My Queen crest Buddy

LuvMyScoot · Post by **LuvMyScoot** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 3:57 am

I took advantage of the rain we had all last week to paint the Queen crest on the front panel. It's much more colorful than the picture shows and I haven't added the gloss coat yet because once I do there's no going back and there's still some corrections to be made. However today it was 86 and there was no way I was going to pass that up just because of a couple of flaws in a painting that most people only see whizzing by at 50 MPH!

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 3:58 am

You painted that???

Wow. Nice job! God save the Queen!

bigbropgo · Post by **bigbropgo** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 4:04 am

Skootz Kabootz wrote:You painted that??? Wow. Nice job! God save the Queen!

Wow! Looks great.

LuvMyScoot · Post by **LuvMyScoot** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 4:16 am

Thanks, guys. I had to paint the faces of the fairies with a freaking magnifying glass and a brush which has about 6 hairs. I was sweating the whole time too. I was glad to the that done, I'll tell ya.

dakotamouse · Post by **dakotamouse** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 4:32 am

DANG!!!! That's nice!

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 1:46 pm

I call shenanigans. That's too good to not be a decal.

Seriously, nice work. I'd stop riding until you can get a protective coating on it. This time of year there's clouds of pollen (excessive washing before a protective coat can be applied) and bugs-bugs-bugs (kamikazi splatter pellets with a talent for hitting visors or anything you don't want messy).

hcstrider · Post by **hcstrider** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 3:09 pm

Your Queen Crest painting on the front panel looks great! Did you paint that with a brush and what type of paint did you use?

jmazza · Post by **jmazza** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 3:33 pm

Wow what a great job!

JSharpPhoto · Post by **JSharpPhoto** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 3:55 pm

do i see a boob?

LuvMyScoot · Post by **LuvMyScoot** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:23 pm

Lostmycage wrote:I call shenanigans. That's too good to not be a decal.

Seriously, nice work. I'd stop riding until you can get a protective coating on it. This time of year there's clouds of pollen (excessive washing before a protective coat can be applied) and bugs-bugs-bugs (kamikazi splatter pellets with a talent for hitting visors or anything you don't want messy).

I still want to do some finishing work; the right hand black border is driving me nuts because it's not symmetrical. I also don't like that the left hand lion stands out more than the one on the right. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow so I'll finish and then get the coating on.

charlie55 · Post by **charlie55** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:45 pm

Nice!

What's the symbolism behind the crab? Also, is that a swan, or is it supposed to represent a phoenix arising from flames?

LuvMyScoot · Post by **LuvMyScoot** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:54 pm

charlie55 wrote:Nice!

What's the symbolism behind the crab? Also, is that a swan, or is it supposed to represent a phoenix arising from flames?

The crab represents the astrological sign Cancer. Freddie Mercury designed the crest to represent each of the band members signs; two lions for Leo (John Deacon and Roger Tayler), a crab for Cancer (Brian May) and two fairies for Virgo (Freddie). The bird is supposed to be a Phoenix. Freddie was always confident in the bands talent so the Phoenix means "if we crash and burn I know we'll come back".

LuvMyScoot · Post by **LuvMyScoot** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:56 pm

JSharpPhoto wrote:do i see a boob?

Yes, and if you look closely you'll see a nipple too. Tame scooter porn!

LuvMyScoot · Post by **LuvMyScoot** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 6:05 pm

hcstrider wrote:Your Queen Crest painting on the front panel looks great! Did you paint that with a brush and what type of paint did you use?

Yes it was painted by brush (mostly). The plastic was first coated with a glass and tile medium; it adheres great to the shiny plastic and leaves a smooth matte finish suitable for painting. Since the base coat was bigger than the finished painting I had a deuce of a time removing the excess; had to use Qtips dipped in alcohol and orange sticks. Took forever. The painting itself was done with paint made for china and the black outlining was done with a Rapidograph inking pen. I would have loved to have airbrushed it but I don't know how to do that...yet. I'm going to learn though; I know lots of people who want me to paint their tanks and helmets.

siobhan · Post by **siobhan** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:35 pm

LuvMyScoot wrote:The plastic was first coated with a glass and tile medium; it adheres great to the shiny plastic and leaves a smooth matte finish suitable for painting.

Hey Luv, can you explain this to someone who knows nothing? I'm going to paint some of the shiny plastic panels on my DRZ and need to "scuff 'em up" some to get the paint to adhere. What is glass and tile medium? I know it's not a size

Seriously, I'm a words person, not an visual person so I know nuttin' 'bout art products.

Thanks!

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:26 am

When dealing with paints, a medium (as in "media") is something you either mix with the pigments, or put on first as a kind of primer. In this case, glass and tile medium adheres well to smooth surfaces such as those (and plastic too, apparently), and if you mix it into your paint, or add a coat of it after the paint dries, it gives the finished art a harder surface.

LuvMyScoot · Post by **LuvMyScoot** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:33 am

siobhan wrote:
LuvMyScoot wrote:The plastic was first coated with a glass and tile medium; it adheres great to the shiny plastic and leaves a smooth matte finish suitable for painting.
Hey Luv, can you explain this to someone who knows nothing? I'm going to paint some of the shiny plastic panels on my DRZ and need to "scuff 'em up" some to get the paint to adhere. What is glass and tile medium? I know it's not a size Seriously, I'm a words person, not an visual person so I know nuttin' 'bout art products.

Thanks!

Glass and tile medium is a matte, semi transparent medium sold at art/craft supplies stores that preps smooth, porous surfaces to receive the paint. Without it the paint would have a tendency to chip off the surface. They carry it at Michael's, I think. I got mine a while ago at a local art supply store that has since been driven out of business by said Michaels. You apply it with a brush just like you would paint.

Since the plastic on the Buddy isn't porous I wasn't sure if it would work so applied a bit to the top lip of the front panel where no one could see it if it made a mess of things. After about 15 minutes it seemed dried but I could still pull it up like a sheet. After 2 days though it was pretty much stuck on and had to be removed with lots of scrubbing with rubbing alcohol and scraping with my fingernail.

If you decide to use it on a panel you want to make sure that the medium covers the whole panel and extends to the inside edges, forming one large continuous "sheet" with no edges exposed to the rain (I had to have exposed edges on the painting but I'm not too worried about it. I never ride when it rains and always keep her garaged or covered if it's going to, and the gloss top coat should do a pretty good job of sealing things up.) Also, don't freak out if you have brush strokes or if you aren't totally uniform in thickness of application. The medium self smoothes as it dries.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:40 am

Very nice! I can't wait to see what you turn out when you get the airbrush stuff down. Of course I'm happy with myself when I draw a stickman that happens to end up being symmetrical.

Rob

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:35 pm

Rob wrote:Very nice! I can't wait to see what you turn out when you get the airbrush stuff down. Of course I'm happy with myself when I draw a stickman that happens to end up being symmetrical.

If you draw a person and it's symmetrical, you're doing it wrong.

Seriously: people are lopsided.
Also, a guy I know has made a modest living for years drawing lopsided stick figures.

KABarash · Post by **KABarash** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 2:30 pm

LuvMyScoot wrote:
JSharpPhoto wrote:do i see a boob?
Yes, and if you look closely you'll see a nipple too. Tame scooter porn!

Good thing I wasn't the only one to notice that......

L_M_S: Is that a 'self portraite'?

siobhan · Post by **siobhan** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 2:47 pm

Great, thanks Luv and TVB (although I did get the medium...it was a joke

I'll head down to Utrecht and see what they have (having RISD in town helps with the selection of art supply stores). I'm turning my bike from a black menace to a pink & black 50's Schiaparelli!

LuvMyScoot · Post by **LuvMyScoot** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 2:50 am

siobhan wrote:Great, thanks Luv and TVB (although I did get the medium...it was a joke I'll head down to Utrecht and see what they have (having RISD in town helps with the selection of art supply stores). I'm turning my bike from a black menace to a pink & black 50's Schiaparelli!

Oooh, can't wait to see that! I know I don't have to say this but make sure to post pics when it's done.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 1:19 pm

TVB wrote:Also, a guy I know has made a modest living for years drawing lopsided stick figures.

And to think ... I've been wasting my lack of talent for years now.

Rob

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 2:11 pm

Rob wrote: And to think ... I've been wasting my lack of talent for years now.

Well, Matt does supplement it with a brilliant sense of humor.

buddy boy · Post by **buddy boy** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:32 am

It looks great! I love to see scooters being personalized.