My License Plate "Art"

I've had some interest in what I'm doing here, so I figured I would start a thread.

First: I want to state, for the record, that I am nowhere near an "Artist". Everything I am doing is pretty simple, just incredibly time-consuming. I am basically epoxying plates together, cutting out a design, painting it, then adding a "Scenic" background with more plates...

I am currently using TC7 as an epoxy, it's working great, but is a bit hard to work with on the large scale of use that I am doing, so am going to look into body sealants.

06/28/12 - 5 hours of work so far (Half of which was computer and paper work creating the layout):
-I am at the point of having the tires/wheels done and the basic shape of the car cut out. The car is 47" long. Tires are not actually mounted, just thrown on there to give you an idea of where I am at.


Hopefully tonight I will get the edges and face of the car all sanded down and a coat of primer. By the weekend I would like to have the Impala finished and at least have the hillside background laid out, if not glued.

I plan to make the car basically an outline painted black, but I will be hand-painting the chrome window trim, 1/4 panel Impala logo, corner lights, and tail lights. Not sure what to do for the wheel wells that wont drown out the tires, thinking maybe a flat black...I'll have to mess with that.

Stay tuned for updates.

Does the current state of the car remind anyone else of this:

Looking good, Doug. Cant wait to see the finished product.

Wait
Your not painting OVER the license plates are you?
I think thats one of the highlights is actually seeing the plates
When you said primer you lost me

EDIT: OK re-read it...just the perimeter (outline) is black right?
How about a light box to mount it all on?
That way things like the gap between wheel well & tire will show brightness
You can haze (either nightshades style or sanding) some plexi so its not so bright
Just bouncing ideas

That's way cool!

But yeah, don't paint the plates!

I would only paint the little details! Like the wheels and tires in the pic above, but the plates have to be visible for me to love it.

Keep up the good work.

So I got some more work done on the Impala this past weekend. The car it's self is done, minus needing to paint the tail lights (Picked up some model paint today)

I chose to paint it because it was a tribute to a specific car (My 94 Impala) as opposed to being simply a cutout of a type of car. If you look you can see all 3 of the plates that once were on that car: "+POOGE+" "REMLAP" (Which is my last name backwards), and "LT1-TON"




I prefer this one colored, but I am working on my next one, which will be a NH Plate VW Beetle (My first car), will not be painted. Hoping to have that one laid out tonight and cut out tomorrow.

Im working on the rest of the VT plate "hillside" background for the Impala, which I am particularly fond of, because you can actually see the VT hillside from my house. We have a drive-in Thursday in town, so I am hoping to have it done and mounted on some plywood by then.

Great work, bet he'll love it.

Thanks for clarifying REMLAP....I didnt have a clue...doh

I thought about it for a minute too....damn...

I see you layed it on the floor this time for pics
So your more afraid of scratching your artwork then your 96?

sdstick wrote:

Great work, bet he'll love it.

Thanks for clarifying REMLAP....I didnt have a clue...doh

I thought about it for a minute too....damn...

I see you layed it on the floor this time for pics
So your more afraid of scratching your artwork then your 96?

The 96 trunk is all scratched up, so I wasn't making anything worse...LOL

Update:

Here is the Impala design, almost finished, at least all the hard work. I plan to finish the bottom off with NH plates all the way across and until I can get my hands on some CT plates the top will stay blue painted wood. There must be a state plate that has a sun on it also, would be cool to throw that in there...


Also been working on the VW design as well. Because of the over-sized fenders and my wanting to make it look somewhat realistic I am leaving the car plate color (Not painting it), painting the wheels/tires, and then plan to "tuck" the tires/wheels between the fenders and body, giving it a somewhat realistic 3D feel...hopefully.



The VW is a little rough right now, but its coming along. I chose to do this one on half the scale, it's only 2 feet wide. I did that just because it took so many plates to do the Impala one and I am not even done yet. Until I get a larger inventory of plates I'm going to have to stay to smaller scale.

Looks professional
If you need a custom plate for finishing touches or to sign your work
http://www.tagshopstuff.com/index.php?crn=207&rn=976&action=show_detail

Wow Doug that is awesome. I might have to try and do this myself, just maybe not right now.

I love this stuff. Can't wait to see more. I'll try and find you some plates too

Well, I have been pretty busy with work and life, but I had some time to put together a few finalized pieces.

I went ahead and made Impala pieces for each color, using real paint (Each car is the actual GM paint code), and a few little finishing touches. Each car is made entirely of license plates (2 1/2 plates per car), is 23-24" long and framed in a 3" deep, 31"x16" shadow box with cedar background. Wheels, tires, headlights, tail lights, and windows are all painted free-hand.

I am considering doing these on a per-piece basis for guys who want one, who want specific colors, or want me to make one with their old vanity plates. I haven't set up any pricing yet, but if anyone is interested shoot me a PM and we can work it out.

Now that is awesome! Can you do Boxy two doors?

1984twodoor wrote:

Now that is awesome! Can you do Boxy two doors?

I was actually thinking about trying a box next.

I am currently working part-time on a Hummer wagon, a Porshe, and a Delorean, but I had so much fun with the Impalas because they are so close to my heart and it was more of a labor of love than just trying new things.

Those look awesome!

Pooge wrote:

1984twodoor wrote:

Now that is awesome! Can you do Boxy two doors?

I was actually thinking about trying a box next.

I am currently working part-time on a Hummer wagon, a Porshe, and a Delorean, but I had so much fun with the Impalas because they are so close to my heart and it was more of a labor of love than just trying new things.

Delorean! Now that's a cool one. Use the back side of the plates for that "stainless" look Hey if you wanna use the numerous (before crash) pics of my car as a base go for it. And if you wanted to sell it, I'd buy it If you didn't want to sell it, I'd demand it reside next to the Impalas

Just a couple updates...

This one is the one I was trying to get together for my father for his birthday, but I ran out of time, so I am doing it for Christmas. It will have an intricate background of plate similar to the large Impala I did, but I will be adding a road under the car.

1968 Camaro convertible with 1970 Chevelle SS wheels.
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Here is the VW I was working on...I really don't like the non-painted look, nor the 3D look, it really does nothing for me. I probably wont do another.



Working on an Iroc Camaro for a buddies birthday on New Year's Eve. That one should be badass... Daytona yellow and dark tinted windows and T-tops...

Doug

I dont know what your talking about...that bug looks GREAT!

Kinda economical...herbie-ish & the DUGBUG plate makes it timeless

Trying to remember now if you signed my original?

These are pretty friggin sweet! Don't be so hard on yourself because the bug looks cool! The fenders are a nice touch.

Thanks guys, glad you guys like the V-dub. I'm not wild about it, but everyone's taste is different.

They both look great. And my DGGM #1 was signed. If only I got a pic of him signing it I could clean up on ebay.......

8bud wrote:

They both look great. And my DGGM #1 was signed. If only I got a pic of him signing it I could clean up on ebay.......

Gesus, in 1000 years, it will be worth millions!