Board Track Style Bicycle From England ( GRADY ROCKET )

[char]

Hi everone, well after near on finishing my Schwinn Wasp, which some of you might have seen in my intro thread, I decided I wanted
to build a board track style bicycle.I started collecting bits for the build at the begining of the year and putting some ideas together of what
I wanted the bike to look like.I have always loved the very early Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycles, I don't think I shall be owning
one of those in the near future, but building bicycles over the last couple of years has really given me the chance to try and create
rides with something close to that look.This is a little bit of what I have done so far.

My first step was to try and get hold of a frame, and after much searching, I managed to find a nice straight bar Schwinn in good condition.
So I had my base.



I have decided to go with a set of repop Monark forks, as I wanted that springer front end look.After reading a few posts on them
and how the welding isn't so good, I may have to pop down my local garage and see if someone can put some stronger welds on
them for me.More on that later.

I also managed to find a Hawthorne Mongomery Ward donor bicycle, which I have dismantled and shall be using most of the parts.
Handle bars, grips, wheels, pedals, head set cups, bearings, crank, fenders etc.. I have cleaned most of the thick dirt and grease from the
parts and have them waiting for the rebuild.I thought it would be easier to use the parts from a bike, rather than trying to piece it all
together and plus I then have another frame for a future build.

I managed to find a very very cool old wrights saddle.Im not going to do anything to it as I don't want the leather to shine, I love the aged
leather and rusty metal.



With ideas flowing, I made a start on the tank.I can't weld, something I plan on doing in the future, but I can work with wood, so I went
down to my local B&Q and picked up some inch thick pine.Whilst I was there, I had a look at the paints and ended up finding ones which I
liked.They are a matt brown suede, which has a textured feel and a dark chocolate matt brown.

I made a template on to some card and started cutting out the wood.




So as it wasn't too heavy, I took some of the weight out the middle planks by drilling holes.



Then stuck the pieces together which some super strong no more nails.Gave it a good sand and really worked hard to get the shape I
wanted.





Then Started with the filling.



Quick undercoat and I laid down the paint on the frame and tank.Using the Suede textured paint first



and then the dark matt brown over the top.



I have also rubbed and dry brushed on some coppers, browns and greens to give it all that rusty aged effect.




The Forks also arrived in the post, so made a start on sanding them and gave them a spray and did the same with them as I did with the frame
and tank.





Will head down to the garage hopefully this week and ask about strengthening the welds.

This is how the bicycle stands at the moment.Tank has not been fixed in place yet, hopefully get that done this week.




Lots more planned.I have some Schwalbe Cream Fat Franks waiting to go on the wheels when i've finished them.
More updates soon.

Charlie

[Leo]

Excellent work man! very very nice paint! congrats!

[sensor]

i was wondering how you got wood to rust
looks really good

[olschbp]

I see that Sensor was a good example too looking good, cant wait to see the finished bike

[Butter]

awesome start man i love that rusty look great job on the paint !!!

[stretch]

awesome! great start!

[FOUND OBJECTS]

WOW I'd love to watch a video of your rusting applications with paint
This is gonna be sweet!

[snorrevonflake]

that paint looks great, rusty metal look even on the wood, would be nice if you could describe how you did that,dont exactly understand what you mean by: I have also rubbed and dry brushed on some coppers, browns and greens to give it all that rusty aged effect.
"rub on some coppers ???", maybe its my english. looks really great.

[g-ratter]

how about a picture heavy how to for those with limited english and for us with ADD.

[char]

Thankyou for the great comments everyone.I have been painting the wheels this afternnon and I have been taking pictures as I went along.I will upload them soon and will hopefully explain the method I used.I achieved the rust look purely by experimenting and playing around with the colours.When I typed copper, what I ment was orange/brown ( Sorry was a bit tired when typing )The colour is called vermin brown, but more of an orange.It drys a rusty copper colour.If that makes sence.As im doing each bit of the rust effect, im refining and adjustiing to try and get it spot on.More soon.

By rubbing I mean applying the paint with a paper cloth or towel.
Dry brushing I mean applying a very fine amount of paint to an area that you want highlighted by using a dry brush.

[SimpleMan]

Looks excellent....very nice job

[siberian]

cool build! with creme tires it will be real bomb!

[1850MB]

love it!!

[feuerdog]

Hey char, any chance you used to paint Warhammer 40k miniatures?

I only ask because thats where I learned about dry brushing, painting rust, paint rubbing, and doing layered textures.

Nice work! That is gonna look awesome with some creme tires.

[char]

Thanks for nice the comments.

Yes Feuerdog I used to paint Warhammer figures for years and I learned a lot of painting tricks, such as dry brushing and building up textures, painting chainmail /armour / ruins and houses.It's great fun! I have used warhammer paints on this build as you'll see in the update on the next page.