To celebrate the release of Ride Along 2 starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube on Blu-ray and DVD on May 30, Our Film Editor, Zehra Phelan, was invited to take part in a Pimp My Ride day down in a very warm Bicester with the lovely team at C & N Customs.
Ride Along 2 see’s Kevin Hart and Ice Cube returning for the sequel to the blockbuster action-comedy that gave us the year’s most popular comedy duo. Joining Hart and Cube for the next chapter of the series are director Tim Story, as well as Cube’s fellow producers—Will Packer, Matt Alvarez and Larry Brezner — who also produce alongside Cube.
Our day started at the crack of dawn as we jumped on a train from Marylebone Station in order to pack in a full day of activity. When we reached C & N Customs, a family run car custom company, we were greeted by a lovely bunch of lads (who have the patience of Saints). The guys here are some of the friendliest and sweetest crew we have met. They made us feel right at home.
Before too long we got started on customising our own car, the car provided was a Dodge Avenger 2ltr sxt. Our aim; to make it look like a cop car with the Ride Along 2 logo blazoned across the side.
As a group effort, we had to use degreaser panel wipe to clean the car from contaminants in order for the paint to stick to the car. We followed by covering up the windows and trim with 1 and 2-inch masking tape and 42 and 32-inch wide paper, just so our inexperienced hands didn’t get paint on any of the vital parts.
We were then provided with white jumpsuits and face masks, something similar to that of a poor man’s Stormtrooper, why? It was time to paint this baby white. Holed up in a confined room, each one of us took it in turns to spray paint a section of the Dodge Avenger using PlastiDip, a multi-purpose, air dry, specialty rubber coating paint (which is also used to be able to remove the paint with ease when we had finished).
Our break came when we had to leave the car to dry, aided by what seemed like an invisible furnace. After removing the paper and tape from the vital organs of the car it was time to add the graphics for that all important finishing touch.
The Ride Along 2 stickers and the black strips used were actually used from vinyl and cut with a plotter, it wasn’t a simple job adding the stickers, white tape had to be used for application as well as blades and a squeegee. There we have it, it may seem a simple and easy job to undertake but it was an all day job and one we simply couldn’t have done without the extremely patient and well-experienced staff at C & N Customs.
Ride Along 2 is out on Blu-ray and DVD 30th May
To find out more about the brilliant work they do and where to find them, visit the C&N Customs website.