Oh No!!!

It seems that with all the custom gun work going on, I never have time to build one for myself. Even when I tried to squeeze one in with a run, it would always get pried away from me by someone who absolutely had to have it in time for a trip. So, when I finally made it through the entire build of a Pro 72 that I was doing for myself for an upcoming trip of my own to Mexico, I was excited that I might actually end up with one! As it got closer to completion, I called Amadeo Bachar to see if he was down for doing a graphic I had in my head for months and he was all for it.

The concept was to paint the base coat a dark metallic smoke, and then do a life-like rendering of a Humboldt squid. The process was a little tricky because it required the work of the Ammenti brothers, Amadeo, and myself simultaneously.

John shot the base coat, and after some drying time, frisket paper was applied in order to sketch the body of the squid onto the gun. It was cut out and airbrushed in various stages in order to attain the shading necessary to create a three dimensional effect. The gun was then clear-coated and taken back to the Sea Sniper shop. From there, Amadeo hand painted all the details that made the squid come to life; right down to the scratches seen on these amazing creatures! Finally, it was back to John Ammenti's shop for the second clear coat in order to protect Amadeo's art. Oh, and did I mention this was all in one weekend?!

The result was amazing. It looked exactly like a Humboldt squid. I couldn't believe that these guys were able to create the exact image I had described to them. It was finished in time for my trip, and although we were not successful, Joe Westbury noticed on strange side-effect. When viewed from the belly, the eyes and gill slit created a cartoon-like "Oh No!" face. When seen from any other angle, it looks realistic, but from this angle it looks like a cartoon character! Sometimes the unintentional can be funny, even in something serious.