The Battle Lines are Drawn
Game of Thrones was probably one of the most popular TV series ever released. The intriguing storylines captured the attention of millions, so it's no wonder the complex theme lent itself to being an ideal choice for a custom scooter…
Set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, Game of Thrones had a large cast, several plots and followed several story arcs. One such arc followed the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, with a web of alliances and conflicts among the noble dynasties either vying to claim the throne or fighting for independence from it. Another focused on the last descendant of the realm’s deposed ruling dynasty, who had been exiled and was plotting a return to the throne, while another story arc followed the Night’s Watch, a brotherhood defending the realm against the fierce peoples and legendary creatures of the north.
Owner Alan Blurton, who engaged the services of artwork supremo Gatch to paint his scoot with chilling and thrilling scenes from Game of Thrones, said: “I wanted it to be different. The choice of the theme was difficult; it had to be topical and never go out of fashion. I considered Star Wars, Oasis and Liam Gallagher’s Pretty Green but during my research I discovered that these had all been done before. I wanted something that would be unique and would always be remembered. It wasn’t an easy process and getting the delivery of the theme right was critical to the credibility of the scooter. Gatch must have had the patience of a saint dealing with my constant calls, daily checks and frequent changes; I must have driven him mad!”
Paint
Gatch explained: “The scooter’s base colour was black, which gave a good start for the paintwork I had in mind. Using a specialist technique I added a marbling effect, which was used to draw out the appearance of frost and deliver a cold fantasy feel to the scooter. To emphasise the more wintry areas which appear on the scooter, the marbling effect was applied more than once.” Gatch’s paintwork articulates the theme perfectly. “My interpretation was to deliver the theme through the scooter by making two sides to it, which would draw out the stories better. In typical fantasy stories it’s usually ‘good versus evil’ but in Game of Thrones this doesn’t happen. The whole series is a lesson n in dubious morality. They’re all laying claims s to power and because there’s no natural selection they’re all usurping each other in a constant battle for domination.”
The fly screen delivers a mural of King John and a three-eyed raven. Move down th he horncast and the stories begin to develop. A mural of Jon Snow sits proudly at the top of f the offside section of the legshields, while on the opposite side murals of Daenerys Targaryen and one of her loyal fire-breathin ng dragons appear. The front mudguard shows s Castle Black and then the side panels deliver murals of the main characters. Gatch explained that the side panels of the scooter are defined as the ‘World of Men’ and the ‘World of the Dead.’ A mural of Ned Stark is the first mural at the top of the ‘World of Men’ side panel and then behind the central graphic ‘Game of Thrones’ a mural of Stannis Baratheon appears. Under these portraits are further murals of Ramsay Bolton, King Joffrey, Jamie Lannister, Khal Drogo, Theon Greyjoy and Tyrion Lannister. With the leading central graphic, ‘Winter is Coming’ the nearside ’World of the Dead’ side panel reveals more sinister images. An angry dragon dives down to deliver its dreadful fire-breathing power and the terrifying Nightwalker King and a zombie appear alongside.
Endearing relations
The legshield toolbox shows a portrait of Arya Stark and Sandor Clegane, ‘The Hound’ and the graphic, ‘Westeros and the Free Cities’ sits under the toolbox keyhole, which has been made to look like a compass. The graphic of Valar Morghulls, meaning ‘All men must die’, appears below The Hound. “The artwork is fantastic, and it delivers everything I wanted: in terms of performance, I’m more than happy with the scooter. I’ve added a Scorpion exhaust, which makes it rapid off the line and the thrill of the acceleration from 0 to 50mph is fantastic. It carries on a bit slower up to 65mph; but my mate has had it up to 70mph and then the rev’ limiter kicked in,” Alan smiled.
At the moment Alan’s not planning on showing the scooter; he’s simply proud to be the owner of it and proud to ride it. But with all that said, I’m sure that the scooter will be seen at various rallies and multi-meets around the country, when allowed, where it will no doubt attract a lot of attention and make an interesting talking point.
Words and photographs: Stu Smith