Latest / Rusty's Garage / The Motorsport Brief | The art of helmet painting with Antman

Transcript

The Motorsport Brief | The art of helmet painting with Antman · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:04
  Ever wondered what goes into those magnificent driver and rider helmet paint schemes?
• 0:09
  We're about to find out here on the Motorsport Brief.
• 0:13
  Hi everyone, Rusty with you and something different for this ep shortly to Ant-Man's studio in Queensland.
• 0:18
  He has painted for some of the best over the years and not just for Aussie and Kiwi racers either.
• 0:24
  You immediately think of Chas Mostert, James Courtney, Greg Murphy, Jamie Winkup, Shane Van Gisbergen in NASCAR and many, many more.
• 0:32
  He did a bit of work for Warner Brothers just before the turn of the century, too, on the Pokemon set.
• 0:38
  We'll get to Ant-Man in just a few moments.
• 0:40
  Have you checked out our recent panel discussion, Epp, on AI in motorsport?
• 0:44
  Tech commentator Trevor Long and Tom Moore from DJR joined us for that one with some clever revelations around things that we're starting to see in supercars now and in the motorsport industry generally in our corner of the world.
• 0:58
  AI and machine learning.
• 0:59
  Fascinating discussion that one.
• 1:01
  Young Aussie Taylor Gill also joined us for a short cast ahead of the Junior World Rally Championship decider.
• 1:08
  Taylor leads a handful of contenders going into that final event, the European Rally in October.
• 1:13
  Good to share a bit more of his story and see or hear some of his personality.
• 1:17
  He's a good talker.
• 1:19
  He'll sneak home for a run in an AP4 Yaris next month too on the New South Wales South Coast.
• 1:24
  Is that a bit of preparation for what he might be tackling?
• 1:27
  Well,
• 1:28
  in 2026 on the international scene.
• 1:30
  And Matt Hickey from Code Sports came back on ahead of the second half of the F1 season.
• 1:35
  It will be an epic run to the finish.
• 1:37
  We talked Cadillac 2026 and more there as well.
• 1:41
  There is some sage words from Matt.
• 1:44
  on what could be a defining moment in the final 10 races.
• 1:49
  And he did that before the Dutch Grand Prix.
• 1:51
  Did we see that on Sunday night for Lando Norris?
• 1:55
  Oscar Piastri went on to win and is now 34 points clear at the top of the F1 ladder.
• 2:01
  You've heard the expression for years that a competitor's helmet is their signature.
• 2:06
  It's a place where they can give sponsors a bit of exposure to look after them.
• 2:10
  It's a valuable piece of real estate and a place to express their personality.
• 2:15
  Helmet painters are working to somehow capture all of that and still have a bit of creative license too.
• 2:22
  That is not easy.
• 2:23
  One of the best in the world.
• 2:25
  can be found on the Gold Coast.
• 2:27
  Search for Antman Helmet Design online or Facebook and Instagram.
• 2:31
  He is an artisan with an incredible eye for detail and that rare ability to take what you're loosely thinking about as an idea or a concept and bring it to life way better than you ever imagined.
• 2:46
  His workload is massive so we are eating into time that he just does not have.
• 2:50
  Hello mate, it has been too long.
• 2:51
  Thank you for coming on.
• 2:53
  It has been a long time, hasn't it?
• 2:54
  God, when was the last time we probably spoke?
• 2:56
  We've only texted.
• 2:57
  We message each other occasionally via socials when we're, you know, when something catches both our eyes, but you painted a helmet for me 10 years ago now, and that's kind of inspired a little bit of this conversation today.
• 3:09
  We'll drill into that, but let's just begin with...
• 3:13
  In prepping for today, Murph and I, Greg Murphy and I had a little bit of a laugh because you have signed off your emails for 20 plus years the same way.
• 3:22
  Ant-Man.
• 3:24
  Where does the nickname come from?
• 3:25
  And you've basically held on to that brand, haven't you?
• 3:28
  It's clever.
• 3:29
  It's so weird because I never, ever, like before I painted a helmet, it was never called Ant-Man.
• 3:34
  It was always my last name.
• 3:35
  Just kind of, you know.
• 3:38
  And then I worked at a place where the cleaner, funnily enough, the cleaner guy, he was always a funny fella.
• 3:43
  He would come in every morning, right, and go, Ant-Man, like that, right, every morning.
• 3:49
  And he used to drive me nuts.
• 3:50
  He would do it to annoy me, right?
• 3:52
  And then a couple of years later when we were mucking around with the idea of doing this for a living or even attempting it, we were trying to come up with a note.
• 4:03
  And I had a couple of things going and then I just thought, you know, like Ant Man, it's just like kind of a character thing.
• 4:10
  I kind of disassociated myself a little bit.
• 4:12
  And then I came up with the logo thing on the back.
• 4:15
  But the people just associated it with me because my name's Anthony.
• 4:18
  Like it was a nickname.
• 4:19
  It was just – it kind of just went two and two together.
• 4:21
  And it just kind of went from there.
• 4:23
  Yeah.
• 4:23
  And like I always think the Ant thing is like –
• 4:28
  I always, a way I sort of put it into perspective now is that, you know, you have to do crazy, crazy workloads sometimes.
• 4:36
  And it's like one guy doing 10 guys work like an ant can pick up its, you know, 10 times its weight type thing.
• 4:42
  So it kind of works perfectly to me sometimes, you know, because especially at the moment, it's.
• 4:47
  It's crazy, man.
• 4:48
  It's crazy.
• 4:49
  Last minute stuff, yeah.
• 4:50
  That makes a lot of sense.
• 4:52
  I mean, does that mean that this kind of began for you as a passion project on weekends?
• 4:58
  Are you a spray painter by trade or something like that?
• 5:00
  Where did it come from?
• 5:01
  No trade whatsoever.
• 5:02
  I was in the casino industry and I was a special effects artist.
• 5:07
  So I used to go to casinos and walk in and do rooms.
• 5:11
  Wow.
• 5:11
  And sketch out rooms.
• 5:12
  Yeah.
• 5:13
  So I was always working with corporates.
• 5:14
  I always knew how to, you know, deal with people on a higher-end basis and never intimidate anyone a bit.
• 5:21
  You've just got to do your thing.
• 5:22
  And so it kind of – everything that I'd done in the past with effects and then things like that.
• 5:29
  And then I was mucking around.
• 5:30
  I've always been a modeler, you know, modelling and things like that in my younger days and that.
• 5:34
  So –
• 5:35
  Kind of all the little tiny skills you pick up over the years seemed to kind of fit perfectly with what my destiny kind of put aside for me.
• 5:44
  It just fell into it, man.
• 5:45
  I love how you've fallen into it, but it's brought you to this place.
• 5:51
  I never raced.
• 5:51
  Amazing.
• 5:52
  I never raced.
• 5:53
  I went to school with Jason Bright.
• 5:55
  We were in the same class together.
• 5:57
  And never painted a helmet for Jase, right?
• 6:01
  He wanted me to do it once, indie.
• 6:02
  When he did the indie lights thing in Australia, I bumped him in a nightclub, bumped into him on the gold case.
• 6:07
  He goes, you've got to paint my helmet.
• 6:08
  I said, I don't paint helmets.
• 6:09
  I'm a musician, mate.
• 6:12
  Funny, you know, look what happened, man.
• 6:14
  Awesome.
• 6:14
  So that was years before, in my early 20s.
• 6:17
  When was the first one?
• 6:18
  How did it – was it like, I'm going to give this a crack, or what did you do?
• 6:22
  First one was a – I was obsessed with F1 back in the shoe market days, right?
• 6:26
  Loved it.
• 6:27
  I went to the first Australian Grand Prix with my dad, watched Kiki Rosberg win.
• 6:31
  You know, so my father was always around motorsport.
• 6:33
  I grew up, I had the RX-7 Peter Stuyvesant in my garage.
• 6:38
  Moffat.
• 6:39
  Greg Hansford's one.
• 6:40
  Okay.
• 6:40
  Because my dad had a Mazda dealership.
• 6:42
  So I was always around the motorsport thing.
• 6:45
  Always around it, you know, but I never clicked.
• 6:48
  Never really clicked, man, you know, and it's like the first one I did was a Schumacher replica.
• 6:52
  I just kind of bought a cheap bell hammer just for myself because, you know, back when eBay started, remember?
• 6:59
  When eBay started?
• 7:00
  And I was looking on eBay for like these replica things and people were selling these astronomical priced replicas.
• 7:06
  They were hopeless or terrible things, you know, and then I thought, I'll bugger this.
• 7:09
  I'll just do one myself.
• 7:11
  And I was living at my mother-in-law's place at the time, and her son was an ex-panel beater.
• 7:16
  And down in a little tiny shed, he had like red, black, had a couple of lacquers still there, acrylic lacquers still there.
• 7:22
  So I just grabbed an airbrush from the shop, from work, took it home, and off I went, right?
• 7:27
  Had a basic, broad idea of how to do things.
• 7:29
  You sand it back, you know?
• 7:31
  I think I cleared it in acrylic, man.
• 7:35
  Right?
• 7:37
  And I remember I just kept it for like, you know, maybe six months or whatever.
• 7:40
  I stuck a guitar lead in it so it looked like a mic, you know, all that kind of thing.
• 7:44
  And it was just the prop, right?
• 7:45
  And then me and Vanessa, we decided we're going to get married.
• 7:48
  And, you know, we have no money.
• 7:49
  I'm just this struggling musician trying to play four or five nights a week in Sydney.
• 7:54
  And I thought, buggy this, I'm just going to chuck it on eBay.
• 7:57
  Right?
• 7:57
  So I threw it on eBay.
• 7:58
  And I felt like $800 for this thing, man.
• 8:03
  And it just blew my mind.
• 8:05
  I couldn't believe it.
• 8:06
  I just like nuts.
• 8:09
  It changed my life.
• 8:10
  Yeah, it changed your life, but clearly you're detail orientated.
• 8:13
  So what you did around trying to ensure that the helmet was as close or as authentic as possible.
• 8:19
  And that has been a bit of a hallmark.
• 8:20
  I've always been like that.
• 8:21
  It's a hallmark of yours, isn't it?
• 8:23
  Well, I used to believe it or not, mate, I never had a plotter.
• 8:27
  I'd never had a plotter until probably, well, when I first moved into Yatla.
• 8:32
  So for the first two years, everything I ever did was cut by hand.
• 8:36
  So you see all the lettering, you know, write Patton Shakespeare back in the days of WPS.
• 8:42
  Every single thing you saw was cut by hand, yeah.
• 8:44
  I'd just stick it up on the window like a light box and I would cut it out.
• 8:48
  I would just print the fonts on a computer and then that's what I did, you know.
• 8:54
  Because, you know, knife skills are everything.
• 8:55
  I mean, I learned knife skills back...
• 8:58
  My first ever job was in a printing company when I was 15.
• 9:01
  And that was back when you had to use bromide machines and you'd print out the lettering and you'd wax it on.
• 9:06
  And everything was done by knife and hand.
• 9:08
  So I've always had knife skills.
• 9:10
  Amazing.
• 9:11
  You are the sum of all of these parts, which is amazing.
• 9:13
  How many do you reckon you've painted now in your time?
• 9:17
  Okay, so 24 years or something, isn't it?
• 9:19
  It has to be.
• 9:20
  It's crazy.
• 9:20
  I can't.
• 9:22
  20-something years, man.
• 9:24
  You'd have to be in the thousands, wouldn't it?
• 9:26
  You'd have to have a couple of thousand or something.
• 9:27
  You'd have to.
• 9:29
  I'm only guessing, though.
• 9:30
  No, I mean, tell people about the process.
• 9:32
  We'll come to some of the big names that you look after.
• 9:35
  Yeah, the process.
• 9:36
  I mean, I can remember coming with Craig Baird.
• 9:38
  It would have to be over a decade ago now.
• 9:40
  And you and Baird, I just walked around the studio and talked.
• 9:43
  It was an awesome story that we did for RPM.
• 9:46
  And I recall you talking about taking the helmet, a bit like a car when you restore a car.
• 9:51
  You take it back to bear with the only thing basically being the safety straps.
• 9:57
  And then off you go, don't you?
• 9:58
  Yeah, basically we strip them.
• 10:02
  Yep.
• 10:03
  Right?
• 10:04
  And then this was carbon, obviously.
• 10:07
  This is one of JC's lids.
• 10:09
  And I just blacken it out.
• 10:10
  Whatever the pin line is going to be, I decide I will blacken it out and I'll clear seal it.
• 10:14
  I don't spray on and then have any – I will never allow any raw paint on my pin line because if you make a mistake on your pin line –
• 10:25
  you've got to come back on it, right, and fix it, right?
• 10:27
  So you don't want to be trying to fix something on raw paint.
• 10:30
  You want to be able to scratch some stuff off or whatever.
• 10:33
  You want it sealed, right?
• 10:34
  So that's just not even in your mind, right?
• 10:38
  So then you can start working on that next layer, right?
• 10:40
  And then once you get your basic lines down and you follow the design, like this, for instance, this is in a raw.
• 10:48
  It's a friend of mine, Tristan, who's been here for a long time, but it's an art piece, and I'm etching that by knife, right?
• 10:55
  So this has been etched.
• 10:57
  What is that?
• 10:58
  Like a dragon or something?
• 10:59
  What is that?
• 10:59
  That's a dragon, man.
• 11:01
  So you're the dragon it was, and it's going to go wrap right around the helmet.
• 11:04
  So that's all leaf, like a variegated red gold leaf thing.
• 11:08
  I just like that stuff.
• 11:10
  Grab Nicky's for me, can you, though?
• 11:13
  And I've got Nicky Perkats here, mate.
• 11:15
  This is just in a buff right now.
• 11:17
  But that's Nick's latest one, which will be lovely.
• 11:20
  We had to frame the logos a bit more.
• 11:24
  We've got to separate them a bit.
• 11:25
  We usually have a white section here.
• 11:26
  Yeah.
• 11:27
  But Nick's kind of kept the colors this year.
• 11:28
  We're rocking the fluoro red.
• 11:30
  See, I'm here right now.
• 11:32
  I'm just buffing.
• 11:33
  So any type of imperfection that I see in the clear, the final layers,
• 11:38
  And we have to remember, you've got to tell the audience, man, the reason why these cost so much is because it's not like the old days where you saw a trolley video, you know, and they spray on and bang and that's it, right?
• 11:49
  And you'd have these lumpy edges, you'd have everything terrible, right?
• 11:52
  So I knew that from day one.
• 11:55
  That was what I was going to do.
• 11:56
  I was going to sand everything back and my experience was what I would want.
• 12:01
  And I have high tastes, right, when it comes to this kind of thing.
• 12:03
  So that's why I don't have a helmet.
• 12:05
  Yeah.
• 12:06
  I've never been able to paint something for myself, right?
• 12:08
  But I think that you should expect, you know, a flat finish.
• 12:14
  And the only way to get that is by locking color in, right?
• 12:19
  So every time you do a layer, I will seal it and I will sand it back.
• 12:22
  So everyone thinks it gets built up.
• 12:24
  Well, you're sanding it off, right?
• 12:25
  So you're just locking in that layer with UV, right?
• 12:29
  So every time you get it out in the sun, you've got three layers, three and a half layers, man.
• 12:34
  that have been blocked out that probably have the weight of one and a half layers, right?
• 12:40
  And it's locked and the sun will protect it.
• 12:43
  Yeah, they will protect it from the sun as much as humanly possible.
• 12:46
  You just don't leave fluoros out in the sun, kids.
• 12:49
  Do not leave them out in the sun.
• 12:50
  So for people that are listening and maybe not watching, we'll put this on YouTube obviously as well.
• 12:53
  The colors that were on Nick's Arai helmet there, a bit of red, a bit of blue.
• 12:58
  That's fluoro red.
• 12:59
  Yeah, fluoro red.
• 13:00
  But he's also got a, he loves dogs and loves chocolate labs.
• 13:05
  He's got a motif on the back and so on.
• 13:07
  So I mean, one thing I've missed in the process here
• 13:11
  is the design.
• 13:12
  So I guess drivers and riders come to you and say, hey, I'd like to incorporate a bit of this or that.
• 13:18
  And we need space for sponsors.
• 13:19
  You've got a corporate angle that you've got to take care of in many respects as well.
• 13:23
  You do that design process?
• 13:25
  Someone does that for you?
• 13:26
  What happens there?
• 13:26
  Yeah.
• 13:26
  No, I do all the design.
• 13:28
  Everything is done by me.
• 13:30
  Basically, what I'll do is I'll get a list.
• 13:34
  Like for instance, with Jamie, Samantha sends me a list of
• 13:39
  the tier one, tier two, tier three sponsors on there, right?
• 13:43
  And an idea of where they would like them positioned.
• 13:46
  The obvious ones are obvious, but sometimes you've got logos that what they call a stacked logo is quite elongated.
• 13:53
  So the minute you start trying to fit an elongated position on the chin, which is, you know, good real estate, it starts to get smaller and smaller because you're fitting it in this section here, right?
• 14:02
  So you've got to maybe position it somewhere else.
• 14:05
  And those kind of things just like –
• 14:09
  You've probably seen a lot of Chaz's stuff, obviously, over the years, and Chaz is just loaded with logos, right?
• 14:14
  It's phenomenal.
• 14:15
  And, you know, he's every year, and Will Brown's, you know, you've got to somehow frame around those.
• 14:21
  You can't go through them, right?
• 14:23
  You've got to frame around them somehow and still keep it interesting.
• 14:27
  And it's the same shell helmet.
• 14:29
  It's the same shape, you know.
• 14:30
  So it's like not like the shell changes.
• 14:32
  So you've constantly got to try and reinvent the same wheel over and over again and make it interesting, right, because you can't take them away too far from their look, right?
• 14:41
  Even though Chaz and Will like a new look every time, that's the thing with Chaz and Will.
• 14:45
  Like you've got to come up with a brand new idea every time where guys like Nick and JC, they like to evolve and, you know, keep it.
• 14:52
  all married together type thing through their careers, which I love doing too.
• 14:58
  So it's a challenge.
• 15:00
  It's a challenge.
• 15:00
  And there are some iconic things that you have worked with along the way.
• 15:03
  I mean, you talked about that dragon there before.
• 15:05
  I mean, I immediately think of Murph and like the feathers or the Indian headdress kind of thing that he's woven.
• 15:12
  I mean, how difficult is something like that to do?
• 15:16
  Can be difficult, man.
• 15:17
  Can be difficult because –
• 15:19
  The thing is, right, you've got guys that have been around for a long time and they're like back in the days where your helmet, man, you know, you didn't have many logos on it.
• 15:29
  So the artwork on the helmet was mega, you know, and they were trying to still hold that individuality that's left for a driver now, you know, because everything's coded, you know, everything's coded on them now, you know, nothing is theirs except for that, you know.
• 15:43
  So with Murph's stuff, it's like, you know, he came to me, it's like you're trying to get old school stuff,
• 15:48
  right, and try to make it, you know, don't get too far ahead, but like try to make it modern and in today's kind of look, you know.
• 15:58
  So that's kind of where, and look, it's only my opinion of what I think is cool, right?
• 16:03
  So that could, people might disagree with me, you know, in a lot of cases, so.
• 16:08
  But it is pure artwork in that sense.
• 16:10
  Does tech help you in some ways when you're going through this process?
• 16:13
  Maybe not the painting side, maybe from the design side.
• 16:16
  Yeah, design side.
• 16:17
  Well, for instance, this one here, I'm working on a Dale Woods, right?
• 16:22
  So, you know, Dale's is always a classic every year, right?
• 16:25
  So this year I've got to get it done for, believe it or not, for bloody the Ben.
• 16:30
  So usually I have all the, yeah, I've got four helmets to complete from now until Ben.
• 16:36
  Just to put that in perspective, guys, okay?
• 16:38
  I just want you to put that into perspective, how hard that is, okay?
• 16:41
  That means no sleep.
• 16:43
  That means total dedication and, you know, no time for the kids, no going out, none of that shit, and it's just lock in and get the meditation music going and drink coffee.
• 16:54
  and keep going to the gym to try and stay healthy.
• 16:56
  And I'm trying to get healthy again at the moment, mate, trying to get fit.
• 16:59
  Music, is it a bit of an outlet for me?
• 17:02
  It's a passion for you.
• 17:03
  You talked about that before.
• 17:04
  Have you still got the guitar?
• 17:05
  Do you play a little bit of that?
• 17:06
  Do you take a break?
• 17:07
  Yeah, I've got more guitars now, mate.
• 17:08
  I've probably got three times the amount now, which is...
• 17:12
  I have a problem with collecting.
• 17:14
  Like I'm an old school 88, 87 BMX freestyler, you know, so I collect American freestyle bikes from the 80s and, you know, it's just that's a passion of mine and guitars was one.
• 17:27
  It's probably a dopamine fix more than anything, you know, because I get it and then I get the guitar, I get the bike and it's like, okay, got that, next, you know.
• 17:37
  So, yeah, I don't know.
• 17:39
  It's a weird thing.
• 17:40
  But I don't know.
• 17:40
  I like music's good.
• 17:42
  I haven't written a song for a long time.
• 17:44
  Okay.
• 17:44
  I don't know, man.
• 17:45
  I mean, music's kind of not cool anymore, you know?
• 17:48
  It's cool nowadays.
• 17:50
  It's a great outlet.
• 17:50
  You know, to bring a guitar out, everyone just cringes now, you know?
• 17:53
  I think the last time I walked in there, you were straight on to a bit of Van Halen or something.
• 17:57
  You were very, very good.
• 17:59
  It was excellent.
• 18:00
  Good memory.
• 18:01
  I'm enjoying this.
• 18:02
  Hope you are too.
• 18:03
  Ant-Man's kindly going to stick around for a little bit longer.
• 18:05
  More on the art of helmet painting in just a few moments.
• 18:12
  Bit of an industry focus for this ep of the short cast.
• 18:14
  And we'll share some social clips too.
• 18:16
  So you can see a little of Ant-Man's work at his cool studio there in Queensland, where we're talking to him today about pieces of art that he creates for races and the incredible work that goes into helmet design and painting.
• 18:30
  Back to the convo now.
• 18:33
  In the expansion of the business and what it has become, I mean, there are unbelievable accessories.
• 18:38
  I mean, accessorizing the whole deal has become a massive thing for both competitor and for you as a business, hasn't it?
• 18:45
  Yeah, it has, mate.
• 18:46
  Like, we just did the trim thing for ourselves, really.
• 18:49
  I mean, I was just – I was working in the – you know, I was designing all this stuff for M2R at the time, motocross stuff.
• 18:54
  And, you know, and motocross stuff, had all the coloured rubbers, colour interiors.
• 18:57
  I'm like, what the hell's going on?
• 18:58
  Why is it so lame?
• 19:00
  All these helmets are saying colour, boring.
• 19:02
  And I just started, I thought, well, bugger this, you know, I'll start doing it.
• 19:06
  And I've had no support from a single manufacturer.
• 19:09
  They've made it so difficult on us, mate.
• 19:12
  So they don't want us in the club.
• 19:14
  Simple as that, you know.
• 19:15
  So we're, yeah, simple.
• 19:16
  Simple.
• 19:17
  So, you know, we went and even got Snell testing done, did all that, and officially got all everything, you know, accepted, but they just couldn't do it because you can't get a Snell rating unless you have a helmet, right?
• 19:30
  So if I, for instance, brought a helmet out and then put the trim on it, no problem, buddy, right?
• 19:36
  But you're going the other way.
• 19:37
  It's all legal bullshit, you know.
• 19:38
  But at the end of the day, you know, we've –
• 19:42
  That's our packaging.
• 19:42
  This is our product.
• 19:43
  And they're just great things, you know, and it just gives kids and, and, and, and raises and amateurs and pros, um, the ability to just mix it up a little bit and put a little bit of color on their helmet, especially if they've got a white or a black one, man, you know, like, and they can't afford paint yet.
• 19:58
  You know, so I don't know.
• 20:00
  It was just something that was a creative idea that's been going now for probably 17 years.
• 20:06
  Unbelievable.
• 20:06
  And yeah, it's not like we're selling millions of product or anything because it's a very small niche community, motorsport.
• 20:14
  And I think once you kind of get your helmet painted, you've got that for a couple of years, you know.
• 20:20
  But yeah, everything's going well that way.
• 20:23
  It's hard because you've got to juggle everything, but Nessie handles all that front of me.
• 20:27
  You've worked with Chas Mostad, who you've already rattled off there, Will Brown, done stuff for Jamie Wincup, Greg Murphy.
• 20:33
  I mean, the list goes on, and it's not just within our corner of the world.
• 20:37
  Well, SVG now, and he's over there.
• 20:38
  Yeah, SVG, yeah, yeah.
• 20:39
  He's taken me over there with him, which was a massive honour because, you know, he's got painters biting at the bit to get him, and we've worked together for so long, me and Shane, and...
• 20:52
  He's just such a fantastic guy.
• 20:54
  He's never changed and he's extremely loyal.
• 20:57
  And he proved that to me.
• 20:59
  He didn't need to.
• 21:00
  He didn't need to.
• 21:00
  He's given me fantastic time with him.
• 21:03
  But it's been an absolute privilege to be able to work with the guys of Red Bull in America.
• 21:07
  And, um...
• 21:08
  and Trackhouse and that and they're all such lovely people.
• 21:11
  Made it so easy for me, you know, for the changes and that.
• 21:15
  And then through that I've met, you know, other companies that I'm now, you know, partnering up with and working and just moving, you know, everything's kind of look like it's
• 21:26
  it's moving forward again after I've kind of been, you know, after COVID, man, you know, like it's just been, shouldn't say that, but after that word, you know, we were locked down for a while in ourselves and our families and it took us a little while to just kind of branch out a little bit again, you know.
• 21:39
  For me, I kind of just became a bit of a recluse, you know, and just worked at home and I was, I got out of the factory just before, see, I was sick of the factory life.
• 21:48
  I had enough, man, 15 years and my kids were growing up so fast.
• 21:51
  I was just missing everything, man.
• 21:52
  Like I was going to the shop at 3am, you know.
• 21:55
  And I'd miss the school run, I'd miss the home run, and I'd just get them for an hour in the afternoon.
• 22:00
  I just can't live like this.
• 22:01
  I'm a family man, right?
• 22:03
  Yeah, yeah.
• 22:04
  I'll take family before business, man, you know what I mean?
• 22:07
  It'd be a big decision for me to do that, you know, so...
• 22:10
  So what does the office look like now?
• 22:12
  The office?
• 22:15
  Well, I mean, when I walked in there last time, there was like a paint booth.
• 22:19
  There was a display area out the front where you had both.
• 22:22
  Well, I'm not there anymore, brother.
• 22:24
  Okay.
• 22:24
  So tell me a bit about where you are now.
• 22:26
  I work from home.
• 22:26
  I got a studio at home just before everything got shut down.
• 22:30
  I got out in 18 and bought a home, bought a home down here in Sanctuary Cove, Santa Barbara area.
• 22:35
  It's a beautiful man.
• 22:37
  And we're lucky enough that we have this incredible studio underneath that's all council approved and everything.
• 22:43
  And it's, yeah, I just, like, it's really just temporary because we're going to renovate the home, right?
• 22:49
  And so it's been temporary for five years.
• 22:53
  I've been just too busy to get anything done.
• 22:55
  So it's kind of half done, but we'll probably redo everything anyway in the end.
• 23:00
  But it's very nice to be able to just walk downstairs.
• 23:02
  And my daughter's bedroom is right next door, so she comes out and visits me every day.
• 23:07
  And it's been a life-changing thing for me anyway.
• 23:09
  I'm much happier and calmer.
• 23:11
  Hard work, but it's nice that you're working from home in that way.
• 23:15
  Just – I mean, you mentioned SVG before, some of the great things he's doing in America and so on.
• 23:20
  When you paint these things, they become, I guess, a bit like a baby.
• 23:24
  You hand them on and then, you know, hopefully you see whatever, Chaz win a bathist or whatever it might be.
• 23:30
  Have there been a couple of moments along the way where there's that sense of pride because it's your –
• 23:36
  Every time I put the tally on, you know, like it's, I sometimes literally have to pinch myself, man, because I'm, you know, when I used to, back in the days where, I can't believe I say back in the days now, but like when JC was at Jim Bean.
• 23:50
  You know, like we just had this crew, man.
• 23:53
  We're all riding and training and we're all seeing a lot, you know, of each other a lot, you know.
• 23:57
  Excellent.
• 23:58
  It was very social.
• 23:59
  And then I just got so busy, man.
• 24:02
  It got so ridiculous that I had too much on my plate and I'd sort of just lost track of everyone.
• 24:07
  We only ever saw each other when it was business, you know.
• 24:11
  But still to this day, man, like,
• 24:15
  It never changes the feeling that you get when you see one of your boys up there or when you get a three-peat, when three lids are on the podium.
• 24:23
  Yeah, yeah.
• 24:24
  For instance, the historic event when Shane won Chicago that first time, right?
• 24:30
  I mean, I was literally in tears, mate.
• 24:32
  I was literally in tears watching.
• 24:34
  I couldn't believe what I was saying, you know.
• 24:36
  We all knew we could do it, but, like, you know, it was just amazing to watch that and, you know, to be a part of Jamie's seven championships, you know, or six of them.
• 24:47
  Six out of the seven is pretty good.
• 24:50
  And, you know, to be a part of the kind of – even though you have nothing to do with the physical side of the sport –
• 24:56
  You just feel like you're sitting in there with them a little bit because you've put so much work and hours into getting it there for them on time and making sure that it's right for them.
• 25:05
  You know, a little piece of yours in there.
• 25:07
  Yeah, totally.
• 25:08
  I feel like you know as an athlete that they have put in 150% to get to that point of hopefully winning a major race or a Bathurst or whatever.
• 25:16
  And you've done that on your side too with what you've brought to the table, which I love.
• 25:21
  But I'll always say this, Rusty, you're only as good as your drivers, mate.
• 25:25
  Look, I could be the best artist in the world, right?
• 25:28
  But if I didn't have a guy that's going to carry that art and do something with it,
• 25:32
  then there's nothing, right?
• 25:33
  There's just a helmet paint job, mate, right?
• 25:34
  And it's a sport.
• 25:35
  I'm in a sport.
• 25:36
  I'm an athlete.
• 25:36
  I'm from an athlete background, right?
• 25:38
  I like to compete, right?
• 25:40
  And when I paint, I paint like I'm competing.
• 25:42
  I'm performing, mate.
• 25:43
  You know, I'm going as fast as I can.
• 25:45
  I'm trying to be as efficient as I can.
• 25:47
  And it's where everything you gather together over the years, you put into times like this where you've got 10 days to do four weeks work at work.
• 25:55
  And you've really got to pull it off.
• 25:57
  And there is no mistake.
• 25:58
  There is no backing out.
• 25:59
  There is no, oh, man, sorry, man.
• 26:03
  You don't get that in this game.
• 26:04
  You do not get that because there's so much money on the line.
• 26:07
  There's so much sponsorship now.
• 26:09
  There's so much expectation on the drivers.
• 26:11
  So they're putting it all on you.
• 26:12
  And, you know, guys like, I wouldn't be anything without guys like Dave Ellis, you know, the great manager Dave Ellis.
• 26:19
  I mean, he's been in my life since the beginning nearly about, right?
• 26:22
  And if it wasn't for him...
• 26:24
  I owe so much to that, man.
• 26:25
  He's such a great fellow and a great friend, you know.
• 26:27
  So you're nothing without people, you know.
• 26:30
  They've just given me the opportunity, man.
• 26:31
  That's all it was.
• 26:32
  Can I finish then with in the motor racing world, you constantly have to change it up.
• 26:38
  You can't.
• 26:39
  You might win last week at Queensland Raceway.
• 26:41
  That does not guarantee that you'll go well at Talon Bean.
• 26:44
  You've got to constantly keep.
• 26:46
  Yeah.
• 26:46
  And it's a bit the same for you.
• 26:48
  Like, I am always amazed by...
• 26:51
  you know, the driver will come to you.
• 26:52
  Maybe it's James Courtney who's got a few traits or signature things that he likes on it.
• 26:58
  Others might want to change it up.
• 26:59
  But you invariably try and understand what they want, but you bring it to life and do these things with it that just blow people's minds, right?
• 27:09
  How do you keep doing that?
• 27:10
  Because you have to keep changing it up.
• 27:11
  Because I do what they want.
• 27:13
  No, I do what they want.
• 27:14
  I listen.
• 27:15
  I listen.
• 27:15
  See, the problem with most guys have when they first start out, they do what they're able to do.
• 27:20
  And I'll convince you that you need this, right?
• 27:23
  Because that's their ability, the level, right?
• 27:26
  But if you get to a point where there's no level, it's only up to you.
• 27:30
  right, then you listen, right, and they say, I need this, this, and this, this, and you go, okay, what's this guy's personality?
• 27:37
  Is he a sharp guy?
• 27:38
  Is he a soft guy?
• 27:40
  Right?
• 27:41
  You ask things like what your star sign is, right?
• 27:45
  What's your horoscope?
• 27:46
  Because then you can find out what their colors are.
• 27:48
  You can find out what – you can go look straight into a person,
• 27:51
  Right.
• 27:52
  And that's kind of the formulas that I use.
• 27:55
  And then you just listen and you try and figure out what they want and you just come up something with something that will suit them.
• 28:02
  Right.
• 28:03
  I mean, that's pretty much it.
• 28:04
  Right.
• 28:05
  Like a portrait artist.
• 28:06
  You got to try and do something that will compliment them.
• 28:09
  Not compliment you, man.
• 28:10
  It's like a goddamn sticker on it.
• 28:12
  They pay me to do it, right?
• 28:14
  Yeah.
• 28:14
  Like, I have a real problem with people putting stickers of their shit all over the Buddy Visor sticker and here and here and here.
• 28:20
  Dude, you just got paid, mate.
• 28:22
  It's not your slogan board, mate, right?
• 28:24
  It's like, it's a professional piece of art, which means you can label it if you're allowed.
• 28:29
  Like, you'll notice that sometimes on the pro helmets, you won't see my chin label.
• 28:33
  I don't get up about it, mate.
• 28:34
  It's because they've got a really, really expensive goddamn sponsor or someone that's given them good money to go there, and they've paid me.
• 28:42
  So as long as my logo's on the back and they respect that, then I'm sweet.
• 28:46
  I'm happy, mate, because everyone sees it when they win.
• 28:49
  You know that photo you get when they get out of the car and you always get the back of the helmet.
• 28:52
  It's crazy.
• 28:56
  I love that you have taken something that you clearly are ultra passionate about.
• 29:01
  I know you invest a huge amount of hours in this, mate.
• 29:04
  You've got some big helmets to finish between now and tail and bend.
• 29:07
  It's been awesome to shoot the breeze a little bit here with you on this.
• 29:11
  I'd encourage people to go and have a look at some of your work, either on socials or online, if they don't know who you are.
• 29:17
  I know most in the industry...
• 29:19
  do, mate, and go well for the rest of the season.
• 29:23
  And thank you very much for talking to us today.
• 29:24
  Thanks so much, Vasti.
• 29:25
  I appreciate it, man.
• 29:26
  So good to talk to you.
• 29:27
  It's been ages, man.
• 29:28
  We've got to catch up soon.
• 29:29
  100%.
• 29:29
  Why aren't you calling?
• 29:30
  Why aren't you calling supercars, man?
• 29:32
  I don't get it.
• 29:32
  I do not get it.
• 29:34
  You're the voice of motorsport as far as I'm concerned, buddy.
• 29:37
  Thanks, bro.
• 29:37
  Got to get your back.
• 29:39
  I am a huge believer in supporting industry, and there's obviously other helmet painters out there.
• 29:45
  The reason that I chose Ant-Man stems from some TV stories that we've done with him over the years and recommendations from a number of drivers who have used him for decades.
• 29:54
  I was a customer, not an ambassador, but a customer 10 years ago now.
• 29:58
  I gave him a Bell helmet that I had.
• 30:01
  I am not a racer.
• 30:02
  You know that.
• 30:02
  I occasionally...
• 30:04
  need them for stories and yarns and things like that what Ant-Man came up with could easily be a centerpiece in the office or garage it has a chrome base he used blues and this fluoro yellow that's striking I was studying martial arts at that stage and had just achieved a black belt so he wove in this headband and he played on the R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-R-B-A-
• 30:26
  from rust as a part of the design.
• 30:28
  It is seriously impressive and I've looked after it too based on his recommendations.
• 30:32
  Thank you mate.
• 30:33
  I'm off to Taylam Ben for the penultimate round of the Shannon Speed Series this weekend.
• 30:38
  That series will actually wrap up in New Zealand as part of a double header their first round of
• 30:44
  the Next Gen NZ Championship.
• 30:46
  That's the Summer Series in New Zealand.
• 30:48
  That all kicks off in early November, but first, the second last event in South Australia there.
• 30:52
  I'll then be heading with my rally mate, Dean Herridge, and his Maximum Motorsport team to cover their Sunraiser Safari bit.
• 30:59
  I've not done that before.
• 31:00
  That should be a lot of fun.
• 31:02
  You can check out Dino's three-parter in our library, and his dad, Rob, is in there too.
• 31:07
  Worth having a listen to both of those.
• 31:08
  They're good talkers.
• 31:10
  And then there'll be a two-wheel switch after those two jobs.
• 31:13
  A cool trip to Darwin for MXGP.
• 31:17
  I am really excited for that.
• 31:18
  Have a fantastic week, everybody.
• 31:20
  Bye for now.