Veteran Pinstriper and Kustom Paint Master, Alan Johnson, opened the 2008 spring bike season at his New Jersey studio by coloring outside the conservative lines with silver leaf on custom orange chopper tins, which belong to a dream build of Dave Stiteler.
The term “old school” is casually thrown out in the kustom bike world (regardless of the spelling) like a catchall for the current non-conformist. In reality, it refers to a style of building and paint work that was prolific in the '50s and '60s when “custom” meant you built it yourself with your buddies and 1-Shot was the only pinstriping paint that any striper (including Ed Roth and Von Dutch) had in their paint kits.
The tell tale sign of a traditional (old school) paint job is it was rarely “cleared” completely over. Regardless of its contemporary beauty and design, this job falls into that category. When completed, only the “leafed areas had “brushed on” clear!
That being said… Finished, buffed tins were delivered to Alan Johnson’s studio where they were cleaned and prepped. Alan begins by sketching the basic design to be silver leafed, right on the tank with a water-soluble, Stabilo, pencil. (photo A)
This area is carefully taped out and masked. (photo B)
A mixture of “gold size” is brushed into the masked area and the tape is removed, leaving the size to “tack-up” for approximately one hour. (photo C)
Piece by piece, thin sheets of silver leaf are delicately applied to the tacky size (photo D). Alan makes sure there are no “holidays” or missing spots in the leaf with soft cotton. (photo E)
*Note – actual silver leaf is NOT being used on this bike; silver leaf can be problematic in the long run does not have the longevity of gold. Alan being an expert in all kinds of leafing recommends using 12-carat white gold to create a dynamic silver leaf effect. White gold never tarnishes like silver and it “machines” beautifully.
That being said, the next step, the burling or machining, is expertly done; using a special velvet bit on a low speed electric drill. The machine marks must be evenly spaced and positioned to flow with the graphics. (photo F)
Step one (leafing) completed, (photo G) a coat of clear 1-Shot with hardener is hand brushed over the leafing to protect it.
Now the paint pattern is transferred to the tank and fenders. (photo H)
A “trick” jewel effect is added, creating modeled color, interest and depth. (photo I)
A vivid green pinstriped outline is added around all the silver leaf graphic areas. (photo J)
AJ continues striping a complicated, symmetrical design on the tank and fenders. (photos K & L)
The completed tins dry in the sun. (photo M)
AJ’s dated signature finishes the job. (photo N)
*Special car photos… The 1966 Pontiac Tempest shown in the background also received a silver leaf stripe the same day as the bike tins… These photos show how special details add kustom interest to any stripe… (photos leaf arrow 1 & 2)
Be sure to pick up a copy of Alan Johnson’s new book “How To Pinstripe” which was just released, for more details not covered here. www.alanjohnsongrafix.com.
