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The Motorsport Brief | The art of helmet painting with Antman
The Motorsport Brief | The art of helmet painting with Antman
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About this episode
Delve into the fascinating world of helmet painting with Ant-Man, a renowned artist who has worked with top motorsport personalities. From his beginnings in special effects to creating iconic designs for drivers like Chas Mostert and Jamie Whincup, Ant-Man shares insights into the intricate process of helmet design and the balance between artistry and sponsorship. The episode also touches on the challenges of maintaining creativity in a competitive industry, the personal connections formed with drivers, and the evolution of his craft over the years.
Topics:
helmet painting
design process
motorsport art
sponsorship integration
creative challenges
driver collaborations
personal stories
industry insights
business expansion
Just like the great riders and drivers this is a story of a self taught artisan who passionately dedicates himself to the craft spending long hours every day to personalize helmets that could easily be on display in a gallery.
Working with Chaz Mostert, Greg Murphy, James Courtney, Shane van Gisbergen and many more to capture and express their personalities and to keep bringing a freshness to each design.
How his background was the perfect foundation for this unlikely career path and the Michael Schumacher replica that started it all.
Expanding into custom trims to give each ‘lid’ that special touch.
And why he won’t compromise on quality in the race to finish a number of new helmets ahead of the Supercars enduros.
Checkout Antman Helmet Design on FaceBook and Instagram or go to https://www.antmanhelmetdesign.com/
Head to Rusty's Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and give us your feedback and let us know who you want to hear from on Rusty's Garage.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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"...k for Warner Brothers just before the turn of the century too on the Pokemon set."
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A Listener production.
Ever wondered what goes into those magnificent driver and rider helmet paint schemes?
We're about to find out here on the Motorsport Brief.
Hi everyone, Rusty with you and something different for this ep, shortly to Ant-Man's
studio in Queensland.
He has painted for some of the best over the years and not just for Aussie and Kiwi
races either.
You immediately think of Chas Mostert, James Courtney, Greg Murphy, Jamie Winkup,
Shane Van Gisburgen in NASCAR and many, many more.
He did a bit of work for Warner Brothers just before the turn of the century too on the
Pokemon set.
We'll get to Ant-Man in just a few moments.
Have you checked out our recent panel discussion ep on AI in Motorsport?
Tech commentator Trevor Long and Tom Moore from DJR joined us for that one with some
clever revelations around things that we're starting to see in supercars now
and in the motorsport industry generally in our corner of the world.
AI and machine learning, fascinating discussion that one.
Young Aussie Taylor Gill also joined us for a short cast ahead of the junior world rally
championship decider.
Taylor leads a handful of contenders going into that final event, the European rally
in October.
Good to share a bit more of his story and see or hear some of his personality, he's
a good talker.
He'll sneak home for a run in an AP4 Yaris next month too on the New South
Wales South Coast.
Is that a bit of preparation for what he might be tackling in 2026 on the
international scene?
And Matt Hickey from Codesports came back on ahead of the second half of the F1
season.
It will be an epic run to the finish.
We talked Cadillac 2026 and Moore there as well.
There is some sage words from Matt on what could be a defining moment in the
final 10 races and he did that before the Dutch Grand Prix.
Did we see that on Sunday night for Lando Norris?
Oscar Piazzari went on to win and is now 34 points clear at the top of the F1
ladder.
You've heard the expression for years that a competitor's helmet is their
signature.
It's a place where they can give sponsors a bit of exposure too to look
after them.
It's a valuable piece of real estate and a place to express their
personality.
Helmet painters are working to somehow capture all of that and still have a
bit of creative license too.
That is not easy.
One of the best in the world can be found on the Gold Coast.
Search for Ant-Man helmet design online or Facebook and Instagram.
He is an artisan with an incredible eye for detail and that rare ability to
take what you're loosely thinking about as an idea or a concept and bring
it to life way better than you ever imagined.
His workload is massive so we are eating into time but he just does
not have.
Hello, mate.
It has been too long.
Thank you for coming on.
It hasn't been a long time, hasn't it?
What was the last time we probably spoke?
We've only texted.
We message each other occasionally via socials when something catches
both our eyes but you painted a helmet for me 10 years ago now and
that's kind of inspired a little bit of this conversation today.
We'll drill into that but let's just begin with in prepping for
today, Greg Murphy and I had a little bit of a laugh because you
have signed off your emails for 20 plus years the same way.
Ant-Man, where does the nickname come from?
You've basically held on to that brand, haven't you?
It's clever.
It's so weird because I never ever, like before I painted a helmet,
was never called Ant-Man.
It was always my last name.
This guy, you know?
And then I worked at a place where the cleaner, funnily enough
the cleaner guy who was always a funny fellow would come in every
morning and go, Ant-Man, like that, right?
Every morning.
And he used to drive me nuts.
He would do it to annoy me, right?
And then a couple of years later when we were mucking around
with the idea of doing this for a living or even attempting it,
we were trying to come up with a note.
And I had a couple of things going and then I just thought,
you know, like Ant-Man, it's just like kind of a character
thing that kind of disassociated myself a little bit.
And then I came up with the logo thing on the back.
But that people just associated it with me
because my name's Anthony.
Like it was a nickname.
It kind of just went two and two together.
And it just kind of went from there.
Yeah, and like I always think, I always think the Ant thing is
like a way I sort of put it into perspective now is that,
you know, you have to do crazy, crazy workloads sometimes.
And it's like one guy doing 10 guys work like an Ant can
pick up, you know, 10 times its weight type thing.
So it kind of works perfectly to me sometimes, you know,
because especially at the moment, it's crazy, man.
It's crazy.
Last minute stuff, yeah.
That makes a lot of sense.
I mean, does that mean that this kind of began for you
as a passion project on weekends?
Are you a spray painted by trade or something?
Like, where did it come from?
No trade whatsoever.
I was in the casino industry.
And I was a special effects artist.
So I used to go to casinos and walk in and do rooms.
And sketch out rooms.
Yeah, so I was always working with corporates.
So I always knew how to, you know, deal with people
on a higher end basis and never intimidate any one bit.
You just got to do your thing.
And so it kind of everything that I'd done in the past
with effects and then things like that.
And then I was, I've always been a modeler, you know,
modeling and things like that in my under days and that.
So kind of all the little tiny skills you pick up over the
years seem to kind of fit perfectly with what my destiny
kind of put aside for me.
And it just fell into it, man.
I love how you've fallen into it, but it's, it's, you know,
brought you to this place.
I never raced.
Amazing. I never raced.
I went to school with Jason Bright.
We're in the same class together
and never paid the helm for Jase, right?
He wanted me to do it once.
Indy, when he did the indie lights thing in Australia,
I bumped him in a nightclub, bumped into him
in the gold case, he goes, you've got to pay my helmet.
And I said, I don't pay an helmets.
I'm a musician, mate.
It's funny, you know, look what happened, man.
Awesome.
So that was years before in my early 20s.
When was the first one?
How did it, was it like,
I'm going to give this a crack or what did you do?
First one was a,
I was obsessed with F1 back in the shoe market days.
Right, loved it.
I went to the first Australian Grand Prix with my dad,
watch Kiki Rosberg win.
You know, so my father was always around motorsport.
I grew up.
I had the RX-7 Peter Staubenson in my garage.
Moffat.
Greg Hansford's one.
My dad had Mazda dealerships.
I was always around the motorsport thing.
Always around it, you know?
And, but I never, never clicked.
Never really clicked, man, you know?
And it's like, the first one I did
was a shoe marker replica.
I just kind of bought a cheap bell hammer
just for myself because, you know,
back when eBay started, remember when eBay started?
And I was looking on eBay for like,
for like these replica things
and people were selling these astronomical priced replicas.
They were hopeless.
They were terrible things, you know?
And then I thought, I'll bugger this.
I'll just do one myself.
And I was living at my mother-in-law's place
at the time and her son was an ex-panel beater
and down in a little tiny shed, he had like red, black,
had a couple of lacquers still there,
acrylic lacquers still there.
So I just grabbed an airbrush from the shop from work,
took it home and off I went, right?
Had a basic broad idea of how to do things.
You sand it back, you know?
I think I cleared it in acrylic, man.
Right?
And then I remember I just kept it for like, you know,
maybe six months or whatever.
It's like a guitar lead in it, so it looked like a mic,
you know, all that kind of thing.
And it was just the prop, right?
And then me and Vanessa, we decided we're gonna get married
and yeah, we have no money.
I'm just a struggling musician,
trying to play four, five nights a week in Sydney.
And I thought, bugger this,
I'm just gonna chuck it on eBay, right?
So I threw it on eBay.
Oh, I felt like 800 US dollars for this thing, man.
Right?
And it just blew my mind.
I couldn't believe it.
I just like, nuts.
It changed my life.
Yeah, it changed your life,
but clearly you're detail orientated.
So what you did around trying to ensure that the helmet
was as close or as authentic as possible.
And that has been a bit of a hallmark.
I've always been like that.
Yeah, it's a hallmark of yours, isn't it?
Well, I used to believe it or not, mate.
I never had a plotter.
I'd never had a plotter until probably,
well, when I first moved into Atlas,
so for the first two years,
everything I ever did was cut by hand.
So you see all the lettering,
you know, right pattern Shakespeare back in the days
of WPS, every single thing you saw was cut by hand.
Yeah, I just stick it up on the, on the window,
like a light box and I would cut it out.
I would just print the fonts on a computer.
And then that's what I did, you know?
And like, because, you know,
knife skills are everything.
I mean, I learned knife skills back.
My first ever job was in a printing company
when I was 15 and that was back
when you had to use bromite machines
and you'd print out the lettering and you'd wax it on.
And everything was done by a knife and hand.
So I've always had knife skills.
Amazing.
You are the sum of all of these parts,
which is amazing.
How many do you reckon you've painted now in your time?
Okay, so 24 years or something, isn't it?
Yeah, it has to be.
It's crazy.
I can't, it's 20 something years, man.
You'd have to, it'd have to be in the thousands,
wouldn't it?
You'd have to have a couple thousand or something.
You'd have to.
I'm only guessing, though.
No, I mean, tell people about the process.
Well, come to some of the big names that you look after.
Yeah, the process.
I mean, I can remember coming with Craig Baird
it would have to be over a decade ago now
and you and Baird, I just walked around the studio
and talked.
It was an awesome story that we did for RPM.
And I recall you talking about taking the helmet,
a bit like a car when you restore a car.
You take it back to bear and with the only thing
basically being that the safety straps
and then off you go, don't you?
Yeah, basically, we strip them.
Yep.
Right.
And then this was carbon, obviously.
This is one of JC's lids.
And I just blacken it out,
whatever the pin line's gonna be,
I decide I will blacken out and I'll clear seal it.
I don't spray on and then have any,
I will never allow any raw paint on my pin line.
Because if you make a mistake on your pin line,
you've gotta come back on it right and fix it, right?
So you don't wanna be trying to fix something on raw paint.
You wanna be able to scratch some stuff off or whatever.
You want it sealed, right?
So that's just our, not even in your mind, right?
So then you can start working on that next layer, right?
And then once you get your basic lines down
and you follow the design, like this, for instance,
this is in a raw, it's a friend of mine, Tristan's,
it's been here for a long time,
but it's an art piece.
And I'm etching that by knife, right?
So this has been etched.
What is that, like a dragon or something?
What is that?
That's a dragon, man.
So you're the dragon it was,
and it's gonna go right around the helmet.
So that's all leaf, like a variegated red gold leaf thing.
And I just like that stuff.
Grab Nicky's for me, can you though?
And I got Nicky Perkats here, mate.
This is just in a buff right now,
but that's Nick's latest one, which will be as lovely.
We had to frame the logos a bit more.
We've got to separate them a bit.
We usually have a white section here.
But Nick's kind of kept the colors this year.
We're rocking the fluoro red.
See, I'm here right now, I'm just buffing.
So any type of imperfection that I see in the clear,
the final layers, and we have to remember,
you gotta tell the audience, man,
the reason why these costs so much is because it's not
like the old days where you saw a trolley video,
you know, and they spray on and bang,
and that's it, right?
And you'd have these lumpy edges,
you'd have everything terrible, right?
So I knew that from day one.
That was what I was gonna do.
I was gonna sand everything back.
And then my experience was what I would want.
And I have high tastes, right?
When it comes to this kind of things.
That's why I don't have a helmet, right?
I've never been able to paint something for myself, right?
But I think that you should expect, you know,
a flat finish.
And the only way to get that is by locking color in,
right?
So every time you do a layer, I will seal it
and I will sand it back.
So everyone thinks it gets built up
but you're sanding it off, right?
So you're just locking in that layer with UV, right?
So every time you get it out in the sun,
you've got three layers, three and a half layers, man,
that have been blocked out
that probably have the weight of one and a half layers,
right?
And it's locked and the sun will protect it.
You know, it will protect it from the sun
as much as humanly possible.
You just don't leave fluoros out in the sun, kids.
Do not leave them out in the sun.
So for people that are listening and maybe not watching,
we'll put this on YouTube, obviously, as well.
The colors that were on Nick's, our eye helmet there,
a bit of red, a bit of blue.
That's fluoro red.
Yeah, fluoro red.
But he's also got a, he loves dogs
and loves chocolate labs.
He's got a motif on the back and so on.
So I mean, one thing I've missed in the process here
is the design.
So I guess drivers and riders come to you and say,
hey, I'd like to incorporate a bit of this or that.
And you know, we need space for sponsors.
You've got a corporate angle that you've got to take care of
in many respects as well.
Do you do that design process?
Someone does that for you.
What happens there?
Yeah, I do all the design.
Everything is done by me.
Basically what I'll do is I'll get a list.
Like for instance, with Jamie, you know,
Samantha sends me a list of the tier one,
tier two, tier three sponsors on there, right?
And an idea of where they would like them positioned.
The obvious ones are obvious,
but sometimes you've got logos
that what they call a stacked logo is quite elongated.
So the minute you start trying to fit in elongated position
on the chin, which is, you know, good real estate,
it starts to get smaller and smaller
because you're fitting it in this section here, right?
So you've got to maybe position that somewhere else.
And those kind of things, just like,
you've probably seen a lot of Chaz's stuff,
obviously over the years,
and Chaz has just loaded with logos, right?
It's phenomenal.
And, you know, he's every year, and Will Browns,
you know, you've got to somehow frame around those.
You can't go through them, right?
You've got to frame around them somehow
and still keep it interesting.
And it's the same shell helmet, it's the same shape, you know?
So it's like, not like the shell changes.
So you've constantly got to try
and reinvent the same wheel over and over again
to make it interesting, right?
Because you can't take them away too far from their look,
right? Even though Chaz and Will
are like a new look every time,
that's the thing with Chaz and Will,
like you've got to come up with a brand new idea every time,
where guys like Nick and that and JC,
they like to evolve and, you know, keep it,
you know, all married together type thing
through their careers, you know?
And which I love doing too, you know?
So it's a challenge.
It's a challenge.
And there are some iconic things
that you have worked with along the way.
I mean, you talked about that dragon there before.
I mean, I immediately think of Murph and like the feathers
or the Indian headdress kind of thing that he's woven.
I mean, how difficult is something like that
to do?
Can be difficult, man.
Can be difficult because the thing is right,
you've got guys that have been around for a long time
and they're like back in the days where your helmet, man,
you know, you didn't have many logos on it.
So the artwork on the helmet was mega, you know?
And they were trying to still hold that individuality
that's left for a driver now, you know?
Because everything's coated, you know?
Everything's coated on them now, you know?
Nothing is theirs except for that, you know?
So with Murph stuff, it's like, you know, it came to me.
It's like you're trying to get old school stuff, right?
And try to make it, you know, don't get too far ahead,
but like try to make it modern
and in today's kind of look, you know?
So that's kind of where, and look,
it's only my opinion of what I think is cool, right?
So that could, people might disagree with me, you know,
in a lot of cases.
But it is pure artwork in that sense.
Does tech help you in some ways
when you're going through this process?
Maybe not the painting side, maybe from the design side?
Yeah, design side.
Well, for instance, this one here,
I'm working on it, Dale Woods, right?
So, you know, Dale's is always a classic every year, right?
So I'm, this year, I've got to get it done
for, believe it or not, for Bloody The Bend.
So usually I have all the, yeah,
I've got four helmets to complete from now until the bend.
Just to put that in perspective, guys, okay?
I just want you to put that into perspective.
How hard that is, okay?
That means no sleep.
That means total dedication and, you know,
no time for the kids, no going out, none of that shit.
And it's just lock in and get the,
get the meditation music going and drink coffee.
And keep going with the gym to try and stay healthy.
And I'm trying to get healthier at the moment, mate.
Trying to get fit.
Music is a bit of an outlet for him.
It's a passion for you.
You talked about that before.
Have you still got the guitar?
Do you play a little bit of that?
Do you take a break?
Yeah, I've got more guitars now, mate.
I've probably got three times the amount now,
which is, I think, I have a problem with collecting.
Like I'm an old school, 88, 87 BMX freestyler, you know?
So I collect American freestyle bikes from the 80s.
And, you know, it's just, that's a passion of mine.
And guitars was one, it's probably a dopamine fix
more than anything, you know?
Because I get it and then I get the guitar,
I get the bike and it's like, okay, I got that next.
You know?
So, yeah, I don't know, it's a weird thing.
But I don't know, like, music's good.
I haven't written a song for a long time.
OK.
But I don't know, man.
I mean, music's kind of not cool anymore, you know?
Like, it's a cool way out there.
It's a great outfit.
You know, like, to bring a guitar out,
everyone just cringes now, you know?
I think the last time I walked in there,
you was straight onto a bit of Van Halen
or something you were very, very good.
It was excellent.
Good memory.
I'm enjoying this.
Hope you are too.
Ant-Man's kindly going to stick around
for a little bit longer,
more on the art of helmet painting
in just a few moments.
A bit of an industry focus for this episode of The Shortcast,
and we'll share some social clips, too,
so you can see a little of Ant-Man's work
at his cool studio there in Queensland,
where we're talking to him today
about pieces of art that he creates for races
and the incredible work that goes into helmet design
and painting.
Back to the convo now.
In the expansion of the business and what it has become,
I mean, there are unbelievable accessories.
I mean, the accessorising the whole deal
has become a massive thing for both competitor
and for you as a business, hasn't it?
Yeah, it has, mate.
Like, we just did the trim thing for ourselves, really.
I mean, I was just, I was working in the,
you know, I was designing all this stuff for M2R
at the time, motocross stuff.
And, you know, a motocross stuff,
had all the coloured rubbers, coloured interiors,
I'm like, what the hell's going on?
Why is it so late?
All these helmets, the same colour, boring.
And I just started, I thought, well, look at this,
you know, I'll start doing it.
And I've had no support
from a single manufacturer, mate.
They've made it so difficult on us, mate.
So, they don't want us in the club.
Simple as that, you know?
So, yeah, simple.
So, you know, we went and even got snail testing done,
did all that and officially got all everything, you know,
accepted that they just couldn't do it
because you can't get a snail rating
unless you have a helmet, right?
So, if I, for instance, brought a helmet out
and then put the trim on it, no problem, buddy, right?
So, they just made it difficult.
It's all legal bullshit, you know?
But at the end of the day, you know,
that's our packaging, this is our product,
and they're just great things, you know?
And it just gives kids and raises and amateurs and pros
the ability to just mix it up a little bit
and put a little bit of colour on their helmet,
especially if they've got a wider, black one, man, you know?
Like, I think I don't afford paying yet, you know?
So, I don't know, it was just something
that was a creative idea that's been going now
for probably 17 years, right?
And, yeah, it's not like we're selling millions of product
or anything, because it's a very small niche community motorsport.
And I think once you kind of get your helmet painted,
you've got that for a couple of years, you know?
So, but, yeah, everything's going well that way.
It's hard because you've got to juggle everything,
but Nessie handles all that front of you.
You've worked with Chas Mustard,
who you've already rattled off there, Will Brown,
done stuff for Jaby Wincub, Greg Murphy.
I mean, the list goes on,
and it's not just within our corner of the world.
We're SVG now, and he's over there.
Yeah, SVG, yeah, yeah.
He's taken me over there with him,
which was a very massive honour,
because, you know, he's got painters
biting at the bit to get him,
and we've worked together for so long, me and Shane,
and he's just such a fantastic guy.
He's never changed, and he's extremely loyal,
and we proved that to me.
I didn't need to.
He didn't need to.
He's given me fantastic time with him,
but it's been an absolute privilege
to be able to work with the guys at Red Bull in America
and Trackhouse and that,
and they're all such lovely people.
Made it so easy for me, you know, for the changes in that,
and then through that, I've met, you know,
other companies that I'm now, you know,
partnering up with and working,
and just moving, you know,
everything's kind of looked like it's moving forward again
after I've kind of been, you know, after COVID, man,
you're like, it's just been, I shouldn't say that,
but after that work, you know,
we all locked down for a while in ourselves and our families,
and it took us a little while
to just kind of branch out a little bit again, you know.
For me, I kind of just became a bit of a recluse, you know,
and just worked at home,
and I was, I got out of the factory just before, see,
I was sick of the factory life.
I had enough, man, 15 years,
and my kids were growing up so fast,
I was just missing everything, man.
Like I was going to the shop at 3 a.m., you know,
and I'd miss the school run, I'd miss the home run,
and I'd just get them for an hour in the afternoon.
I just, you know, just can't live like this.
I'm a family man, right?
And I'll take family before businessman, you know what I mean?
Like it'd be a big decision for me to do that, you know, so.
So what does the office look like now?
I mean, you know, is it, well, I mean,
I mean, when I walked in there last time,
there was like a paint booth,
there was a display area out the front where you had both.
Well, that's, I'm not there anymore, brother.
Okay, so tell me a bit about where you are now.
I work from home, I got a studio at home.
Yeah, just before everything got shut down,
I got out in 18 and bought a home, bought a home down here
in Sanctuary Cove, Santa Barbara area, it's a beautiful man.
And we're lucky enough
that we have this incredible studio underneath
that's all counsel approved and everything.
And it's, yeah, I just, like, it's really just temporary
because we're going to renovate the home, right?
And so it's been temporary for five years.
I've been just too busy to get anything done.
So it's kind of half done,
but we'll probably redo everything anyway in the end.
It's very nice to be able to just walk downstairs
and my daughter's bedroom's right next door,
so she comes out and visits me every day
and it's just, it's been a life changing thing for me anyway.
I'm much happier and calmer.
Hard work, but it's nice that you're working
from home in that way.
Just, I mean, you mentioned SVG before,
some of the great things he's doing in America and so on.
When you paint these things,
they become, I guess, a bit like a baby,
you hand them on and then, you know,
hopefully you see whatever, a chas,
when a bath is still whatever it might be.
Have there been a couple of moments along the way
where there's that sense of pride because it's, it's all.
Every time I put the tally on, you know, like it's,
I sometimes literally have to pinch myself, man,
because I'm, you know, when I used to back in the days
where I was probably able to say back in the days now,
but like when JC was at Jim Bean, you know, like,
we just had this crew, man.
We're all riding and training
and we're all seeing a lot, you know,
of each other a lot, you know,
it was very social and then I just got so busy, man.
I, it got so ridiculous that I had too much on my plate
and I'd sort of just lost track of everyone.
You only ever saw each other when it was business, you know,
but still to this day, man, like it,
it never changes the feeling that you get
when you see one of your boys up there
or when you get a three Pete,
when three lids are on the podium or, you know,
when, for instance, you know, when, you know,
the historic event when Shane won Chicago
that first time, right?
I mean, I was literally in tears, mate.
I was literally in tears,
what you couldn't believe what I was saying, you know,
we all knew we could do it,
but like, you know, it was just amazing to watch that.
And, you know, to be a part of Jamie's seven championships,
you know, or six of them, six out of the sevens,
pretty good.
And, you know, to be a part of the kind of,
even though you have nothing to do
with the physical side of the sport,
you just feel like you're sitting in there
with them a little bit
because you've put so much work and hours
into getting it there for them on time
and making sure that it's right for them.
You know, a little piece of years in there.
Yeah, totally.
And I feel like, you know, as an athlete,
that they have put in 150% to get to that point
of hopefully winning a major race
or a bath or something.
And you've done that on your side too
with what you've brought to the table,
which I love.
But I'll always say this, Rusty,
you're only as good as your drivers, mate.
Look, I could be the best artist in the world, right?
But if I don't have a guy that's going to carry that art
and do something with it,
then there's nothing, right?
There's just a helmet paint job, mate, right?
And it's a sport.
I'm in a sport.
I'm an athlete.
I'm from an athlete background, right?
I like to compete, right?
And when I paint, I paint like I'm competing.
I'm performing, mate, you know?
I'm going as fast as I can.
I'm trying to be as efficient as I can.
And it's where everything you gather together
over the years,
you put into times like this
where you've got 10 days to do four weeks
of work to work, right?
And you've really got to pull it off.
And there is no mistake.
There is no backing out.
There is no, oh, man, sorry, man.
You don't get that in this game.
You do not get that
because there's so much money on the line.
There's so much sponsorship now.
There's so much expectation on the drivers.
So they put it all on you.
And you know, guys like,
I mean, I wouldn't be anything without guys like Dave,
Dave Ellis, you know?
The great manager Dave Ellis.
I mean, he's been in my life
since the beginning nearly about, right?
And if it wasn't for him,
I owe so much to that man.
He's such a great fellow and a great friend, you know?
So you're nothing without people, you know?
They've just given me the opportunity, man.
That's all it was.
Can I finish then with, in the motor racing world,
you constantly have to change it up.
You can't, you might win last week
at Queensland Raceway.
That does not guarantee
that you'll go well at tail and bend.
You've got to constantly keep.
Yeah.
And it's a bit the same for you.
Like, I am always amazed by, you know,
the driver will come to you.
Maybe it's James Courtney who's got a few traits
or signature things that he likes on it.
Others might want to change it up,
but you invariably try and understand what they want,
but you bring it to life
and do these things with it
that just blow people's minds, right?
How do you keep doing that?
Because you have to keep changing it up.
Because I do what they want.
No, I do what they want.
I listen, I listen.
See, the problem with most guys have
when they first start out,
they do what they're able to do.
And I'll convince you that you need this, right?
Because that's their ability, the level, right?
But if you get to a point where there's no level,
it's only up to you, right?
Then you listen, right?
And they say, I need this, this, and this, this.
And you go, okay, what's this guy's personality?
Is he a sharp guy?
Is he a soft guy?
Right?
You ask things like, what's your, you know,
what your star sign is, right?
What's your horoscope?
Because then you can find out what their colors are.
You can find out what,
you can go look straight into a person, right?
And that's kind of the formulas that I use.
And then you just listen
and you try and figure out what they want.
And you just come up something
with something that will suit them, right?
I mean, that's pretty much it, right?
Like a portrait artist, yeah?
You got to try and do something
that will compliment them.
Not compliment you, man.
I just like a goddamn sticker on it.
They pay me to do it, right?
Yeah.
Like I have a real problem
with people putting stickers
of their shit all over the body,
visor sticker and ear and ear and ear.
Dude, you just got paid, mate.
It's not your slogan board, mate, right?
It's like it's a professional piece of art,
which means you can label it if you're allowed.
Like you'll notice that sometimes
on the pro helmets, you won't see much in label.
I don't get up about it, mate.
It's because they've got a really, really expensive goddamn,
you know, sponsored or someone
that's given them good money to go there
and they've paid me.
So long as my logo's on the back
and they respect that,
then I'm sweet, I'm happy, mate.
Because everyone sees it when they win.
You know, that photo you get when they get out of the car
and you always get the back of the helmet.
It's crazy.
I love that you have taken something
that you clearly are ultra passionate about.
I know you invest a huge amount of hours in this, mate.
You've got some big helmets to finish between now
and Taylor and Ben.
It's been awesome to shoot the breeze
a little bit here with you on this.
I'd encourage people to go and have a look
at some of your work either on socials or online
if they don't know who you are.
I know most in the industry do, mate,
and go well for the rest of the season.
And thank you very much for talking to us today.
Thanks so much, Vasti. I appreciate it, man.
So good to talk to you. It's been ages, man.
We've got to catch up soon. 100%.
Why aren't you calling?
Why aren't you calling supercars, man?
I don't get it. I do not get it.
Yeah, the voice of motorsport as far as I'm concerned, buddy.
Thanks, bro. Got to get you back.
I am a huge believer in supporting industry
and there's obviously other helmet painters out there.
The reason that I chose Ant-Man stems from some TV stories
that we've done with him over the years
and recommendations from a number of drivers
who have used him for decades.
I was a customer, not an ambassador, but a customer.
10 years ago now I gave him a bell helmet that I had.
I am not a racer. You know that.
I occasionally need them for stories
and yarns and things like that.
What Ant-Man came up with could easily be a centerpiece
in the office or garage.
It has a chrome base.
He used blues and this flu-row yellow that's striking.
I was studying martial arts at that stage
and had just achieved a black belt.
So he wove in this headband
and he played on the R from Rust as a part of the design.
It is seriously impressive.
And I've looked after it, too,
based on his recommendations.
Thank you, mate.
I am off to Tailum Bend for the penultimate round
of the Shannon Speed series this weekend.
That series will actually wrap up in New Zealand
as part of a doubleheader.
Their first round of the Next Gen NZ Championship.
That's the summer series in New Zealand.
That all kicks off in early November,
but first the second last event in South Australia there.
I'll then be heading with my rally mate, Dean Herridge,
and his Maximum Motorsport team
to cover their Sunrasia Safari bid.
I've not done that before.
That should be a lot of fun.
You can check out Dino's three parter in our library
and his dad, Rob, is in there, too,
worth having a listen to both of those.
They're good talkers.
And then there'll be a two-wheel switch
after those two jobs.
A cool trip to Darwin for MXGP.
I am really excited for that.
Have a fantastic week, everybody.
Bye for now.
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