Thread: "Something old...something new" flames

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'Bout 800 miles! I drove it once. :-)

That's an amazing illusion. I'll bet people stop and do a double take when they walk by.

Tom

Do you have a clear picture of the hidden cameleon? I'd love to see it!

I don't have any more pictures of the car right now. The problem on this one is that reflective paints do not show up as often, when they are low on the sides. This was his choice, so we did a similar concept to his truck on page two. (remember it is higher on the body.)

On page one is the guys truck, with the same Kameleon, and on page two is a picture of some purple showing.

The way I learned about the lower body not getting as much light, was a white Corvette, with red & blue pearl stars on it, that I did about 1980. People would ask why we used them on the hood, but not on the sides of the car? I had to tell them "they are there, you just can't see them". :-(

HOTRODPAINT:
You are one SUPER DUPER TALENTED ARTIST !!!
Great execution !!!
-41-

I likey, keep up the good work. I am going to have to use the reverse shadow idea on my tribal flames. And since were on the subject of flames here is a quick pic of a 36 ford cabrio that I am fiinishing up right now.

Originally Posted by 33mopower

I likey, keep up the good work. I am going to have to use the reverse shadow idea on my tribal flames. And since were on the subject of flames here is a quick pic of a 36 ford cabrio that I am fiinishing up right now.

Those look great!!!!!!

Nice work! I haven't had many requests for the "Trufire" or "Real Fire" flames, which surprises me, since they have been so popular. Here is a more typical job I did since the one in this thread.

Over the last five years, flames have made up about 50% of my jobs, but now it seems to be more illustration work.

Cost might be a factor in the true flames....LOL! Aren't they a lot more expensive?

Originally Posted by youther

Cost might be a factor in the true flames....LOL! Aren't they a lot more expensive?

I haven't done enough to really compare manhours. My guess would be "slightly more"....maybe 25%....for trufire. Spray time is more, but layout and masking would be less. So far (for my customers) it has been more of a personal preferrence for style, than cost. Anyone else compare hours?

More traditional flames are often priced by the "lick" (or point). You can do 25 licks on a car...or 200 licks. How "hot" do you want to look?

I would have to say they don't take any more manhours. No masking required its all done with stencils. Took maybe 8 hours so It could be expensive depending on the rate your airbrusher charges. I spent more time sanding the clear coat than it took to spray the flames. But also also had to sand the whole car because it everything was clearcoated again after the artwork. I don't typically like true fire flames they look more like blond hair blowing in the wind but once the cobalt blue candy was applied it turned out nice. Still not my forte but it's not my car. I had 50 times more hours in blocking out the car than painting it and that dosn't include the metal fabrication or bodywork.

I colorsand and buff every job, so that doesn't bother me. That comes from spraying custom lacquer for 30 years, and wanting that "coffee table finish" every time. I'm just not happy unless it looks like glass. :-) I use R-M Diamont clear. It stays soft longer, then hardens up within about 8-10 days. You can sand with 1200, since it buffs out easier too....so the work goes much faster. I used to use PPG, but the manhours to finish it were at least double what the R-M is....maybe triple!

The car in the picture was Dupont sealer thru clear. That stuff stays soft forever. I am sure I will be buffing it out again in a year. I am not familiar with R-M. I may have to check it out. I use alot of ppg and hok. I recently tried a new "budget" line from Kustom shop. I really like the stuff you can really hose it on without running it. Flows out real well and the pre buffed gloss is unreal. I think it has to do with the fact the base dries glossy. They sell single stage high and low gloss paints and because the base dries so glossy it says right on the can "this product must be clear coated". Anyway its 150 for 1 1/3 sprayable gallons. I get a lot of call for the flattened paints nowadays. I first used there paints after last years sema and they gave me a whole bunch of paint and flakes to try. I have also used sherwin williams in the past and some of there metallic bases have some large flake with lots of pearl but the clears solvent pop too easy if its sprayed on too heavy. I would say the dupont is the worst for overall shrinkage.