They Call Me Mister Lucky

 

 That's the first line from one of my favorite John Lee Hooker songs, and I've always felt that it applied to me.  So, when I decided to custom-paint a helmet to go along with my bike, that was my theme.

I started with a flat black Bell Custom 500 open-faced helmet...

 ...seen here being modeled by the Great Gazoo.

It took a few steps to get it done:

I did the numbers first.  Lucky 13!  I outlined them in gold, to reflect the lettering on the side covers of the bike.

Then, I masked the letters and the field around them, and sprayed it.

 After that, I spent a few hours adding the skulls with a paint pen.  I wanted a design that looked almost like paisley, from a distance, which would be quite different up close.  I'm pretty happy with it.

Once I sprayed the clear coat on it, the flat black became glossy.  And, the thing became very hard to photograph.  You can see the horizon reflected in the helmet, no matter what I do.  (I'm not much of a photographer.)

Now I look as lucky as I feel.

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