Here are a few more pics that I have at work - lots more at home. All the comments indicate my own personal observations and preferences - never meant to criticize anyone else's pride and joy.
This is one of the first K-9's I had seen. It has a real "clean" look, with relatively simple lines.
Notice how the stars are well placed in a diagonal pattern, and how the stars are simple but realistic - maybe a little too small or far apart. Personally, I didn't prefer the swooping intersection between the blue field and the stripes.
The stripes are simple but direct - the lines are hard, between the red and white - there is one large "fold" that appears very realistic - the airbrushed highlights and shadows are very delicately done.
The front wheel shows the same geometric pattern with the stars. Also notice on this bike how light the blue color is. I believe at the time Big Dog called it "Candy Blue." On a real flag, the blue is much deeper, closer to navy blue. I thought the spiky wheels were a nice touch, in comparison to the star points. As it turned out, I had to make a special request to get those wheels, as they had since then changed to the new pattern for 2007.
A close look at the battery cover shows the stripes are disjointed. I asked for the painter to ensure the stripes show a continuous flow from the tank, through the battery cover, and onto the rear fender.
This was a nice job on an early Bulldog - great detail with the airbrush work. They had one like this on display in a Wichita credit union.
This was one of the earliest chopper shots I found on the internet. The folds in the stripes seemed a little harsh to me.
Here's a nice Ridgeback. Notice how dark the blue paint is - what they called Misty Midnight Blue. It is probably the most realistic blue compared to the real flag, but I thought it left the bike a little to dark looking.
This is one of the nicest jobs on a rear fender I had seen. The airbrush work seemed to make it very realistic.
I was less impressed by the break in the stripes on the tank. The stars were simple and clean, but spaced too far apart, or else too small.
This is the 20,000th Big Dog bike, and the one that inspired mine. There's a story here - I had just gone through airport hell trying to get to Wichita - flight delays, bad weather, crowded airports - finally arrived around midnight. Dragging my bag through the deserted Wichita airport, I wondered if they'd have a new bike on display, to pick my spirits up - then I rounded the corner and saw my dream bike - a brand new K-9 in full flag paint! I made that shot my screen saver for the next year while mine was being designed and built.
Gotta love that 300 tire! You can see I Photoshopped in my navy wings on the tank, too, in place of the "20,000." If you look closely, you can see hand-painted white stitches at the edge of the red stripes. On mine, the painter also used some kind of cheesecloth method (I think), to show the warp and woof patterns in the paint - that is, rather than continuous color, you can see the crossed threads that weave together to make the cloth. In my specs, I told the painter I wanted it to look so realistic that Marines would salute when I rode by - I haven't tested it out on LDO yet.
Another view, from the other side - I must have taken a hundred shots of that display.
Bottom line - if you work closely with the painter, they will make it whatever you want - and in the end, they will take as much pride in outcome as you do.
