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I was originally contacted by Dean Jaggard in the Midlands. He'd been asked to paint the panels for this XJR 1300 for one of his customers but there was some artwork required that he wasn't able to do himself. After basecoating the tank Dean brought it up to my workshop which at the time was in Halifax, West Yorkshire.

The owner, Rich Bradshawe, had given Dean a photograph of his grandfather, Ernie Bradshawe, who had been an RAF pilot in the Second World War. The photo was to be painted onto the petrol tank and that was my job. Because it was a small image, I could spend time getting every feature as close as I could. I spent time creating small accurate masks so I could build up the various features. I then went in fine with the airbrush to freehand some of the subtle detail. Finally, any very minite sharp detail was added with a fine paintbrush and the completed item collected by Dean for clearcoating and polishing.

After collection I didn't hear anything more about the job until it appeared in Streetfighters magazine's May 2006 issue, where I could see the whole bike, plus a photo of the owner who I'd not had any contact with, having dealt solely with Dean.

Sometimes a small but well crafted piece of art is more effective than the boldest, brashest and biggest custom paintwork you'll see and this one is a case in point. With it being a part of Rich's family history it has meaning as well and makes the whole job that much more worthwhile.

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