Realistic Flames

T

Tenacious C

Guest
Hey Fellow Paint Huffers,

I have been playing with some techniques to try and make realistic flames. Has anyone else here had any luck doing this and do you have any tips / techiques you can share?
I know Mike Lavallee is a master of this but I have only been able to find a very limited amount of info on how he does it and nothing shows him using his "freehand stencils".

I know there have been some discussions on this board on this topic but I was hoping somebody has some new info or perhaps developed a new technique since the last discussion. I personlly think the key is a combo of freehand and freehand stencils. I have been playing with a ton of different stencil shapes I've come up with.

Attached is a photo of what I've come up with so far. My customer wants blue flames so that is why they are all blue. Let me know your honest opinion - I'm open to any suggestions for improvement...

Craig
 

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R

rex

New member
I think they look good for being monotone.Did you use tape or a stencil for the edges,the edge looks too clean to be freehanded.I ended up with a cheap airbrush and want to play with it but am kind of lost on stuff like that.
 
S

seedeucer

Guest
That's pretty cool C. I've also been trying to find the techniques Mike uses. I've only been able to find a couple of articles. He does use freehand and stencils. In one article he says he puts on some loose flames and then gets it tighter as he goes along. So it sounds like he freehands first and then uses stencils second. This kind of confused me. The only thing I can think of is he gets a sort of guide of how the flame pattern is going to be and then he tightens up the edges as he overlaps the flames..
 
E

ezrider

New member
last months issue of hotrod bike had a nice how to section, didnt give 100% of the info but i think it gave enough for a professional to go with.
 
J

John Pierce

Guest
Craig Fraser's Automotive Cheap Tricks & Special F/X book has a small part devoted to doing realistic flames...

Automotive Cheap Tricks & Special F/X

Using HOK colors, Fraser starts out with a BC-26 white base, then, he layers over the white with SG-101 yellow basecoat. Then, he uses KK-08 tangerine kandy over the yellow tips for the "red" in the fire. When he finishes, you see mostly yellow in his flames with a bit of white peeking out and merging to the reddish hue created by the tangerine on the tips.

His realistic flames in the book flow a bit different than Lavallee's, but the color mix looks correct.

I'm gonna practice on a computer case -- oh and btw, Fraser does every bit of it freehand, no stencils.

Post your results, I'll post mine!

take care,
John
 
J

John Pierce

Guest
Here's an online article by Mike Lavallee explaining how he does it -- swwwwweeeet!

Mike Lavallee How-to

According to the article he starts with darker colors and then works to lighter using serveral different kandy colors....

Here's a closeup picture I took of one of Mike's paint jobs at the Good Guys Hotrod show in Colorado Springs.

49 Chevy with realistic flames

John
 
B

beyondhelpin

Guest
Although they dont look realistic because of the color I think they look fantastic. As real looking as they can be being blue.
 
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