April 2014 – Whiplash Customs

Antman Helmet

Whiplash Customs doesn't just dabble in the art of metal fabricating – we are now experimenting successfully with the world of Cosplay (short for Costume Play) for followers of Fan Expos, turbo-charged Halloween costumes or just having fun playing grown-up dress-up for special events. When asked by a fan of the Marvel Comics superhero Antman if Al could somehow figure out how to build a likeness of the character's helmet, the creative gears kicked into high-drive.

Starting with a retro 1970s helmet, parts were fabricated, molded, ground, polished and painted to come up with not just a likeness of the famous superhero's helmet but more like it was the real thing out of a Marvel Comics museum. The Vancouver Fan Expo, held the weekend of April 19th and 20th resulted in a costume award for "Best Couple" when Antman attended the Expo with Wasp, whom he was paired with in the comic series. Al was also instrumental in fabricating the metal form for Wasp's wings.

It looked like a lot of fun was had and much attention was given to Antman's helmet with the question: Where did you get that? Does this mean another stream of work orders flowing into the Whiplash Customs shop? This helmet is DOT (Dept of Transportation) so it might not be such a far reach to see these new creations cropping up on motorcycle rider's heads in the near future. Interesting.

: Completed Antman Helmet

: The Original Marvel Superhero

: Wasp – Antman’s Sidekick

A 1965 Classic

There were some very good things that came in small packages back in the early 1960s and the Yamaha Campus 60 was one of them. This particular Campus 60 is a 1965 model and comes with an interesting history. The father of Dave, one of our customers, received this bike as a gift in the early 60s when they were being used as promotions on game shows such as Hollywood Squares. Six bikes were used for advertising, 4 were given away on the show and two were given to Dave’s father and his business partner.

The bike ended up with Dave and had been kept in storage since it was last insured in 1970. Time had taken its toll on the Campus 60 but the miles were low and the classy chassis was still intact so Dave brought it to Al’s shop for a restoration project. Lots of TLC went into cleaning up the bike with new chrome, paint, polishing and upholstery. The biggest challenge was re-spoking the wheels as they had all come apart. But the end result was worth the effort as she looked like she had just rolled onto the stage of Hollywood Squares as a brand new bike!

This is a wonderful dedication to Dave’s father with the Yamaha Campus 60 fully restored and brought back to life for a legacy that will live on as it is passed to each generation in the family.