Feature Scooter: Femme Fatale
When the lure of a beautiful woman comes with seduction, temptation and enticement, the result can only be a love affair that you’ll never forget and will always dream of…
A seductive scooter, with an even more seductive UV paint job…
Martyn Burrows is no stranger to the custom scooter scene and brings more than 40 years of scootering experience with him. The knowledge Martyn has developed over the years has taught him how to combine the use of professional specialists along with his own experience of custom scooter builds to produce projects which are real eye-catchers. The idea for Femme Fatale came from Martyn’s constant search for something that’s not been done before, along with his own personal desire to challenge himself to achieve something different, which if done right would deliver something special on to the scene.
Loaded
Femme Fatale started life as a humble LI150 Series 3, which has been transformed into a fantastic piece of art. Not only does it boast amazing paint and artwork, but it’s fully loaded with engineering and technical features. Martyn originally bought the scooter in 1997 and it was used regularly for rallies and meets. However, in 2007 Martyn suffered a serious work-related accident when two RSJs fell on to him, crushing one of his legs and his back. Due to the serious nature of his injuries Martyn had to spend three months in hospital with pins and braces fitted. After three months, and with everything on the mend, Martyn was allowed to leave hospital and was given a rehabilitation care plan. “I’d been given the advice from the specialists, which I was determined to follow. But I also knew that if I wasn’t keeping my mind busy and if I wasn’t spending my time doing something it might have caused problems with my adherence to the guidance!” With this in mind, and to support his rehabilitation process, Martyn spent a lot of his time in his workshop building engines and making parts for his scooters, which helped enormously.
Development
During this time Martyn had the opportunity to consider the development of the new custom scooter he had in mind. “I wanted to introduce a new style of paintwork. I wanted one which would not only include paint and murals but one which would have depth and intrigue coupled with desire and enticement, and the idea for Femme Fatale was born.” Martyn is good friends with paint sprayer Chris McQueen and during a discussion about new paint ideas the subject of ultraviolet paint came up. “During that conversation, Chris explained to me that he’d recently completed a job involving ultraviolet paint in a room at the Legoland attraction in Bristol; I was interested and wanted to have a look,” Martyn smiled. With this in mind, in November 2019 and at the expense of several coffees and ice creams Martyn
I wanted to introduce a new style of paintwork. I wanted one which would not only include paint and murals but one which would have depth and intrigue coupled with desire and enticement, and the idea for Femme Fatale was born.
decided that it was the ideal time to organise a trip to the Legoland attraction with his wife, son, daughter and grandchildren. During the trip Martyn visited the room Chris had talked about and saw the effects that could be achieved with ultraviolet paint; he was sold on the idea and was determined that he would include ultraviolet paint into the Femme Fatale project. In order to find a specialist who could complete the work, Martyn searched the internet. “Everyone that I spoke to initially said that they could do it, but then after further conversations it always worked out that for one reason or another they couldn’t.”
After several more weeks of searching, Martyn eventually found Amy Osborne of DNA 666 Deadly Nightshade Airbrushing and briefed her on the project. “Martyn explained the choice of designs he wanted and he had the idea of wanting parts of the artwork to glow in different lighting conditions. I did some experimenting with UV and airbrush paints and fulfilled his idea with my own techniques. We wanted to do something that had never been done before. Martyn specified that he wanted a femme fatale design and
asked for beauty and enticement to run through the paint and artwork. To complete this we decided to use roses, steampunk and beautiful portraits, which under UV light portrays a hellish design.” Without giving away the artistic techniques she used to complete the artwork, Amy added: “It was quite a challenge. The artwork is actually two separate designs in two different types of paint, separated by a layer of lacquer to give the effects Martyn wished for. Once the scooter was completed and reassembled, the design then came to life.” As with all his custom scooters, Martyn also wanted to develop and include several ideas of his own into the project. To support the steampunk element of the theme, the handlebar controls, cylinder and flywheel cowlings, swinging arm, wheel rims and hubs were copper plated. These were then gently rubbed down to give a vintage distressed effect. To enhance the look, Martyn also added copper paint to the engine casings and two-tone paint to the carb.
Fabrication
As well as the paint and plating Martyn also fabricated some unique custom one-off steampunk items, which add further intrigue. “The porthole-style items were made from the frames of some steampunk glasses with watch cogs inserted into resin inside them. There is also a steampunk pocket watch on the road side of the inner legshield toolbox and the heads of the bolts holding the bridge-piece in place are three sets of steampunk-style cuff links!” The choice of specialists Martyn commissioned to support the development of Femme Fatale has produced some fantastic results. Also
It was quite a challenge. The artwork is actually two separate designs in two different types of paint, separated by a layer of lacquer to give the effects Martyn wished for. Once the scooter was completed and reassembled, the design then came to life.