Janni
Enthusiast
Ed Combs\' (Double Venom) Personal Tribute to 9/11....
In the days following the tragedy on 9/11/2001, there was an outpouring of emotion all over the world. We all reacted in ways similar, yet very personal.
Ed Combs, better known as Double Venom, no longer on active duty, decided he would use his painting skills to express his thoughts and feelings. In his own words, "I can't fight,but I can PAINT...." To that end, a thread was started on this board, looking for a canvas for his work. Now, THIS, I thought, was something I'd like to be involved in. I volunteered my 96 GTS...
After somewhat of a slow start (conflicting schedules and the need to finish the ViperDays season) we finally delivered the car to Ed in the beginning of March. We had worked with a graphic artist friend of ours to develop the design. The idea behind the design was to celebrate two American icons - combine the red, white and blue and stars and stripes of the American flag with the classic blue with white striped Viper GTS.
Turns out, the canvas needed some work before painting could start. The hood came from the factory sporting a few coats of paint and clearcoat, as well as some fairly significant blemishes (which, amazingly, I had never seen until Ed's keen eye brought them to light...) so the entire hood needed to be sanded, repaired, prepped and primed before any paint work could start. And as Chuck has been so kind to point out, there was some minor evidence of an off track excursion at Watkin's Glen with which to contend.
I'll let Ed chime in and tell you all he did - that's his ball game... But he did have some help. Fellow VCA members Vicki and Jim Peffers were instrumental in this process. Vicki lent her considerable artistic talents behind the airbrush. She applied all the stars, the drop shadows, and all the detail mica flaking. Jim was there and assisted in disassembly, prep and reassembly. THANK YOU BOTH!
Hoping for a July 4th reunion with my car, we missed it by a few days, but we were able to pick it up yesterday. Ed was burning the midnight oil for the past few weeks to get this car done - and he had this little fundraising party to throw, too - and raise over $50K for Cystic Fibrosis in the process....
Here's a first pic of the car... It's truly a work of art - the detail is amazing... You can see it in person at ViperDays at VIR this coming weekend.
And here's the neatest thing, Ed knows this car will be on the track - and he said he didn't want me to drive any slower or worry about it. That being said, I'll be the one driving the car completely encased in bubble wrap....
Thanks again to all involved - we think its a very special tribute by some very special people.
In the days following the tragedy on 9/11/2001, there was an outpouring of emotion all over the world. We all reacted in ways similar, yet very personal.
Ed Combs, better known as Double Venom, no longer on active duty, decided he would use his painting skills to express his thoughts and feelings. In his own words, "I can't fight,but I can PAINT...." To that end, a thread was started on this board, looking for a canvas for his work. Now, THIS, I thought, was something I'd like to be involved in. I volunteered my 96 GTS...
After somewhat of a slow start (conflicting schedules and the need to finish the ViperDays season) we finally delivered the car to Ed in the beginning of March. We had worked with a graphic artist friend of ours to develop the design. The idea behind the design was to celebrate two American icons - combine the red, white and blue and stars and stripes of the American flag with the classic blue with white striped Viper GTS.
Turns out, the canvas needed some work before painting could start. The hood came from the factory sporting a few coats of paint and clearcoat, as well as some fairly significant blemishes (which, amazingly, I had never seen until Ed's keen eye brought them to light...) so the entire hood needed to be sanded, repaired, prepped and primed before any paint work could start. And as Chuck has been so kind to point out, there was some minor evidence of an off track excursion at Watkin's Glen with which to contend.
I'll let Ed chime in and tell you all he did - that's his ball game... But he did have some help. Fellow VCA members Vicki and Jim Peffers were instrumental in this process. Vicki lent her considerable artistic talents behind the airbrush. She applied all the stars, the drop shadows, and all the detail mica flaking. Jim was there and assisted in disassembly, prep and reassembly. THANK YOU BOTH!
Hoping for a July 4th reunion with my car, we missed it by a few days, but we were able to pick it up yesterday. Ed was burning the midnight oil for the past few weeks to get this car done - and he had this little fundraising party to throw, too - and raise over $50K for Cystic Fibrosis in the process....
Here's a first pic of the car... It's truly a work of art - the detail is amazing... You can see it in person at ViperDays at VIR this coming weekend.
And here's the neatest thing, Ed knows this car will be on the track - and he said he didn't want me to drive any slower or worry about it. That being said, I'll be the one driving the car completely encased in bubble wrap....
Thanks again to all involved - we think its a very special tribute by some very special people.
