My "panel" for the
2003-2003
Letterville Panel Swap
(kinda step-by-step)

Step 1) getting the name of Mike Meyer to be my victim ...
The idea just popped after knowing how into hockey he was, then wondering "what if" Letterville had a hockey team. I remember once seeing a website for a guy who carved lifelike clothing out of wood (why ... I don't know ... but there're cool). I don't carve but have bent banner type things out of Sintra (PVC) and figured I'd "try" it for the jersey. Did a little searching the net for reference jerseys and bulls ...

Step B) Grab a 4'x4'x1/8" piece of Sintra and draw the shape of the shirt and the "Mahlers" logo onto it ... didn't really sketch out before ... this whole project was a fun experiment that grew as it went along.

After drawing I used a jigsaw to cut the shape about an inch out from the drawing and leaving a flap to fold down behind the neck hole.

Then using the heat gun, heat the edges and fold at the drawn line and fold down the back flap (pic ->)

After folding edges more heat to bend and fold down the arms (that I wish I started at a bit more angle so the folds wouldn't have to be so deep)

More heat to add wrinkles in torso but left the logo area fairly flat.
Back view of folded edge

After all folding was done I masked off the areas that I wanted to keep white or yellow with application tape and masking tape ... going over the drawing with and exacto.

Then spray with a can of green Krylon.
(<- pic after masking removed)

Colors were then hairy-brushed in using vinyl screen printing inks because the ink bites right into the Sintra ... unlike enamels.
Yes, it was a major pain to stripe in those deep folds.
At this point (<-) all solid colors are in except for the lettering.

Then went in with the airbrush to add shadows, highlights and a bit more color here and there ... trying to stay a bit "cartoony".

Airbrush stuff was done with Createx waterbase airbrush paint (don't want to spray vinyl inks in my house and piss off the family)

Went back to the hairy brush and vinyl ink to paint in the lettering after airbrushing to keep it crisp.

Finish off with a Krylon matte clear and slap on Mike's member number in vinyl to cover up a hole ... oops.

  

The green and gold (yellow) combo was chosen because those are the town (school district) colors of the burb where I've called home all my life ... and the colors of the shop where I've worked for a dozen years.

This was a type of thing I had never done before and if I had drawn any other name this thought probably never would have crossed my mind ... but I'm glad it did because I had a lot of fun playing with it.

Thanks to all involved in making the panel swap happen ... what a blast!
(click this pic to view larger)

© Copyright 2003 Mark Matyjakowski / SlamGraphics.com