# For Valour - A dedication to a hero. One Off Custom Vespa Scooter Detail



## drive 'n' shine (Apr 22, 2006)

After carrying out a detail on his Range Rover, the owner casually asked if I fancied doing one of his (many!) scooters, well it was something different so of course I said yes - He them went on to tell me a little bit about the one off custom scooter - It won 4 trophies at last years Isle of Wight *(the largest international gathering) rally, including Best of Show & Punters choice, the first scooter in the rallies history to pick up both awards.

A bit of background and history behind the scooter build.

The owner wanted to dedicate this scooter to the memory of his Grandfather Lance Corporal James Murray V.C.

*Troopers Murray and Danagher advanced into the open under a withering fire to rescue two men of the 21st Foot ( 2nd Bn Royal Scots Fusiliers ) named Byrne and Davis, both of whom had been badly wounded. No sooner had Murray started forward than his horse was shot under him, but he continued to advance across the open on foot. The two rescuers reached the men together, and on stooping to lift Byrne's head Murray was shot through the body, the bullet entering his right side and passing out near the spine. Having received such a serious wound, and realisng the seeming hopelesness of the situation in which they found themselves, Murray ordered Danaher to take his carbine and make good his escape. Murray remained with Byrne, who shortly afterwards died. The Boers then threw themselves upon Muray and Davis and took them prisoners.

Byrne's body was placed in a bullock's skin and was conveyed with the two prisoners to the Boer camp which was pitched upon the top of the mountain. Murray afterwards paid tribute to the treatment of the enemy, and to the courtesy of the Boer commandant who permitted them to return to Pretoria under a flag of truce and to take with them the body of Byrne. Five days after Murray and Davis reached Pretoria, Davis died.

[ London Gazette, 14 March 1882 ]. Elandsfontein, South Africa, 16 January 1881, Lance-Corporal James Murray, 2nd Bn, Connaught Rangers.

"For gallant conduct ( with Trooper Danaher, of Nourse's Horse ) during an engagement with the Boers at Elandsfontein on January 16th, 1881, in advancing for 500 yards under a very heavy fire from a party of about 60 Boers, to bring out of action a private of the 21st Foot who had been severly wounded; in attempting which Lance-Corporal Murray was himself severely wounded."

James Murray was invested with his Victoria Cross by Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on the 15th May 1882.*

So on to the scooter in question, the amount of detail & level of craftsmanship on this totally unique scooter is staggering, no amount of photos do it justice, it really has to be seen to appreciate. From the hand airbrushed paintwork, to the hand engraved metalwork, all done with hammer & chisels by an ex-jewellery and gunsmith engraver.










What was required from this detail, was to remove some slight traces of overspray and a light machine polish to improve the clarity of the paintwork, and of course polish all the brightwork!

This shows an example of the sort of swirling present in the paintwork










After a gentle low pressure wash, all the paintwork was clayed to remove the above mentioned overspray










First job was to clean up the horn cover










Using various detailing swabs










Then on to the machine polishing - using a 3inch finishing pad and Swissvax cleaner fluid pro. Although there may not be a lot of paintwork compared to a car, what there is has limited access, involving working at all sorts of peculiar angles and with great care!



















A before and after of the right hand side of the front panel



















Front mudguard before & after




















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On the rear of the front panel

Before










After










The side panels were removed to aid access





































Areas behind the side panels

Before










After










Once all the paintwork had been polished, all the panels were waxed - and the wax used? Well only one wax for a Best of Show winner - Swissvax Best of Show!

Seen here curing on one of the side panels










While the wax was curing, I made a start on all the metal work, using Britemax Final Shine & Sealant

All the intricate areas were accessed using foam headed detailing swabs










Once all the metalwork was treated I returned to the painted panels to buff off the cured wax, which gave the metal sealant time to haze ready for buffing.

And the end result










Matching helmet


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## slrestoration (Nov 11, 2009)

Thats some damn fine artwork there, suitably finished. Nice work Brian:thumb:


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## chrisc (Jun 15, 2008)

going to show my dad that thats amazeing


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## Andy. (Apr 11, 2010)

Stunning scooter, top class airbrush artist went to town on that scooter for sure. 
you done an awsome job on the detailing as well.


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## Robbieben (Feb 19, 2006)

Stunning, fantastic work of art, great work on the detail.


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## Guest (Apr 23, 2010)

Thats amazing, second from last picture; brake fluid reservoir. someone has sat and made then hand carved that... superb


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Nice One Brian,

Being an aging rocker paying homage to a scooter is almost heresy however. That really does have some serious paintwork and something to be proud of.

As always, great work from a Pro :thumb:


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## eurodub (Mar 24, 2009)

Excellent work on one off....:thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## srmtor (Jul 12, 2008)

I hate to think how much time has been spent creating this, its awesome!


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## clcollins (Jul 30, 2007)

That is a stunning scooter, vast amount of detail :doublesho

Your work has sharpened it up to perfection, great stuff, thanks for sharing :thumb:


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## -Ally- (Mar 6, 2009)

Excellent work


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

fooooooooook! thats all i have to say


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## wes (Jan 20, 2008)

Lovely, definitely one of the most interesting write ups I have seen if not the most interesting.


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Stunning bike, nice one matey.:thumb:


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

That is simple stunning work :argie: fantastic bike out of interest is that the original vc?


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## drive 'n' shine (Apr 22, 2006)

-tom- said:


> That is simple stunning work :argie: fantastic bike out of interest is that the original vc?


Cheers :thumb:

No, not original VC, the family donated the original to the British Army museum in Chelsea.


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## twoscoops (Mar 26, 2010)

Thats brilliant mate, a fitting tribute!


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## dave-g (Nov 14, 2009)

thats awesome  looks like the owner really likes his attention to detail lol.

Must of been a very consuming job though, so tricky! looks great though mate B)


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

love the bike and great work the last pictures is awsome :thumb:


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## rankins (Apr 10, 2010)

wow thats crazy but soooo cool


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## Airedale1 (Apr 3, 2012)

Wonderful story told here through the artwork. Incredible detail and execution. I stumbled upon your post while searching for tips on how to best detail my own 2007 Vespa which is pictured below. Drive 'N" Shine, with your permission I would love to be able to share the story of this magnificent build with my fellow Vespa lovers along with some of your images, on the Modern Vespa forum.


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## Reds (Jan 14, 2009)

-tom- said:


> That is simple stunning work :argie: fantastic bike out of interest is that the original vc?


Just did a quick check. A VC is worth anywhere between £52000 to £1.5 million (depending on what action it was awarded for and any other medals in the collection).

As an ex squaddie, it's nice to see military history put forward in different and unique way.


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## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

Stunning simply amazing its not a scooter its a work of art!


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## tommyboy (Sep 29, 2007)

Simply stunning, that engraving is one of the sweetest things i have ever seen on this forum.

Tom:argie:


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## tom-225 (Aug 30, 2009)

Ive never seen brightwork that intricate !!!


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## Dan J (Jun 18, 2008)

Nice work Brian, that scooter looks awesome.


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## Foxhound (May 5, 2011)

What a work!!!
And what a Vespa!! Loved it!!


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## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

That is one hell of a paint job and some cracking detailing work to follow it up!

Nice one.:thumb:


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## Paul.J (Apr 24, 2011)

Nice work there Bryan ;-)


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## kevoque (Jan 16, 2012)

Nice work Brian !!
Seen this scooter in the flesh and it is awesome 2 years ago!
Kev


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