As I sit here writing this in Northern California at 5am, knowing my brain is still on VA. East coast time, the stoke and passion that came from a week at the Tamco Takeover 2020 event is still burning inside of me. I've been waiting for my mind to slow down a little before putting all my thoughts down in text.
Who in their right mind decides on a whim, with no prior experience planning events, with a 60 day deadline, to throw the largest most comprehensive custom paint training the world has ever seen? Um that would be my girl Tammy Miller, boss lady of Tamco Paint! Then hand select more than a dozen well known talented experts in the industry to come to Hampton Virginia and instruct students from all over the country for a week. Then put together a team to custom paint style graphics on a mini truck owned by a celebrity host of Road Kill TV show, LIVE so everyone can watch throughout the week. She pulled it off and it was EPIC!
Over 100 students attended this inaugural event located in Hampton Virginia, across the street from NASA. I never heard one complaint, in fact the students were all blown away with the level of talented instructors and the many classes to choose from. Student's weren't assigned anywhere, but rather they were allowed to roam around from class to class and sit in anywhere they felt they needed to learn more. There were students that have never touched a paint gun, airbrush or pinstriping brush before. Masking off and custom painting skate decks and tumblers. I saw some that looked as good as someone with years of experience. I'm still blown away from the results of these classes and all of the talented students. Sergio Cantu taught how to clear coat carbon fiber correctly. They learned how to custom paint graphics on a helmet by J.R. Fogelsonger. Pat Dry and the boys from Big Kid Blocks, taught the ins and outs of proper auto bodywork and painting. Kevin Kegler, Ron Jordan, Chad Kidder and Tim Lowery taught beginners, intermediate and advanced airbrushing. Rondino "Rwd" Bautista taught filigree designs and gold leafing. There were many old school pinstriping legends teaching, including Danny Riddel, Michael Hall and Stuart Ellis. Brandon 'Gouch' McCoy and Adam Lucier taught intro to graphics, Michael Sic Cato and Jose Mendoza taught advanced lowrider graphics. Randy Schroeder of S-9 designs taught how to custom paint tumblers from proper prep and painting then clear. Last but not least, the man, the myth the legend Dennis D-Dog Price, flew out with me from California. D-dog has over 40 years invested in full time custom painting. He is so knowledgeable in all aspects, that his job was to roam from class to class and sprinkle his knowledge throughout the event. He was also a huge help in the paint booth helping us on the truck.
I can't thank Matt Hutcheson and Tammy Miller enough for insisting I be on the team to paint graphics on Mike Finnegan's truck. It's opened up old memories and a love for mini trucks and crazy graphics I haven't felt in years. The passion I had in the 1980's at 14-15 yrs old is still alive and burning inside of me.
Early on when it was first announced, there were some skeptics, but we that know and trust Tammy / "Tamco boss lady", know that she is capable of anything she puts her mind to, and trusted this event would be off-the-hook-epicness. What's great is she blew everyone's expectations.
Not needing sponsors, but all were welcomed. The following stepped up and supported the event. CSI, Grex airbrush, Lumaiii, Flex, CF Tapes,Trulers, Big Kid Blocks and shout out to those bomb food trucks!
Mike Finnegan's mini truck came out better than anyone expected also. Matt Hutcheson, Daniel Smith and I worked crazy long hours with zero complaints other than we wish we could work longer, only having to stop because of the fall moisture night when everything started getting damp. We couldn't have pulled it off without all the help from others at the event. There's so many that could've been chilling after a long day of instructing classes but chose to stay late to help us out. Some even helped in between classes. Thank you to all that jumped in and helped!🙏
After the event was over and getting late on Friday night, Tammy and Sean Miller thanked everyone involved by inviting us to an awesome dinner and drinks at a local mexican restaurant. Was great to kick back and share our experiences after a long week. Thank you Sean Miller, Jeff Whitney and Kevin Floyd for being the guys working to keep things going from behind the scenes and Tammy for your visionary event you created and made possible. This event will only get better and with six months to plan instead of only 60 days for the next Tamco Takeover. May 3-7, 2021 is going to be phenomenal.
I hope to see you there!
14 ноя 2020
