I want to learn how to paint metal objects such as bike bits, minor car repairs etc.
I am a very mediocre home mechanic (at best), and have limited patience, so immediately this does not bode well... I just want to try to understand a bit more about it and perhaps become half competent.
It's not lost on me that my old mate Chris (Tunneruk) was the da Vinci of motorcycle paint, and I am quite sure he's up there with his head in his hands in despair watching my ham fisted attempts. Sorry buddy... but it kinda serves you right.
OK, onwards. So, firstly I need a bit of metal to paint. I am afraid that I am one of those people who could consider a well painted T140 tank as art, something I could hang on the wall and stare at, so it had to be a fuel tank. After trawling the Kempton Park jumble for a couple of hours, coming close to buying a couple of fugly bantam tanks, I saw this one. I was not sure what it was off (other than the distinctive pear-shaped badge recess suggesting BSA), but its elegant lines and the fact that it was remarkably solid really appealed to me and a deal was struck.
Once home with my as-yet useless bit of metal, I tried to find out what it actually was. The genius of Neil W informed me that it was in fact from a BSA M33. Even more remarkable was that most M33s had a painted badge - only a very limited few which were exported had the acrylic pear-shaped badges. Thank you Sherlock!
OK, so that gave me a bit more purpose. It also introduced a strange thing - whereas previously I wanted a bit of metal to experiment on with paints, I now felt like the custodian of a bit of British history and I needed to do a better job.
I am a very mediocre home mechanic (at best), and have limited patience, so immediately this does not bode well... I just want to try to understand a bit more about it and perhaps become half competent.
It's not lost on me that my old mate Chris (Tunneruk) was the da Vinci of motorcycle paint, and I am quite sure he's up there with his head in his hands in despair watching my ham fisted attempts. Sorry buddy... but it kinda serves you right.
OK, onwards. So, firstly I need a bit of metal to paint. I am afraid that I am one of those people who could consider a well painted T140 tank as art, something I could hang on the wall and stare at, so it had to be a fuel tank. After trawling the Kempton Park jumble for a couple of hours, coming close to buying a couple of fugly bantam tanks, I saw this one. I was not sure what it was off (other than the distinctive pear-shaped badge recess suggesting BSA), but its elegant lines and the fact that it was remarkably solid really appealed to me and a deal was struck.
Once home with my as-yet useless bit of metal, I tried to find out what it actually was. The genius of Neil W informed me that it was in fact from a BSA M33. Even more remarkable was that most M33s had a painted badge - only a very limited few which were exported had the acrylic pear-shaped badges. Thank you Sherlock!
OK, so that gave me a bit more purpose. It also introduced a strange thing - whereas previously I wanted a bit of metal to experiment on with paints, I now felt like the custodian of a bit of British history and I needed to do a better job.