Thread: Who wants to follow along w/ my flame job?

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Everyone loves a build thread.
Well, here's twist- how about flames start to finish?

For those who don't know, the car is over at So-Cal Speed Shop in Pomona, Ca.
Front 1/2of car has been repainted in 2 stage black (don't ask).

I've had flamed cars in the past but ever since I bought this car- I've wanted to flame it. Afterall- when you think hot rod- you picture a flamed deuce!
I've literally spent 2 months looking at flame pics. I've bought every book I could find. I've literally looked at thousands of car pics from all over the world (thanks to the internet) & printed out probably 800 that were prospects. From those- I narrowed it down to 15. The flames had to be traditional so that helped w/ the editing. I didn't want flames done on a plotter & transfered to the car. Alot of newer guys are doing flames like that- including a few old timers like Art Himsl.

So- I hired Dennis Ricklefs to do the honors. For those who Don't know who Dennis is- He did alot of Boyd's cars, Cars for Pete Chapouris, and has worked with Chip Foose, Chuck Lombardo, John Buterra. He's also done striping for Kenny Morris, Troy Lee, Dick Vale & Pete Santini.

So- on to the car. I met Dennis last week, 5/20/08- shook hands & handed him a pile of pictures. I bet he loved that!!! Between Dennis, Ryan Reed @ SoCal & me- we narrowed it down to 1 pic over a 2 hour session.
Dennis had a few issues w/ it- saying the flames looked to skinny but I told him it's just a guide & I expect to see Dennis add his flair to the design. He came in to start on the car last Friday 5/23/08 & called me today to take a prelim look. He's pretty happy w/ the door area but is still tweaking the hood area. He wants to refine it a bit & I'll take another look this Friday 5/30/08 at 9am to review. Everything is done w/ fine line green tape- all freehand. It's amazing to watch a lick pour from that roll of tape!

My liking? I know what I don't like. I dislike the entire shell painted white & fade from there. In fact- Dennis has already been given notice- no white paint! It will start at a pale yellow, go to orange & finally red. Stripes will be either blue or green. Dennis likes to use lime green instead of process blue & I'm still on the fence w/ the green.
Hmmmmm, green tape?

The door area is pretty much a done deal & that tape is down . All the tape on 4 pc hood is loose & you can see edges loose as he continues to tweak the design. He's dealing w/ over 160 louvers! He likes to ignore the louvers & flame right over them. I agree. After he pointed that out to me- I saw several of my pics that deliberately went around the louvers & your eye was drawn right there. He's not happy w/ the bottom of hood near latches & wants to mount the headlight & design around them. He thought they were higher & further back than they actually are. The redesign will add an additional lick between the latches. I came up w/ the lay-out around the grille shell & up onto the hood. Like the black Ford emblem? I got that from Bob Drake. Blue seemed out of place if we do green stripes.

Dennis does everything which I like. He does the lay out, mask, sanding, paint & clear- everything. He's shooting all the colors in HOC & is using toners. He says will make the colors jump off this black car.


So........
Here was the final pic from thousands, a very nice 34 Ford. I wonder who's it is? Funny, I looked for literally hundreds of hours & when I stumbled on this- I knew the hunt was over.
Hmmmmm, there's those lime green stripes again.
Dennis says it doesn't flow for him & the flames all look the same & are too skinny. Plus- you can see the hood line at radiator & I don't care for how it ends at bottom of radiator- but it's just a guide. The colors are right down my alley though.

I love flamed cars. This one will be fun to watch.
Don

So here we go. You can follow along while my wallet bleeds dry.

1st pics are Dennis walking around the car. He's made a few sketches for ideas.


I think his coffee is empty. Is that a double Latte half caf?




Dennis is walking around w/ the finalpic & probably cussing me out under his breath.




Here's my 1st view of the car today. He's pretty much got the door area nailed. You can see his trademark wider flames he snuck in on me. You can also see the flow he's going for. Down the hood & back up on the doors.




Headlight area needs work & the other flames will be moved aroundor changed entirely. The teardrop might disappear.Not sure yet.




Flames run right over the louvers. Dennis pretends they aren't there.
Check out the new flamed tread pattern on tires.




Here's my design- right around the radiator trim. Dennis says he will tweak it as the 1st flame doesn't look right to him.




Here you can see Dennis's plan of having flames sweep down from top of shell & back up the door- all very subtile.




And here's the final shot of door. Digital pics seem to distort the pics some but this is pretty close.


More to come on Friday.

that looks SWEET!!!!!!!!!!

I live in this world, so I'll jump in on this one!

I like the green stripe, because they don't fit the "rubber stamp" flame job. That sounds like the same idea as not using white, or having a large mass of it at the front.

I also like the scale of the flames, and the distance they go down the side. Many now days are trying for a nostalgic look with short flames, but they only make it less dramatic, and lose that sense of speed that long horizontal licks produce.

I can see your painters point about how skinny the flames are, as the body of the flames needs more length to flow. The example has flames that kind of "die" too soon and are finished by the pinstripes, but that is just an opinion. At the same time, he has plugged in many elements from the sample you gave him, and will have a similar overall look.

Looks like a solid design is emerging.

In the pic of the 34- every flame looks the same. I told Dennis I wanted flames of different sizes & tips going in & out. However- I didn't wants tips crossing each other as that's a more modern approach to a traditional flame IMO.
What I've seen recently at shows are vinyl flame wraps on cars & the last thing I want is a die-cut looking flame job.
I also told Dennis I wanted both sides hand done w/ no template or pounce wheel & if they were slightly different- so be it. Afterall- they weren't identical in the day side to side. Dennis talked me out of that.

Your guy has a style of his own! Fatter, more turbulent licks, look great. Not like any others, which is the whole point of rodding, I would think.
That '34 is sweet, too, even with the skinny necks. Any flames are better than no flames.

Well I guess I can comment on this:

I don't particularly care for the way that the '33-'34 is done and agree with your painter's reasoning.

Is there a way that he could fill in the outlines he made with a water based paint - something like poster paint that kids use that can be washed off. IMO, there is almost too much area of your sweet car covered for a small roadster and that the tape outlines really dont give you a good enough perspective of that.

Why is he considering painting over the louvers as if they didn't exist - they do exist and they, IMHO will show up like a sore thumb with interrupting black lines in your hood sides. Why not change over to solid hood sides if that's the way you are going to go - if it's a Rootlieb hood, the solid side panels are (or were last fall) $200/pair.

Whatever you do I'm sure it will look great

Flames and ice cream..everybody seems to have their own special flavor. Believe me, you will get every opinion there is about your choice of color, style, outline, size, etc, etc, etc. Go for what you like and tell the the rest of the world go straight to ....... Ben and Jerry's.

John

Originally Posted by IC2

Why is he considering painting over the louvers as if they didn't exist - they do exist and they, IMHO will show up like a sore thumb with interrupting black lines in your hood sides. Why not change over to solid hood sides if that's the way you are going to go - if it's a Rootlieb hood, the solid side panels are (or were last fall) $200/pair.

Here is a So-Cal car flamed by Dennis. It's Larry Corn's deuce. Flamed right over the louvers. Dennis doesn't want the louvers to dictate the design. On the smooth hood- believe me, I thought about it & was planning on a new 3 pc w/ Limefire headers but the pennies keep adding up the longer it sits in the shop & I keep coming up w/ideas. So the smooth hood was nixed.

I think you and your guy have a design that would work on a smooth hood---However, flames need to start somewhere and louvers are a perfect place---engine on fire, flames coming outta the louvers----But---I'm not here to talk you into a different design and I feel as tho you should choose a artist for their design--not give them something to copy---If you want Dennis to paint it---tell him to call you when its done---you will have something you like and people in the know will be able to tell who did it from a block away--

The paint jobs on our race cars where a continuation of the job George Cerny did on our front engine car, which really crimped the style of the painters of the later cars , but they had been given the job and to come up with something---but everyone of them said they couldn't top it so they asked to be able to copy Georges work

Hire the artist----enjoy HIS work

[QUOTE=Steves32]Here is a So-Cal car flamed by Dennis. It's Larry Corn's deuce. Flamed right over the louvers. Dennis doesn't want the louvers to dictate the design. On the smooth hood- believe me, I thought about it & was planning on a new 3 pc w/ Limefire headers but the pennies keep adding up the longer it sits in the shop & I keep coming up w/ideas. So the smooth hood was nixed.


I'm not crazy about the flames over the louvers - though it is a well executed job. Now, if he was to use the louvers as a beginning point for flame licks, then I could understand, but they, in my opinion, don't look right just sticking out in the middle of something that is supposed to represent a fiery vehicle

When I say what I did about the louvered hood - frontal and 45* side views will look fine - it's the 90* full side and 45* rear quarter views that will, IMO, detract and why I suggested a washable water paint for perspective.

...but, with that said - you did ask for an opinion and I stuck my nose into the discussion. Thank goodness for different points of view - and regardless, he will do a great job

Oh how well I know about pennies (and finally ending up as Ben Franklin's) when something as simple as 2 rolls (30 feet total) of NAPA's Belden US made 12ga wire was 'only' $16 yesterday. And that was to correct the length of the power wires on my MSD ignition control box. Wotinhel were they thinking with a 2' long ground wire and a 4' long positive. That would be marginal in a passenger car. The rest are fine, and actually too long.

I love flames....most everything I have other then DD have flames.
Here are 2 of them and building a 53 Chevy PU that will also have flames.
Your car is looking killer.
the 32 I kept them high to keep down on the chips

The Vette is over the top for most people

I'm going to enjoy this thread. One day I'll have flames added to the 34, but have yet to decide the style. Really like the belt line licks, but they may have already been over done. Traditional flames like what you are doing might be best. Also like Jerry's thought on having the flames starting at the louvers, in my case it may be the hood doors (Plymouth).

Thanks Steve for sharing your flame job with us.

I've flamed over louvers a few times, and I do like that look better than trying to work around them, but I mask them so that when a person sees the flames from a typical viewpoint, they are pretty smooth flowing. From other angles they will have that "sawtooth" look.