fender. Then I wanted the front fender to have some sort of starting design.

I altered the diamond design until I came up with something that met my satisfaction. Then with the top designs pretty much in order, I turned my attention to the t-shirt she had brought in. I copied the design with tracing paper, then placed it on my light box and covered it with a adhesive mask that I could cut the design out of with an exacto blade. Then I turned the design over and repeated the process for the other side of the tank. Then for the lettering, I went to the local print shop and picked out a font similar to the one on the t-shirt and they had their nifty machine cut out a stencil for me in a few minutes. So now that all my stencils were ready, it was time to wet sand the clear to ensure the proper adhesion for the graphics that were to follow. The 'spirit horse' stencils were applied to the sides of the tank and the three pearls were sprayed, one fading into the other. Then the Lite Teal pearl panels were laced out on the top of the tank and fenders and sprayed. Then intercoat clear was sprayed over all. A light scuffing for adhesion, and the next color to be laid out was the Ketchme Kopper. After that was sprayed, some more intercoat clear was added to protect the pearls from tape marks.

Then back taping was done, and the insides of the diamonds were exposed along with the inner section of the 'butterfly' type design. That allowed for the Goldmine pearl to be sprayed, followed by intercoat clear. The 'wing' section of the butterfly design was back taped so the Cinnamon pearl could be sprayed there, along with fading it into the inner section of the diamond. Then it was time for clear, and lots of it! I needed all the paint edges to become level so when I placed and sprayed the Harley Davidson lettering over the spirit horses, it would be a level surface. Otherwise, a edge line would appear in the paint. So after clearing, and sanding, and clearing, and sanding, and yep once more, it was time to spray the company name we've all come to know and love. Then a few more coats of clear to re-level the paint, some sanding and buffing, and it was complete.