tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 22, 2014 10:01:48 GMT
|
Fantastic. Love it! The lock-up next to mine hasn't been opened in at least 10 years. I poked a camera through a gap and took a pic to see what was inside, it's another Standard 8! I'm tempted to track down the owner and see about restoring it. It looks solid and is dry.
|
|
Last Edit: Dec 22, 2014 10:03:35 GMT by tdk
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
|
I love your enthusiasm for a car that really should have bankrupted you by now. Keep up the good work, Sir !
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
|
my dad trained as a Signwriter many years ago when nearly everything was Gold leaf. Had to his Nat. service early 50's so what did the RAF give him? painting Vulcans!! Applying golf leaf is fascinating, Dad also paints 'honours boards' in gold leaf and varnish, the way it changes colour in the light is beautiful. Gold leaf comes on incredibly thin paper and is really tricky to handle. I'll dig out some pics. On black paint gold leaf looks incredible. Proper sign writing makes all the difference.
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 19, 2014 21:44:16 GMT
|
My dad used to do some sign writing but sadly passed away 20 years ago. I'm currently restoring an anglia van and in memory of my dad I want it sign written with his business. Where in the country are you as it would be great if your dad could do this for me. I'm sure Dad would love to help. He used to have an Anglia too. He's based in Leicestershire. Drop me an email and I'll put you in touch - r i c h (at) motorpunk . c o . u k
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 19, 2014 18:37:23 GMT
|
Thanks folks.
He does quite a few things like vintage registration plates, signwriting on old vans, coachlines and pin-stripes, and gold leaf on glass. I grew up with this and still find it fascinating to watch. As he's winding down for retirement he is now painting paintaings (y'know, to be framed), he's doing me a beautiful art deco style Bugatti pic for christmas (so Santa says). I'll pass on your kind words (he's not an online kind of chap)
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 19, 2014 15:27:15 GMT
|
I wrote this for MotorPunk, I thought RRers might like a little lesson in traditional signwriting;I can see why vinyl stickers have slowly replaced traditional signwriting in many areas, they’re quick and cheap and can be made by anyone. Traditional signwriting, on the other hand, takes years to learn. The creation of a font, design and application of the layout and mixing of the paint is an artform in itself. And that’s before you get to the brushwork. Once you’ve seen this, first hand, you start to appreciate the quality in traditional signwriting. I saw it first hand growing up because this was my Dad’s job, and still is. Here’s how it is done; Starting with the font, look at the capital letter E. The ‘legs’ of an E are usually the same length, or perhaps the middle one is slightly shorter, depending on the font. When placed at the start of a word a capital E can look ever-so-slightly overbearing. The traditional Signwriter will often lop a few mm (actually, they tend to talk in fractions of inches) off the top ‘leg’ to better balance it against the rest of the word. Round letters, such as Os or Qs are often made slightly taller than the letters either side of them. Why? Because it just looks right. To transfer the design onto the vehicle (or sign) you have to get your hands mucky. A batch of chalk is mixed up (secret recipe, apparently) and left to set. Then the design is drawn onto tracing paper and placed on a board. A pinwheel is then run over the outline of each letter or shape, perforating the tracing paper, and the tracing paper carefully taped into position on the side of the vehicle. The chalk mix is then gently rubbed on the tracing paper which is then removed to leave a feint chalk outline in dots to be painted. This is far from precise so the Signwriter will have to understand the arcs and angles of each letter to be painted to make it look perfect. This takes some time of course and as an added challenge it is often done when standing on some ancient wooden plank and trestles, accessed by a ladder, a set-up with less structural integrity than an Ikea bookcase. The paint. You can buy pots of it or mix it yourself to get something special. The Signwriter will know just how much red to be added to yellow to get the right shade of orange. No weights, no measures, just slop it into a can and stir it, colours graded by eye. Remnants are saved in sealed paint tins for possible touch-ups in the future. Rolls Royce save slithers of wood veneer for future repairs on their car dashboards to ensure a perfect match. The same applies with the Signwriters paint. Paint tins are named “Triumph grey”, “almost Oxford Blue”, “Rancid brown for Dave with the Norton” and “intimate rash red” and stored for decades. Just in case. The brushes are made from sable and stored in grease. One of an appropriate size is picked and cleaned and the paint it applied. It is extremely tricky to get letters perfect, landscape painters will let the brush flow with the scenery, a hedge doesn’t have to be perfect, yet a letter often half an inch high needs to be square and true to it’s original design and it’s neighbouring letters. Masking tape will ensure dead straight top and bottoms of square letters but the rest is freehand and when it has been painted, it often needs an even more accurate second coat to cover. Stickers are not like this, no CTRL+P here, this is art. A marl stick gives the signwriter a 3rd arm, something to rest on and like the rest of his equipment it will be covered in a thousand dried drops of home-brewed paint of a million colours. In fact, my Dad’s jeans could almost stand up on their own, march into B&Q and say “colour match this!” There are countless other skills required: Woodworking, varnishing, application of gold leaf and drinking your Son’s tea whilst he looks through a million google images for you to find a design lost for half a century. No, I have haven’t any more biscuits, you had the last of the jaffa cakes last time you dropped in the office. This job is not without hazards. Dads (mine) distracted by inquisitive lads (me) might be distracted enough to paint the word ‘telephoooone’ as signwriting requires ultimate concentration and isn’t something you can multi-task. Clients can argue the Signwriter hasn’t quite matched the desired shade of purple, before admitting they are colour blind. Tides can mean that designs painted onto moored boats, whilst standing on the quayside over the duration of a day, can run downhill. Wherever the signwriter works, though, people always stop to admire his skill and notice the beautiful craftmanship. Look at this WIP radiator cap; Signwritten paint will flow into grooves and grains in wood, over rivets and hinges and the finished writing will look part of the surface, glossy, free from fade and not likely to be picked off in a pub car park. Above all, like on this beautiful vintage Guy truck, it will just look so right. More pics here: www.motorpunk.co.uk/articles/traditional-signwriting/If anyone wants any signwriting feel free to drop me a line, Dad is semi-retired now but loves his job and helping folks with interesting cars, vans and trucks.
|
|
Last Edit: Dec 19, 2014 15:30:02 GMT by tdk
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
|
Good photos in the article too. Thanks! The best ones were taken by my 9 year old daughter on an iPhone 4 (!) I've invested in a decent camera this year and will catch up with Paul again to see what he is currently creating
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
|
I've had an E30 325, E34 525, E39 528 and an E46 330. Three things spring to mind: 1-Autos are always very thirsty. 2-Petrol prices absolutely will go up again. 3-A manual will be more fun and more economical and there are lots of cars to choose from. Good luck
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 18, 2014 18:18:51 GMT
|
Fantastic year! Will do something similar
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 18, 2014 10:01:01 GMT
|
Instead of starting a new thread I thought I'd bump this one. I went to see Paul who built the Cosmotron last year, actually I met him in Leicester, and took a few pics for MotorPunk. The full article is online here: www.motorpunk.co.uk/articles/cosmotron/ if anyone is interested.
|
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 17, 2014 19:51:36 GMT
|
Absolutely loved that! Thanks! our next one is out soon. Mk2 Jag and XJR featured. And a steam train. And I got nicked when filming!
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 17, 2014 19:48:27 GMT
|
Did anyone see how much it went for? I'd love one of these. I'm filming a documentary about Tatra next month, fascinating company and great machines!
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 17, 2014 19:35:40 GMT
|
This looks good. I've a road trip planned next summer in something interesting, I'll be visiting Reims and Clermont Ferrand, maybe I could add this in...
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 17, 2014 19:27:04 GMT
|
Oh God. I think I'm missing my Metro.
Our next trip looks like Jaguars on ice. Watch this space.
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 17, 2014 19:23:59 GMT
|
Good on you for helping your mate's business. I'm about an hour away and often have something interesting. Being frank; I don't want to stand in a wet car park looking at a handful of ordinary-ish cars, but if the sun is shining and you've got some interesting cars coming then I would make the effort with something cool. Good luck!
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 16, 2014 12:17:09 GMT
|
That's silly. Very silly. I like it.
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
|
Have fun. I've done this trip many times and FWIW I also suggest avoiding Brusselles, it's expensive, dirty, crowded and not much fun.
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 11, 2014 11:15:34 GMT
|
Love this thread, classic RR, I'm learning lots!
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 11, 2014 11:12:01 GMT
|
Bring the Jag! It qualifies for class H "over 2 litre" and also class H "British sportscars" Aha Jag as a 'sportscar' eh? Thats stretching the meaning of that word to the absolute limit If it wasn't getting sold early next year I'd be very tempted. We'll see what replaces it and then I may come along to a sprint or two You would be welcome. Is this advance bookings only or is there a certain amount of turn up on the day and hope there maybe some slots free? I'm interested but don't know if/when I'm free until very close to the dates due to work commitments, and also need to sort out my fleet of toys too! We expect to be pretty well booked up for most of the year, but if you send an email even the day before the event it would be a big help for the organiser. I'm sure we can squeeze you in some time. Drop us a line!
|
|
|
|
tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
|
|
Dec 10, 2014 14:22:43 GMT
|
Will be aiming for the March or April events, need to do some preparation first. Great. Get your finger out
|
|
|
|