On Feb. 21, 2017, I completed painting the foot and trim of my Elko centennial cowboy boot for Great Basin College (GBC) in Elko, NV, as shown above. This task took about 2.5 hours.
There was a little overspray when I airbrushed the green paint near the gold paint. I hope it is not very noticeable, as I was not able to fix it. I painted the brown trim by hand, to avoid such problems and be more precise. It was a real trip laying on my stomach to paint the bottom of the boot sole with a sponge brush.
On Feb. 23, I added the lettering and other decals to the boot, as shown below.
Adding the lettering and decals was a challenge, as they did not adhere to the airbrushed surface as tightly as I hoped they would. I am hopeful that the three coats of automotive clear coat will adequately secure these elements in place.
I especially like the way the GBC 50-year logo looks on the front of the boot.
I am not as happy with the lettering to the left of the GBC clock tower decal on the boot foot, however.
The words say “WE ARE GBC!”, but the green lettering does not show up on the green background. Therefore, I held off on adding a similar decal to the other side of the boot until this lettering for both sides of the boot is received in a lighter color.
I also added adhesive-backed aluminum to the diamond pattern on the boot toe for a little bling.
I then drilled holes in the boot heel to add the required Elko centennial plaque that also contains the GBC logo and the names of the boot sponsor and artist.
All that is left for me to do at this point is to add the other clock tower decal and lighter colored lettering to the boot foot and affix the bezels containing the GBC commemorative coins to the bases of the boot pull straps. I am waiting for a decision on the glue type for the latter. Once those things are completed, I will protectively wrap the boot for transport to a local auto body shop where my nephew will add the required three layers of automotive clear coat to it. Then GBC will transfer the boot to its new home at the college. I am confident that the boot will be completed and in place well before the April 1 deadline.
See my previous boot blog post for earlier pictures and background on this fun project. For the next stage of this project, see this post.
