magic pen

[huck]

Hello to all. what a fantastic site and all the links work too!!!!!. Been a member a short time and done some lurking for awhile.
Convinced to try flames. So i bc/cc to have some time to play with flame design.
Question 1. is there a pen or pencil i can use to layout on black base or just keep laying tape 'til i get it right???
2. to sand clear for flames, do 320 wet sanding sound ok???
3. when overlapping flames, do u leave the tape of the top flame, where it passes over bottom flame, in place during spraying.
Dumb question, i guess. Seen a pic on net that looked like this was the case as a guy was spraying a tank.
thanks for any help, keep the site rockin'
Huck

 

[TWISTED]

Welcome,
I use plain white chalk when I need to put down some guide lines. It wipes off easily and doesn't seem to contaminate.
I use 400 or 600 between coats. Just a personal preference.
You can do overlapping flames several ways. I choose to lay out the flames and cut out the portion where they lap. Then I cut a freehand mask out of an old business card to put in the shadow or ghost for that section.
Everyone has thier own opinions and techniques. Hope this helps a little.

 

[Zeepaintr]

I hate to butt in, but Twisted touched on something in his post I was curious about. What is the technique that you (Twisted) or anyone else use for the shadows on flames? I just did I set of overlapping flames with a pinstripe to separate the flames, but it just looks SO much better when I see something that someone did the drop shadows on. Help!!

 

[txturbo]

You can also use China Marker pencils/Stabillo pencils.

 

[TWISTED]

I lay out my flames with 1/8 inch tape. Where the flames overlap I cut the tape from the inside of the flames with an x-acto blade.
For solid flames you would do your normal steps to paint the flames. Before unmasking the flames I cut a freehand mask to spray the drop shadow on the overlapping flames.
For ghost flames when you get to the overlapping area you use the freehand mask to paint the inside of the flame that will be on top first. (You can leave it taped if you want but it gets messy when you want to cut the tape after you already painted it.)Then spray the flame that will be under stopping at the edge of the first flame lick.
Sounds confusing but it is not difficult and adds a great effect to the job. Gives it a little depth.
I am in the process of doing a flame job now and will try to get some pics on to help out a little bit more.

 

[onelowzuki]

I have always layed out my flames with tape, so what you are saying is i can use chalk to draw the flames out before i lay the tape, would that work on larger areas too like a full size truck, and does it affect the tape from sticking?

 

[TWISTED]

as you are taping wipe the chalk away. The advantage with using chalk to put your layout down first is you aren't pulling your tape up as much. The only time I use chalk is on larger projects such as cars & trucks. I don't normally use it for the flames just those multi colored Cali style mini trucks.