Real Fire
People have been Painting flames for along time ( see flames history may/june 05 ) .
But the flames you have come to know on hot rods have more of a cartoon look to
them and a stylized look and are usually more symmetrical.
The new craze on the market is painting real fire or should I say try to paint real fire.
Mike Lavellee has brought it to the for front with his version of real fire and everyone
is coming up with what they think it should look like, some good and some bad.
I Have come up with my own style of fire and by using some of
Mikes tricks and coming up with some of my own i have created my own
version and you will want to come up with your own style and don't try to
copy someone else's, you need to get good reference photos to go
by this is how we come up with new techniques and new trends by taking
what we see and trying something new and
you must always remember to give credit were its due.
Pic 1. This is the blank panel we will be starting with I scuffed it up
with 600 wet and dry and then degreased and tacked the panel.
Pic2. We load the airbrush with a molly orange and roughly lay
out the design then I start to fill in the area with a lil more detail
I use the freehand shields to get the crisp edges. On larger pieces
I will not put very much detail into the first layer, as it is the fire that
is farthest away so it will be a lil out of focus the fire needs to flow
but it also needs to be kaotic at th same time.
pic 3. Here is a pic of the first layer close up .
pic 4. All done with the first layer.
pic5. It's time for the candy I use candy brandy wine for this layer
its a lil darker, you can use candy apple red or even wild cherry
play around and see what you like better. I use Kandy concentrates
mixed with sg100,when spraying these candies over black you can use
a touch up gun, I am using the airbrush and using
circular motions to cover up all the orange.
Pic 6. Here I am laying out the second layer again with the molly orange
and trying not to cover up all the orginal layer. You also want to start putting
more detail use the freehand shield to get the crisp curves and
some of the straight lines also you want to do a lot of freehand and keep
changing out the freehand shield for different curves .
Pic7. Here is a close up of the second layer see how you can still
see the under lying layer.
Pic 8. Time for the candy again this time we use candy tangerine over all the
molly orange it will not be a problem if we get it over the first layer
if anything it will darken it more.
Pic 9. Its time for the next level this time we will go with the chrome yellow
laying out this layer with more detail and trying not to cover up the
prior two layers again using the freehand shield to get the nice curves.
Pic 10. Here is a close up of the yellow layer see
how we are not covering up the other layers.
pic 11. Its time to spray candy again, some more kandy tangerine
over all the chrome yellow.
Pic 12. Almost done this is the layer we add the highlights take the orginal
chrome yellow and a lil white just a couple drops to lighten it up when you put it on
the other colors it will look almost white all you want to do on this
layer is highlight the spots were it will be the brightest like shown.
pic 13. This is a close up of what you are wanting to do dont over
do this layer you will kill it after completing the highlights its time for the
candy pagan gold over the highlighted areas this is the step
that makes the fire just pop .
Pic 14. Here is the complete panel without the clear I have also taken some
black and gone over any areas that i didnt like and taken care of any over spray
I also took some purple pearl and sprayed around the edge of
the fire to give a lil more color and the pearl gives a nice glow time to clear,
wipe the panel down with a waterbased cleaner tack and then clear.
Pic 15. Here is the panel after a couple of coats of clear.
even though i state these solid colors and there numbers you can easily
cross them over to another brand
Paint List
solid colors
intercoat clear-sg-100
molly orange-sg-103
chrome yellow-sg-102
white-bc-26
black-bc-25
candies
brandywine kk-01
tangerine kk-08
pagan gold kk-12
purple pearl
intercoat clear-sg-100