A tattoo fanatic is unrecognizable in old photographs before he inked nearly all of his body.

Tristan Weigelt, 25, has spent $54,031 to cover 95 percent of his body in tattoos and he now looks like a totally different person just five years later.

The tattoo apprentice has undergone 260 painful hours under the needle and just his palms, private parts, bottom of his feet and ears free are from ink.

“It’s kind of weird looking at myself without all the tattoos,” he told the Daily Star.

“But funnily enough I still feel exactly the same as before on the inside.”

American-born Tristan now lives in Copenhagen and has become something of a celebrity with a huge Instagram following.

“A lot of people stare and are pretty fascinated. My friends now say that it’s almost like walking around with a celebrity.”

He said getting his face and head were the most painful, comparing it to being to being scraped with a metal brush.

“It was six full day sessions taking between five and six hours and the pain was probably an eight out of 10. It’s like being scraped with a metal brush.”

Tristan revealed his tattoos have no hidden meaning but he was inspired by Japanese designs.

“To anyone out there considering a tattoo, get the tattoo you like,” he said.

“Get what you love and what makes sense to you. I see so many people worried about a certain tattoo fitting them or it not being their style. If you like it – then get it.”

Tristan posted before and after picture on his Instagram showing him unrecognizable after his tattoos.

“Nobody would’ve told me my tattoos would have fit me if I asked somebody five years ago,” he said.

“But now, nobody can imagine me without them.”

This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission.