Gary's Ripscale ceramic finish...

So, I posted the finished product of a collaborative effort between Drew of Engine Cycles and myself for the Godfather of Titanium, Gary Helfrich, on Instagram and got a few inquiries on what the process involved.  I had decided to stop blogging until I had something fresh to share, rather than continue to re-hash the daily work and processes that take place in the shop.  If you are still around and thirsting for information, here is a bit of an oasis for ya...

This project kicked off just after the 2017 Philly show.  Drew, Gary and I packed up from the Expo then headed over to Engin headquarters to get started on the build. Gary had shipped some vintage USA made Ancotec tubing over and now it was time to create a "bicycle shaped object" out of it.  I could only hang out for one of the three days, but enjoyed my time with these two, watching Gary's dream ride come together. 

The raw product arrived at Groovy headquarters just before Nahbs, unfortunately, it took a back seat to other promised work.  Gary was quite patient, having sat in our positions in the past, empathetic if not a bit surly :)

The original request was for a single color ceramic finish in OD Green.  Y'all know me, I just could not let it out of the shop with something so un-inspiring, so after a bit of cajoling, Gary agreed to let me have a go with something that was more creative.  His steering focus was that the finished product should look like a war torn weapon that had just returned from service in Kuwait.  Yeah, I think I can do that...

I started off with about 4 hours of graphic work in Adobe Illustrator to get all my masking drawn up and then it was off to the blast cabinet.  Here's a shot of the Ti frame with the masked artwork applied, post blasting and chemical wash.

Next up was the first of seven different colors of ceramic...the beige is to be the base that the rest of the work is built off of.  After mixing the catalyst with the base, it is all run through a micro screen to ensure that it is particulate free once it hits the HVLP gun...

The base layer applied. Here at the down tube graphics, you can see just how thin ceramic applies with even coverage when done with a practiced hand.

I then grabbed some grey cerakote, reduced it down, and began to spray through some mesh to create a scale effect.  The intent is to cover the entire frame with a two color pattern...

I then followed up with OD Green using a different mesh pattern to give some diversity and visual texture...

Here's a shot with the entire frame patterned...

After a short 10 minute bake cycle and cool down, it is now safe to apply the next round of masking.  In this case, I drew about 30 different "tear" patterns and then cut them in three sizes so that the entire frame could be used.  It is important to apply the patterns all in the same positional orientation so that there is consistency. 

After the masks are applied the top colors go on, in this case, a dark flat earth for the overall tone with two additional custom mixed gradients for low lights.  I then thinned an Armor black ceramic and shadowed in the outside perimeter of each mask...took a contortionists flexibility to get to them all without over spraying onto unwanted areas. 

Another partial bake cycle and then it's time to remove our masking to get an idea of the final visual effect...

The final step was to take three different materials and gently rub over the frame to provide some edge break for the raw titanium sections and a bit of a "worn" look to the ceramic areas.  A final pass through the bake box and here's our final product...

Gary had no idea what the finish would be, desiring to be surprised upon unpacking.  This is always an nervous couple of days for me as I hope the customer loves the outcome.  I didn't hear from him for almost 24 hours after receiving it...torture.  Did he hate it?  What the hell is going on?

Finally, at 0200 our time I received a brief text.

"Holy Fuck, yeah!"

Good enough for me :)