Motion Pictures The Steady Hand of Von Dutch...

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The Steady Hand of Von Dutch...

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He was also a very talented craftsman when it came to making custom knives.

Jimbo

 

Great vid. I haven't seen that one... Thanx

 

And like many artists, there was a heavy load of other, perhaps less desirable, stuff that came with the talent.

 

Dutch was quite the guy. Even known to swindle a young kid on a watch purchase I believe.

Wish I could have met him and Big Daddy.

 

Impressive talent, thanks for that.

 

What is also impressive is there are no guide lines on the glass at all.

 

I enjoyed that. Always cool to see somebody do something extremely well.
They've very closely studied marksmen and the process of lining up the shot. They found that just before firing, the shooter's eyes actually unfocus from the target. Be the ball kind of thing.
Watching Von Dutch getting ready to touchdown his brush, I sense something similar.

 

He was hanging around in Phoenix when I was little kid, not too far from where we lived, but I had no idea who he was back then.

 

Did any of you catch yourself holding your breath while watching him stripe?

I did.

I guess it was me helping him to keep a steady hand.

How long of a line can you paint with a striping brush before you need to rewet the damn thing?

 

How long of a line can you paint with a striping brush before you need to rewet the damn thing?

I've gone about 4-5 ft. in one pull...

 

Montana, do you use One Shot? And what do you thin it with? I haven't got the thinning right yet.

 

I can get about 5ft out of a pull.

We used to have a guy who would stripe at a local cruise night. He could load his brush and make a line around a car before a reload. would do a couple cars in an hour, and chat just a little. Never did figure out his brush loading trick, and I watched him A LOT trying to learn it!

 

yep, one of a kind - "broke the mold when he was made"

 

Built a custom '52 Triumph bike in 1956 and had a von Dutch painted gas tank.
It was black with green and yellow pinstriped flames...cost me $50, oh to have that
today.

 

Watched a video of guys pinstriping Model A's on the assembly line. They made it look effortless. Same lines over and over again, nothing custom like Von Dutch did, but dang...

 

Back in the early thirties, there were also a number of ladies who pinstriped cars for the major brands of cars and they could go around the entire car in under two minutes, and their lines were very straight.

There is also a company in Queens New York that makes the vinyl tape for pinstriping and once you have it in place you pull off the middle part of the tape and then fill in the lines with One-Shot sign paint. Then you pile off the remaining tape and your lines are straight.

Jimbo

 

I bought a brush and some one shot about 40 years ago. put a bunch of paint on an old hood. I think for the limited time I spent doing it my lines were even and straight, but my designs all sucked. I couldn't even come up with one using a pencil. I was not instantly good at it, so I gave up.

 

We all know how urban legends work, but I was told by some of my pals in L.A. in the '50's that they had been at a striping event where V.D. was doing some guy's car. They said his lines weren't perfect until he had ingested a few beers.

 

Yes... lol.
And it made me wonder if he was holding his breath. But then I thought, no... he's been doing it so long, he's even learned how to breathe.

 

I was playing your video of the Beeplefleetzer & the dog got all worked up.

 

Thats kinda a common sign painter thing. We had a local guy that was REALLY good, after the first couple and before the last couple. Ran his business to the ground, found God but never got back to where he was.

 

I always liked asking people who were wearing Von Dutch clothing such as hats if they knew his real name?
I told them I will give you five bucks if you can tell his real name and not one person knew his real name which I always thought was strange.
Jimbo

 

I watched a local guy stripe, he is in his "advanced" years, his hands shook...until he put brush to panel, the lines came out perfect.

 

Yes, read the label on the can. Also, it depends on the surface temperature and paint viscosity how much to use. You have to go by the feel. Back in the old days it had lead in it and it flowed out much better than today.

 

That's a myth.
I always said (tongue-in-cheek) they were either drunks or Holy Rollers. I ain't no drunk.

 

The man had some serious talent not only for pin striping but knife making, gunsmithing and engraving.
he even designed the mods on the cut down Winchester model 1894 44-40 that Steve McQueen used in the Wanted Dead or Alive show.

 

A friend of mine in college couldn't hit a barn with darts sober, once he had a few he got laser focused and made every shot. But the window was shut once he got too many in him. If you were playing on his team you spent most of the game keeping track of his alcohol intake...

 

Thanks for another super cool post! Where do you find these amazing pieces of hot rod history......