flame outline tip

[dave brockman]

great site! unfortunatly, I came across it after my first flame job. could have really benefitted from it. How I outline flames worked pretty good, cause I cant use a brush. first, I did my base/clear. (2 coats clear) After wetsanding the clear with 600 grit, taped my flame pattern slightly wider than I wanted my flames. After masking, I then sprayed my OUTLINE COLOR (black) . After that was dry, I taped again with 1/16th fineline, covering the outside edge of the black. After masking again, I sprayed the metallic silver, the main color of the flames. when dry, shot 3 pretty wet coats of clear to allow sanding to smooth the edges. this technique produced a perfectly outlined graphic of silver flames with a black outline on a bright red base coat. stunning.
The one thing I had trouble with is the edge of the black looking jagged when I peeled my tape. finally got it right, but have no idea why or how this happened. any help on this would be great. by the way, using PPG DBC paint

 

[big stinkie]

I use the same method for pinstriping. I'm not sure if the jagged edge problem you mentioned is the same thing that happened to me, but here's a suggestion for clean edges I learned from a local professional painter.

After you spray your pinstripe color and after you lay the 1/16 inch tape over it for the stripe, take your 1/8 tape and lay it over the joint where the 1/16 and the tape for your original flame outline meet. That keeps any paint from the actual flame color from seeping down into the crack between the 1/16 and your flame outline. You don't have to be quite so careful putting this tape down...just as long as it covers the joint. Yeah, you use a lot more tape, but tape is cheap compared to doing the job over and over.

 

[TAZ]

Some more info on this subject can be found on some older posts. You can read them here

 

[big stinkie]

Insert sound of Homer Simpson "Doh!"

I should have used the search function and found it myself. Sorry for the redundant post.