This tank starts with some custom steel work and finishes with the obviously crazy custom paint. The tank is for a custom built rigid chopper and is the only painted tin on the bike. The owner customized the mounts for his application and added some custom dished panels to the sides. We took over from there. We first added panels to the bottom side of the tank to make it perfectly smooth after which we sealed the tank and smoothed all of the custom steel work to perfection. When all the prep work was complete we laid down a custom gold metal-flake paint job (outrageous in and of itself) and began the long process of completing six separate murals (or tattoos) on this tiny little tank.
The top of the tank is an expression of pride in community on the part of the owner of this bike. he says after having lived in Boston he moved to Providence and has found his home there. The dished panels on the sides are conversely a satirical expression of his opinions on state wide corruption.
Everything else on the tank is about the individualism of the rider and each "tattoo" means something to him. Notice that the Unicorn has a cattle brand on its hind quarter (a mark of significance to the owner).
The realism of the snarling white tiger is incredible and the precision in the crossed AK-47's allows them to be immediately recognized by any gun enthusiast.
Look closely and you will see the extra banner above the Rhode Island anchor of hope to allow enough room for the expression "there is no hope". We added a little rainbow metal flake to the white background for a little bit of jazz, and to tie into the metallic background of the rest of the tank.
Without getting into the personal issues of this customer as they relate to each piece we can say that while you or I would not likely combine all of these elements into one tank each one can be appreciated for its quality. The barbarian pin up girl, oozes sex appeal and exhibits surprising detail in such a small piece.
For such a diversity of subject matter this tank works pretty well and in the words of its owner "it is like lipstick on a pig" mounted on his "rat rod" styled hard core chopper. If we can, we will get a shot of the finished bike for you to see.
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