Sunlit Brown Trout Trucker Hat
by @dekasso
Holding still where the light comes down.
A realistic brown trout over weeds and pebbles in sunlit moss green water, a full underwater scene for days on the river and off it.
A brown trout holds steady over a weedy riverbed while sun shafts slant down through green water. It is coloured in moss green, olive and umber, with a golden yellow body marked by black and rust red spots.
- Brown trout in golden yellow and bronze
- Black and rust red spots on the flank
- Pale mint light shafts through green water
- Olive weeds over an umber pebble bed
- Nine layers, background to highlight
The cap
One design, four caps. The front panel is what the paint or the dye sits on, so it changes the hat.
Trucker
The house cap — structured mid profile, foam-and-mesh back, snapback.
Specs
- Profile
- Mid profile
- Build
- 6-panel · Structured — buckram behind the front
- Crown
- 3½ in (8.9 cm)
- Visor
- Pre-curved, 2¾ in (7 cm)
- Closure
- Snapback
- Adjusts to
- 21½–24 in (54.5–61 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Natural cotton twill
- Sublimated on
- White polyester foam
Rope cap
Structured five-panel with a near-flat brim and a cord across it.
Specs
- Profile
- Mid-high profile
- Build
- 5-panel · Structured
- Crown
- 4 in (10.2 cm)
- Visor
- Near-flat, 2⅞ in (7.3 cm), contrast rope
- Closure
- Snapback
- Adjusts to
- 21½–23¾ in (54.5–60.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Stone cotton twill
- Sublimated on
- White polyester twill
Dad hat
Soft, low and unstructured — washed cotton with a strap back.
Specs
- Profile
- Low profile
- Build
- 6-panel · Unstructured — soft front
- Crown
- 3¼ in (8.3 cm)
- Visor
- Curved, 2¾ in (7 cm)
- Closure
- Strap back, brass buckle
- Adjusts to
- 21–23½ in (53.5–59.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Washed khaki cotton
- Sublimated on
- White polyester twill
Five-panel camp
Flat brim, low crown, packs flat in a vest pocket.
Specs
- Profile
- Low profile
- Build
- 5-panel · Unstructured
- Crown
- 3¼ in (8.3 cm)
- Visor
- Flat, 2½ in (6.4 cm)
- Closure
- Strap back, side-release clip
- Adjusts to
- 21½–23½ in (54.5–59.5 cm)
- Airbrushed on
- Field olive nylon-cotton
- Sublimated on
- White polyester
Fit
| Cap | Profile | Crown height | Visor | Adjusts to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trucker | Mid profile | 3½ in (8.9 cm) | Pre-curved, 2¾ in (7 cm) | 21½–24 in (54.5–61 cm) |
| Rope cap | Mid-high profile | 4 in (10.2 cm) | Near-flat, 2⅞ in (7.3 cm), contrast rope | 21½–23¾ in (54.5–60.5 cm) |
| Dad hat | Low profile | 3¼ in (8.3 cm) | Curved, 2¾ in (7 cm) | 21–23½ in (53.5–59.5 cm) |
| Five-panel camp | Low profile | 3¼ in (8.3 cm) | Flat, 2½ in (6.4 cm) | 21½–23½ in (54.5–59.5 cm) |
One size per cap. Run a tape around your head just above the ears, keeping it level — anything inside the range above will close on it.
Two finishes
The same design, made two ways. Pick one in the panel; the cap and the quantity are yours to choose too.
Hand airbrushed
$85 for one hat, on a trucker
Painted to order — would ship in about 2 weeks
How it is made
- How it is made
- Sprayed by hand through this design's own stencils, one layer at a time, each left to dry before the next mask goes down.
- How it looks
- Soft gradients and hand-cut stencil edges. Every cap is a little different.
- What it sits on
- On a natural cotton twill front.
- Durability and care
- Water-based paint, heat set and sealed. It takes rain and a season on a boat; spot clean with cool water, never a washing machine.
Sublimation printed
$32 for one hat, on a trucker
Printed to order — would ship in 5–7 business days
How it is made
- How it is made
- The design is printed in dye onto transfer paper, then pressed with heat so the dye soaks into the polyester fibres.
- How it looks
- Full colour edge to edge, and identical every time.
- What it sits on
- On a white polyester foam front — sublimation only takes on white polyester.
- Durability and care
- The dye is in the fibre, not on it, so it will not crack or peel. Gentle wash, air dry.
The artwork
A brown trout hangs mid-water, nose into the current, golden flanks dotted black and rust red. Pale shafts of light cut down through the green. Olive weeds sway at the edges and umber pebbles line the bottom.
Wear it on a morning stream or in line for coffee after. People see the trout first, then the light, then the little weeds curling in from the side. It reads clearly from across a parking lot and rewards a closer look.
Spot work makes or breaks a brown trout. Keep the black spots varied in size and loose in spacing, then set the rust red ones lower on the flank, a little apart. Even rows look stamped; a scatter looks alive.
What arrives
- The hat
- A care card
- On a hand airbrushed hat, a numbered tag naming the water it was painted from, when the design names one
Looking after it
Hand airbrushed
- Spot clean with cool water and a soft brush. Never a washing machine.
- Keep it out of a hot car for long stretches — heat-set paint is tough, but a dashboard in July is not a test worth running.
- Reshape the brim by hand while damp.
Sublimation printed
- Spot clean, or gently hand wash in cool water. No bleach.
- Air dry. Do not iron the print.
- Reshape the brim by hand while damp.
- The dye is in the fibre, so the print will not crack or peel.
Details
Airbrush palette
- Colours
- moss green, pale mint, umber, olive, golden yellow, bronze, black, rust red, cream
Details
- Subject
- brown trout
- Style
- painterly realistic underwater scene
Make it yourself
The palette
- Moss green
- Pale mint
- Umber
- Olive
- Golden yellow
- Bronze
- Black
- Rust red
- Cream
The layers
9 layers, in this order. Each mask comes off and the paint has to dry before the next one goes down.
- Water
- Light
- Riverbed
- Weeds
- Trout body
- Back shading
- Dark spots
- Red spots
- Highlights
The kit's stencil set is cut from these layers; with the cutter (12 hats and up) you cut your own from this design's layer files.
How to mix each colour
Moss green
2 parts yellow, 1 part green, a drop of black to deaden it
Pale mint
Mix by eye against the photograph; test on the card first
Umber
Equal parts red, yellow and blue, then a drop of black to deepen it; or burnt umber straight from the bottle
Olive
2 parts yellow, 1 part black, a drop of red to warm it
Golden yellow
Mix by eye against the photograph; test on the card first
Bronze
Mix by eye against the photograph; test on the card first
Black
Black from the bottle, sprayed in light passes; a heavy coat bleeds
Rust red
2 parts orange, 1 part brown, a drop of red
Cream
White with a drop of yellow and the smallest touch of brown
Setup
- Ventilation or a spray booth. Water-based paint still throws a fine mist, and you will be breathing it for hours.
- A half-mask respirator rated for paint mists. A dust mask is not one.
- A compressor with a moisture trap, set and tested on a card before you start: wet air spits water into the paint.
- Reducer and a cleaning pot within reach, so a clog is a ten-second fix instead of a ruined panel.
- Spray a test card for every colour before it touches the cap. Colour reads differently wet, dry and on twill.
Prep
- Lint-roll the front panel. Every fibre left on it prints as a speck in the paint.
- Mask the mesh, any seams you want clean and the whole visor, underside included, with low-tack tape and paper.
- Stretch the crown over the cap jig so the front panel is taut and curved the way it will be worn. Spraying a slack panel flat distorts the design when it is worn.
- Spray one light coat of transparent base so the colour sits on the fabric instead of soaking into it.
Layer by layer
1 · Water — 0.5 mm · 25–30 PSI
moss green — a fade from pale at the surface to deep green at the bottom
Mask None on the panel itself: the mesh and the visor are already masked from the prep.
Colour Moss green — 2 parts yellow, 1 part green, a drop of black to deaden it
- Needle
- 0.5 mm (a 0.35 mm works, it just takes longer)
- Pressure
- 25–30 PSI
- Distance
- 6–8 in from the panel
- Passes
- 3–4 light passes, building the colour
- Dry
- 10 minutes, or 60–90 seconds with a heat gun on low, before the next mask goes down
Tip Fade wet to dry and never lay one heavy coat: twill wicks paint sideways and the edge blooms.
2 · Light — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
pale mint — slanting sun shafts and a wavy ripple line along the top
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Pale mint — Mix by eye against the photograph; test on the card first
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
3 · Riverbed — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
umber — rounded pebbles and stones across the bottom edge
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Umber — Equal parts red, yellow and blue, then a drop of black to deepen it; or burnt umber straight from the bottle
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
4 · Weeds — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
olive — feathery plant stems up the left side and a low bed of weeds along the bottom
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Olive — 2 parts yellow, 1 part black, a drop of red to warm it
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
5 · Trout body — 0.3 mm · 18–22 PSI
golden yellow — the full body shape, belly and fins
Mask The hand-cut subject stencil, inner pieces first, then the outline piece.
Colour Golden yellow — Mix by eye against the photograph; test on the card first
- Needle
- 0.3 mm
- Pressure
- 18–22 PSI
- Distance
- 3–4 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes per tone, light to dark
- Dry
- 10 minutes between tones
Tip Light tones first: a light colour over a dark one needs many coats, a dark one over a light one needs two.
6 · Back shading — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
bronze — the darker back, head and the shadowed edges of the fins
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Bronze — Mix by eye against the photograph; test on the card first
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
7 · Dark spots — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
black — scattered spots over the back, flank, head and dorsal fin
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Black — Black from the bottle, sprayed in light passes; a heavy coat bleeds
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
8 · Red spots — 0.35 mm · 20–25 PSI
rust red — small spots along the flank and a touch on the adipose fin
Mask Lay this layer's mylar stencil and burnish the edges flat with your thumbnail.
Colour Rust red — 2 parts orange, 1 part brown, a drop of red
- Needle
- 0.35 mm
- Pressure
- 20–25 PSI
- Distance
- 4–6 in from the panel
- Passes
- 2–3 passes
- Dry
- 10 minutes before lifting the stencil
Tip Spray away from the stencil edge, not into it, so the air does not push paint underneath.
9 · Highlights — 0.2–0.3 mm · 12–15 PSI
cream — belly sheen, fin edges, the eye glint and bright flecks in the light shafts
Mask None: freehand, with a shield card held against any hard edge.
Colour Cream — White with a drop of yellow and the smallest touch of brown
- Needle
- 0.2–0.3 mm
- Pressure
- 12–15 PSI
- Distance
- 1–2 in from the panel
- Passes
- Freehand, in short controlled strokes
- Dry
- 10 minutes, then check it before you cure
Tip Low pressure, close in and moving: stop the stroke before you release the trigger.
Step by step
Mask off the panel edges and spray moss green as an open fade, light at the top and deeper at the bottom. Starting point: 20 PSI, 0.5 mm needle, 15 cm distance.
Lay the light-shaft mask and mist pale mint in long downward strokes, then freehand a soft wavy ripple line along the top. Starting point: 15 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 10 cm.
Place the riverbed mask and spray umber pebbles along the bottom, darker in the gaps between stones. Starting point: 18 PSI, 0.4 mm needle, 8 cm.
Use the weed mask for the stems on the left and the low bed along the bottom, and spray olive. Starting point: 15 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 6 cm.
Cut the trout silhouette mask and fill the body and fins with golden yellow in even passes. Starting point: 18 PSI, 0.4 mm needle, 10 cm.
Keep the trout mask on and shade the back, head and fin edges with bronze, fading down toward the belly. Starting point: 15 PSI, 0.3 mm needle, 8 cm.
Use a dot stencil or work freehand to place the black spots over the back, flank, head and dorsal fin. Starting point: 12 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 3 cm.
Add rust red spots lower on the flank and a touch on the adipose fin. Starting point: 12 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 3 cm.
Finish with cream on the belly sheen, fin edges, the eye glint and a few bright flecks in the light shafts. Starting point: 10 PSI, 0.2 mm needle, 3 cm.
These settings are a starting point; test each on scrap fabric and adjust for your paint and airbrush.
Let the paint cure fully per the paint maker's guidance, then heat-set if the paint calls for it.
Seal with a thin, even coat of clear fabric-safe topcoat and let it dry before wearing.
Cure
- Heat set at 300°F / 150°C. Water-based textile paint is not wash-fast until it is heat set.
- Cap press: 3–5 minutes with a teflon sheet over the design.
- Or heat gun: 2–3 minutes per panel, keeping it moving 2–3 in off the fabric so it does not scorch.
- If you have neither, air cure for 72 hours before the cap touches water.
Seal
- Two light coats of matte fabric sealer, UV-resistant, from 8–10 in, 15 minutes apart.
- Leave it 24 hours before the cap is worn.
- Never a gloss sealer on cotton twill: it shines, cracks along the creases and looks like a sticker.
Clean-up
- Flush the brush with water, then airbrush cleaner, until it sprays clear.
- Strip the needle and wipe it toward the tip, never away from it.
- Never soak the brush body overnight.
Common mistakes
- Spotting in neat rows looks artificial. Scatter the spots and vary their size.
- Heavy bronze buries the golden yellow. Fade it down the flank in short, light passes.
- Pale mint sprayed too close blots instead of beams. Back off and keep the strokes moving.
- Lifting masks before the paint is dry smears edges. Wait until each layer is touch-dry.
Tips
- Strain thin paints before the fine spot layers so the 0.2 mm needle does not clog mid-spot.
- Spray the light shafts at a slight angle and let them fade out before they reach the pebbles.
- Keep the trout mask in place through the bronze shading for a crisp outline against the water.
- Build the belly highlight in two light passes; cream goes chalky if laid on heavy.
Every kit size
Trucker · kit for 1 hat
$229
Bought separately $255 · you save $26
Includes Starter airbrush set · Cap jig · and 7 more
Every item in this kit · 9 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$9
Stencils
- Pre-cut mylar stencil set for this design — 9 layers$18
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 2 oz — one per colour in this design$48
- Transparent base and reducer, 4 oz$7
- Low-tack masking film and ¼ in tape$8
- Matte fabric sealer, 4 oz$12
Equipment
- Starter airbrush set — 0.3 mm dual-action gravity brush, mini compressor, braided hose$129
- Cap jig — holds the crown taut while you spray$24
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
Trucker · kit for 12 hats
$1,085
$90.42 a hat
Bought separately $1,234 · you save $149
Includes Dual-action gravity-feed airbrush · Quiet compressor with tank and moisture trap · Cap jig and two spare crown forms · Tabletop spray booth with exhaust fan · and 11 more
Every item in this kit · 15 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$78
Stencils
- Desktop stencil cutter, 12 in — the "stencil printer": cuts mylar from this design's layer files$299
- Stencil mylar, 7 mil, 12 × 12 in$22
- This design's layer files, every layer (SVG)Included
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 4 oz — one per colour in this design$112
- Transparent base and reducer, 16 oz$16
- Low-tack masking film$18
- Matte fabric sealer, 16 oz$28
Equipment
- Dual-action gravity-feed airbrush, 0.3 mm$135
- Quiet compressor with tank and moisture trap$179
- Cap jig and two spare crown forms$64
- Tabletop spray booth with exhaust fan$149
- Cleaning pot, brushes and a half-mask respirator$99
- Heat gun for curing$35
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
Trucker · kit for 12 × 12 hats
$3,165
$21.98 a hat
Bought separately $3,724 · you save $559
Includes Two dual-action gravity-feed airbrushes · Production airbrush · Twin-piston compressor with tank and two regulators · Production spray booth · and 13 more
Every item in this kit · 17 items
Blanks
- Trucker blank, natural cotton twill front$756
Stencils
- Stencil cutter-plotter, 24 in — the production "stencil printer"$649
- Stencil mylar, 7 mil, 12 × 12 in$85
- This design's layer files, every layer (SVG)Included
Paint & masks
- Water-based textile airbrush colour, 32 oz — one per colour in this design$384
- Transparent base and reducer$49
- Low-tack masking film$54
- Matte fabric sealer$89
Equipment
- Two dual-action gravity-feed airbrushes, 0.3 mm$270
- Production airbrush, 0.5 mm, for base fades$95
- Twin-piston compressor with tank and two regulators$329
- Production spray booth, two fans$289
- Three cap jigs$192
- Cleaning station, respirator and spare cartridges$139
- Cap heat press for curing$279
- Drying rack, 24 caps$65
Guide
- Printed step-by-step guide for this designIncluded
The creator
Remixes
No remixes yet — make your own version.
Where this came from
trucker hat · made
0 — nothing entered the score yet, at the Derby's published weights, since . Views are not counted.
- brown trout
- trout
- trucker hat
- fly fishing
- underwater
- river
- light rays
- weeds
- riverbed
- green
- golden yellow
- spots