Painting flames looks easy when it’s done by a pro, and we stopped in at The Custom Shop in Flanagan, IL, for a lesson in shooting fire on a 1964 Ford Galaxie Pro Street car.
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The fist step on this car was to repaint the base color. The whole car was shot in pearl white to start with, in hopes the brightly colored flames would appear to jump off the car. The flames are to be applied to the base coat paint layer, which will provide them with good adhesion and the protection of the clear coat later.
Wargo uses a product called Transfer Right to mask and lay out his flames. Transfer Right is a product normally used as a backing for vinyl graphics, and it is essentially a large piece of adhesive masking paper. Wargo literally covers most of the car, especially where the flames are to be.
Next, Wargo draws the flame pattern on the Transfer Right. Using a drawing as a guide, he sketches the flame design on both sides of the car using measured reference points. Some people use a pounce pattern to make one side and transfer it to the other for perfectly symmetrical flames, Wargo feels a little variation adds character to the job.
Once the flames are designed, Wargo takes an x-acto knife and trims the paper away revealing the paint surface underneath. This creates the mask where the flames will be shot.
This flame job is to contain red-orange-yellow flames fading from red on the nose of the car. However, the trick is to paint the lighter yellow on the flame ends first to cover the white and keep the color bright. Notice the flames wrap into the door jambs and under the hood on this car.
Next, Wargo paints the red, and then comes back with an orange to blend the red and yellow together and give the illusion that there are more than 3 colors at work here. Every flame painter likes to lay the licks down differently, this job uses a more modern look with wispy abstract licks in addition to the main flames.
Once the colors are laid down, Wargo de-masks the car for shadowing and striping. The trick here is to airbrush light “shadows” under the flames to separate them from the background of the car.
Then, the flames are all hand pinstriped in a contrasting blue for further definition. Wargo uses a dry brush technique for control… again, everyone does it differently.
Finally, the car is clear coated and buffed to a high gloss and reassembled. This is one Galaxie that’s going to get a lot of attention.
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