Airbrush art all about fine detail

BY SIMON EDWARDS

Some describe a beautiful piece of machinery as a work of art; Kurt Goodin takes that concept a step further.

Mr Goodin just won a national award for his finely detailed and gleaming rendition of a classic early 60s dragster image, airbrushed onto steel panel.

His win at the Smits Group NZ Airbrush Art competition and exhibition in Auckland on January 30 was a welcome step in a career in which he has been able to meld his passions for art and hot rods.

"I've grown up with hot rods and drag racing. Dad was right into it," said Kurt, who is in the early stages of building his own hot rod.

At Kuranui College in Greytown, he "flew through art" and took the senior prize.

The airbrushed art he applied to vehicles at his job at Junior Kustom Rides & Classics in Wingate - motto "we customise damn near anything" - was exacting work.

"A lot of people don't understand what goes into it. I use a high-dollar part [airbrush gun], the best money can buy. It can spray right down to a hairline  0.2mm."

In his early months at Juniors, getting it right was tough going, he said. "I almost gave up but the guys here kept me at it."

Mr Goodin described hot rod-related designs painted on to vehicles as "a bit of a lost art" for a while. "It was huge in the 60s and 70s in the States [but died out]. Now it has gone boom again in the last couple of years, especially in the US and Australia."

Of the many interesting and unusual images he had been asked to airbrush on to vehicles and motorcycles, one was of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker, applied to a stock car. It came out well.

- Hutt News