Family has brush with fame
THE TOUCH UP MARVELS
The owner of a Rutherglen vehicle body repair shop has an unusual claim to fame – as the painter of trucks that had a starring role in two of the most most successful movies of all time.
William Findlay, who owns and runs family business Touch Ups in Rutherglen Road, was approached by a production company in 2017 and asked to paint four transit van pick-ups and, later, two Land Rover Discovery pick-up trucks for film scenes being shot in Edinburgh.
He won the work after competitor repair workshop owners in the capital greedily quoted Marvel film set prop shoppers top dollar for the job, thinking they’d have a book of blank cheques.
Locals, who knew the cars were for the budget-busting Avengers movie Infinity War, priced themselves out of the market.
But William’s estimate was the same as he’d charge any customer off the street. That impressed producers, won him the work, and persuaded film bosses working on the Avengers sequel to go back to William for more.
He and younger brother Jordan, a massive Avengers fan, were even invited on to the set to see their handiwork being filmed in a movie that took $1.9bn at the box office, making it the fourth highest grossing film of all time.
And rather than the stunt doubles he was expecting on the set, William and Jordan got to rub shoulders with the Avengers’ biggest stars, including Mark Ruffalo, who plays The Hulk, Thor actor Chris Hemsworth and Paul Bettany, who plays The Vision.
Producers even returned to Touch Ups for the painting of two Land Rover pick-ups which appear in the latest Avengers movie, Endgame.
“The cars were brought to us on a recovery truck. We didn’t know what was happening at the time. We just carried on with the work,” explained William. “When the driver came back for them we asked what they were for. “He explained they were going back to Leith Dock for the filming of an Avengers film. My wee brother is a big Avengers fan and said there were two parts to it. When we found out the vehicles were for an Avengers film, nobody believed us. How could a small business in Glasgow be involved in such a massive film?
“We got invited on to the set at night time to watch it being filmed and see how the vehicles were used. They were blown up on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. There were lots of people from the newspapers trying to get a glimpse of the stars.”
When the brothers went to the cinema to see Infinity War, they were disappointed that many scenes involving the cars were on the cutting room floor.
But when they went to view the latest Avengers movie, Endgame, which hit the big screen just last week, they were surprised and delighted to see the vehicles they had painted transporting character Hulk in the back.
“We are a small, family business and it’s amazing to think that our work made it into the most expensive movies ever filmed to date,” said William, 32, who built up the business after completing an apprenticeship and now employs his family. “My business was a part of that, which I feel is a massive achievement. It was quite an experience.”