The following article is one of many included on the Work in Progress disc.For this internet version the photos have been scaled down and the links to larger versions removed, as well as links to some of the technical details mentioned in the text.
This and over twenty other articles covering work from all periods of my fairground painting are available on the Work in Progress CD Rom

All images © Paul Wright

TURNERS WALTZER CARS

1992

Most traditional Waltzer Cars require a repeat pattern on all the ten cars or, as in this case, two variations split between the odd and even cars, with the same border throughout to tie everything together. To achieve this a line drawing of the design is made, on tracing paper, at actual size. The lines of the design are then traced with a pounce wheel - a small, spiked wheel that puts tiny holes, at regular intervals, along the line. This full size drawing is then taped to the side of the car, covering the area to be painted, and chalk or powdered charcoal is "pounced" through the holes. ( the chalk or charcoal is placed in a muslin bag so that it is released through the fine mesh when patted against the drawing). When the drawing is removed an exact copy, made up of little dots, should be on the surface to be painted. To keep the surface free from this dust the lines should be drawn back in with a pencil and the whole surface wiped with a tack-rag to remove all chalk.Silver paint is then applied as background for application of aluminium leaf so that any small "misses" with the leaf are not so easily spotted. When the silver is dry the clear gold size is painted over it, covering it completely. The time it takes for the leaf to be applied to each car has to be estimated at this stage so that the same amount of time is left between applying the size to each car. Gold size is available in different types characterized by the time it takes to dry - 3hour, 12hour, and 24hour - and the drying or "tack" time is crucial, especially for aluminium leaf. You have a bit more leeway with gold leaf. The size has to be applied as evenly as possible so that no thicker patches take longer to dry than thinner ones,which results in dull patches in the finished leaf. In this case 24 hour size was used
Before the gold size is applied the whole area has to be dusted with french chalk to prevent the leaf sticking in areas where it is not wanted. Once the size is sufficiently dry, but still with some "tack", the leaf can be applied. In this case I used loose leaf as opposed to transfer leaf, which is usually the case when working on bigger areas. The sheets are bigger, and, because they are not stuck to a backing sheet, you are able to work much more quickly. The loose backing sheets can be seen on the floor. The photo shows the leaf after it has been burnished with cotton wool to increase the shine but still with some loose edges that have not been removed (on the lettering on the right hand side of the bottom car.)This has to be done carefully with a very soft brush to avoid tearing the leaf.

 
With the leaf having been given a couple of days to dry it is covered with varnish in the areas where it needs to stay silver, and with amber flamboyant enamel where it needs to look like gold leaf.The varnish and amber are mixed together in the areas where one fades into the other.

 

The background colours for the border are painted in along with the colours for the block shadows of the scroll border. Silver paint is used for the block shadows of the lettering. Amber flamboyant is painted on the body of the Mercury figure.

 

Some shading is added to the coloured block shadows to make them appear more three-dimensional. A tracing of the Mercury figure, made before the cars were painted, is pierced with tiny holes with the pounce wheel and placed on top of the painted figure. Chalk is then "pounced" through the holes to show the position of the lines to be painted on it.

The black lines are painted onto the Mercury figure and the amber flamboyant onto the silver blocks of the lettering.

A thinned mixture of burnt sienna is sprayed on top of the amber body of the Mercury figure to bring out the features of the body. The same colour is sprayed onto the blocks of the lettering to make them look three-dimensional. The edges are wiped while the paint is still wet, to reveal the amber underneath and to leave about a 1/4" line to make the blocks stand out more from the finished background. Any overspray on the silver face of the letters is also wiped off. It isn't possible to use any form of masking on flamboyant enamels as it is just a fragile glaze over the silver.

 

The black background is brushed in after blue flamboyant has been sprayed on the wings and helmet of the Mercury figure. The scrolls around the border are lined out in black, the letters in red. Once the flamboyant has been lined the inserts can be added - in this photo, with green flamboyant. The black lines act as a guide to keep an even width of border around the insert.It also means that a cast shadow can be added, using flamboyant, to the painted colours around the scroll's edges. A silver star has also been added in the inside of the same scroll.

 

Ruby flamboyant inserts added to the scrolls of the bottom car and lightning flashes sprayed onto the black background of the top cars. Again any overspray needs to be wiped off immediately as the figure can't be masked.

 

Pink inserts added inside the face of the letters (not flamboyant this time) to which shadows were added once the pink was dry.Also, although not visible on the photo,shadows were added to the ruby flamboyant inaserts. Once dry, the cars can be varnished.

 
All images © Paul Wright 2001-2004
 
This and over twenty other articles are available on the Work in Progress CD Rom