Art Deco Garage Marquee

A

aggie jon

Always wanted my shop to be filled with old art deco style garage marquees and signs, some lighted, some not. Just really love that old style from the 40s and 50s. So since actual ones are hard to find, and harder to afford, and remakes are just about as expensive, I decided that I would just make my own. Guess it helps a little to have a Plasma CNC burn table. So here is my first one. Paint is just rustoleum and rattle cans. Turned out good. Enough shine to make it look new, enough dieback and orangepeel to make it look like old paint and a little weather.

Anyway, here it is. Ended up about 7' tall and 20" wide. My next project is likely to be a diamond shaped garage marquee with some dimension and blocks, lights, and a little different color scheme. Always looking for a new one to work on. Have plenty of space to hang them currently.

gersbachs garage.jpg
 
Thanks for the complements. If anyone has any ideas or old pictures, I'm always looking for inspiration. Or needs one done. I have a custom metal sign shop as a sideline.
 
Working on a new one. Hope to get it cut out in the next week or two. Plan is a generic lighted "GARAGE" marquee. I also found a file for a mobil pegasus. I think I am going to cut a pair 48" tall and hang them at the peak of my shop wall flying toward one another.

I'll try and get a proof of the garage sign. I have it mocked up in different colors, but not sure what colors I am going to use. Opinions are welcomed.

garage design flying.jpg
 
Got some time yesterday afternoon after finishing up a paying job to fiddle around a while. Managed to cut the letters for the above marquee out. Garage marquee letters.jpg

The letters each have holes in them for C9 large outdoor clear christmas lights to illuminate the letters. I cut the diamond for the back and the letters from one sheet. I'll use the better part of a second sheet to cut the wings, and a third to cut the letter background and the strips to surround the letters and each element.

Still out on the color scheme. Either primary colors, more subdued colors, just not sure. So anyone with suggestions, feel free to send them on. I love baby blue and sea green on bel-air's and strat's, but not sure they would fit on this sign.

I also cut a small winged pegasus 48"x36" and plan to fix it to a hanger and hang from a wall between two of my bay doors in the shop. Thinking below I'll hang signs like Lube, Gas, Wash, Tires; like an old service station would. If this one turns out, I'll likely cut a pair 48"x70" to put up in the top of my shop.

mobil pegasus.jpg
 
We have a customer in Hawaii and I was talking to him last night and he brought of something, I had never heard of before about detail sand blasting some of his art work as a finale boarder and other spots.
Now I'm picturing my pressure pot blaster and holding the gun with two hands trying to fine blast a 3'x2' panel on the edges. LOL
He said they have air brushes that are sand blasters for this, you pros ever used one, sound ingenious to me, whoever invented that.
 
I couldn't imagine it either, Barry. That being said, I have a friend who has a monument business and they hand blast all the granite. I've seen them do some pretty amazing detail work freehand. Most of their work is cemetery headstones. I think its just the hand of an artist and the media that they excel in. Guess thats why people come from all over and they fetch a premium for their work.

I have always wanted to learn to freehand pinstripe von dutch style. I've played some, but I'm just not smooth enough to make them symmetrical. I designed a sign for my man cave and initially planned to freehand it. Then I decided to have a vinyl overlay cut. Three vinyl shops said there was too much detail for them to cut. So I went to plan C which was to lay it out on frisket then hand cut the stencil and paint over it. I had to do some hand work in some detail areas. It had some bleed-through and isn't perfect close up. But where it hangs 10' in the air, you'd never tell. Eventually when I have some UV clear mixed up and left over I'm going to go over it with some clear to protect it.

Here it is:
elm creek saloon.jpg
 
aggie jon;35531 said:
I have always wanted to learn to freehand pinstripe von dutch style. I've played some, but I'm just not smooth enough to make them symmetrical. I designed a sign for my man cave and initially planned to freehand it. Then I decided to have a vinyl overlay cut. Three vinyl shops said there was too much detail for them to cut. So I went to plan C which was to lay it out on frisket then hand cut the stencil and paint over it. I had to do some hand work in some detail areas. It had some bleed-through and isn't perfect close up. But where it hangs 10' in the air, you'd never tell. Eventually when I have some UV clear mixed up and left over I'm going to go over it with some clear to protect it.

Here it is:
View attachment 3325
Click to expand...

Freehand pinstriping is incredibly hard to get the hang of, no doubt. It's just like learning a musical instrument, in that it will take thousands of hours of practice to get really competent at it. I've been at it for a couple years now and while I can do a passable job on outlining flames and graphics, albeit very slow at it, I still don't have the proficiency to do long straight lines or double lines on say a motorcycle gas tank. Some of my favorite modern day pinstripers are Robert Pradke, Allan Johnson, Steve Chaszeka (The Wizard) and Keith Hanson. You should definitely look those guys up. I've chatted a few times with Robert and he said he gave up a half dozen times and threw out his brushes learning to pinstripe before he finally just toughed it out and kept at it until it started to look decent.
 
1897664_10152251875165762_2010029360_n.jpg

Completely hand lettered gold leaf logo and custom paint by Robert Pradke
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top