Some Flame Help Please

[KansasJeep]

I have a red Jeep wrangler. I am going to repaint the whole vehicle, lay out my flames, then unmask them and clear. My question for you is what color should my pinstripe be? Most flames have a blue pinstripe, but they are on a black base. What would look good with a red base? Oh almost forgot. I will be painting some classic hotrod style flames.....white to yellow to orange. Thanks, Jared

 

[flamepain]

i painted my 65 nova that same way (60's style yellow orange to red) and belive it or not blue pinsripe realy looked good on there.if i can find the pic i'll post it tomorrow.cyas

 

[hoss]

depends if you want the stripe to stand out or be in the background.

i've seen lime green on that color combo, and it looked cool too. if you want it to stand out, go crazy w/ the color, if you want it to be subtle then use black or a brighter shade of red or orange.

 

[KansasJeep]

Actually I Photoshopped my Jeep about a year and a half ago. I did the flames white to yellow to orange and used a green pinstripe. It looks cool, but thats only a picture. Haven't seen many red vehicles with that style of flame. Also, another quick question. A little off the 1st topic, but how is the best way to clear the flames. Should I clear them, then wet sand them all out, and then clear again, then wet sand and buff, or should I clear them and wet sand and buff. I just don't want to be able to feel the edge around them.

 

[hoss]

it depends on your graphic build up.

to be on the safe side, i'd put at least 3 coats on. sand them flat and reclear.

 

[KansasJeep]

I kinda figured that would be best. Thats going to be alot of sanding. I wonder, would there be much of a line left if I put on say, 5 coats of clear, and then wet sanded and buffed. And then called it good.

 

[flamepain]

you can do this however there is a good chance the lines will show up later on.that much clear can take a long time to fully dry and shrink.remember you only have to realy concentrate on the lines with the sanding.it's realy not that bad and the results are worth it.that second shot of clear always comes out like glass to (sweet).cyas

 

[flamepain]

on a bigger job you can use 1500 grit on a da .(much faster but be carefull).

 

[KansasJeep]

I think I'll hand sand. A D.A. seems to risky.

 

[flamepain]

the key to the d.a method is to put on three good coats of clear and stay away from the corners.it's not that bad realy.with 15 - 2000 .cyas

 

[KansasJeep]

The only problem I see with a D.A. is when you get the smallest particle under the paper. Millions of swirl scratches in the blink of an eye. But I do agree, would be much quicker if all goes well. And I may still use a D.A. to save time. Also, would I have to wet sand the entire vehicle, or just the flame edges? I just don't want to be doing an sanding thats not necessary.

 

[flamepain]

3m makes a real nice 1500 for the da.i use it dry and yes i do get pig tails.this is where the wool buff pad comes in.it's a toss up.i get a lot of strait line gouges with wet paper by hand/i've tried everything to stop it.even taken a course.the trick with the d.a is not to be stingy with the paper.whipe it off every six square inches of sanding.i just whipe it on my pants.but then i;m a slob.remember you must use an inter pad.going dry alows you to see any problems before they start.another good product is abrelon made by norton .it's an abrasive foam pad thats used wet and is a great follow up for the 1500.it comes in 1500 2000 and 2500.if your clear comes out real good you only have to conentrate on the lines with the 1500.finish up the rest with the abrelon.folow up with normal polishing (no wool pad).the only problem with just doing the flame lines comes if you have orange peel.what happens is you flatten out the clear on the lines.you will have a mirror finish on the flame edges and orange peel on the rest.no amount of polishing will flatten orange peel without sanding first.what ever way you choose i'm shure will work out fine for you.post pics.good luck.cyas