Custom House of Kolor Geiger Bike

This custom paint project is all done and gathers a crowd wherever I go. It came out great and as with every artist I know I could have put more hours tweaking the work. Eventually you have to put the airbrush down and say enough is enough. Here are a few more pictures in random stages of the project.

 

 

 

 

 

All image copyright Digital Air Studios 2012

 

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Custom Geiger Stratoliner Bike Tank

This was a great project and the more I painted the easier the various textures got. When I started this custom paint I was not sure how I was going to tackle some of the features but as I moved forward many of the complex effects were quite simple to create.

As always this bike had to start from scratch. I had to sand out the factory Pinstriping on the Stratoliner. Sprayed high build primer/Surfacer and after sanding it smooth with 600 grit it was ready for basecoat and then clear to protect the surface and lock in the color. I wetsand the clear with 800 grit wet and I was ready for my real passion, airbrushing.

Step one was to mask off the areas I did not want to paint on. Here you can see where I masked the areas that were going to be pipes and the stressed metal effect.

Using House of Kolor white I create the layout of my design and work on building the shadow areas.

 

This picture show the final work before clear. I used House of Kolor black to render the details and all the shadowing. I went over the black with white to enhance the highlights and then with the black to darken any area that required it. By layering the white I was able to created different tones making it look like I used more colors.

The stressed metal and rivets were the final step. I sprayed diluted white over the grey basecoat using Airsick Stencils to create the texture and then came in with black to define the lines and create a aged look.

 

It was off for 4 coats of clear, wetsand with 800 grit and then 3 more coats of clear. Starting with 1000 wet and moving to 1500, 2000 and finally 3000 I was ready for buff an polish.

 

Here is a final shot I took of the tank. I was on a late fall ride and passed a cemetery with a dirt road access. I turned around and came back for a few shots. It was too hard to resist.

 

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Custom Geiger Bike

I am finally getting these photos of the Geiger Theme custom painted motorcycle. The project was a lot of fun and the first time I used House of Kolor for detailed airbrush work.

Once I had my design idea down I started the process. I masked out where I was going to create a rusted metal tube effect. This would keep the area clean until required. Using a paper cutout I lightly sprayed a blueprint of the skulls and other components. For this project i would use leftover House of Kolor paint from another project.

I would create this using only white and black paint. At this point I was not worried about detail. This would give me a good starting point and as with most projects, I would probably modify it as I moved forward.

 

The next step is to start hitting the layout with more detail and start working on the shadowed areas. This is where you start to see the design take shape.

Once I am done with the white I started with House of Kolor Black and started working in the detail. Using masking and Airsick templates for textures I worked on the background features. Airsick stencils have great grunge style templates that work great when creating old rusted metal. I also used the stencils to create textures in the skulls. Airsickstencils.com

 

 

 

Here you can see the tube effect. Once I remove the tape it gave me the base for the tubes and it was just a matter of adding texture and shading.

 

Finally I use white to highlight areas and add the smoke. Then it's off for clear. Below is the completed front fender.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kustompaint.ca

Custom Stratoliner Saddlebags

Now that I had finally caught up with my projects it was time to finally start on my bike. I had stripped it last fall to paint but paid projects took precedence.

I was planning on a biomechanical theme bike with artwork similar to Geiger. One of Geiger's famous art pieces was the starting point for my design. From there I had no idea where I was going.

The first thing that was for sure was that I wanted to strip the vinyl covering on the saddlebags. The vinyl was getting ratty and I wanted more space to paint. Space that would demonstrate my skills.

 

I had no idea what I getting into and wether I was destroying the bags. I was going to find out.

Stripping the Stratoliner saddle bag was a little more effort than expected but well worth the effort.

With a Xacto knife I first cut the stitches. I was not sure what to expect when I stripped the vinyl. I was expecting glue but to my surprise there was none. The vinyl stripped off fairly easily and within the hour I had the bag stripped.

Once stripped I realized I had work to do. A primer by itself would be enough.

The first step was to sand the surface with 80 grit to give the surface good tooth for the primer.

Here you can see the bag after a good saning. I then cleaned the surface and sprayed the bags with SEM Plastic Adhesion promoter and when ready primed it with SEM Flexible Surfacer. When dry I sanded the surface lightly. I was going to reprime so I was not worried if the surface was smooth. I only wanted to create tooth for the body fill and high build primer.

 

I used SEM No Swell Plastic filler to smooth out the surfaces. The one thing I was not expecting was the stitching holes that had to be filled. The previous owner also screwed a license plate bracket into the bag so I had to fill those holes. I sanded smooth and it was back to the spray booth for more primer. This time I was using Evercoat 2:1 high build. This stuff works great and covers well.

I used 220 grit to sand the primer smooth. I was getting pretty tired of sanding these bags but it would all be worth it. Once cleaned off it was back to to booth for basecoat and clear.

Here you can see the saddle bag ready for artwork. I wetsand the bag with 600 grit to give me a perfect surface. The green tape defines where I will create the ripped metal effect and the biomechanical effect.

 

 

Using House of Kolor white. I start the design. Working from the front to back I airbrush Geigers skull artwork to the bag.

 

Here you can see that I've started to shade and add detail. I am using House of Kolor Black and have slightly over reduced it to give me more detail but you have to be careful not to blow out. I also used Airsick Stencils to create the textures and grunge effects.

 

 

 

I continue with the black until I have painted the entire design. Using House of Kolor white I go back and add highlight to the design.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the final bag all cleared and on the bike. The work was worth the effort and the bags turned out great. You can check out more pictures at kustompaint.ca or orangepaintfactory.com

I will blog the rest of the bike custom paint process for the entire Geiger Theme Stratoliner Custom House of Kolor Bike.

 

Kustompaint.ca