Custom Flame Paint Jobs - Paint Your Own Flames

Flames are just cool. They're the signature of a real hot rod. But obtaining a flame job you can actually be proud of generally takes skill, some artistic ability, or the money to hire such talents. We had none of the above, but in lieu of those qualities, The Eastwood Company is now offering all you need to produce respectable flames on your own. A new addition to the variety of reusable traditional flame stencils in the Eastwood catalog is the Mickey Harris Hell Fire stencil kit. A multiple award-winning custom painter, Harris created the Hell Fire kit to help produce the type of flame job that replicates actual fire. This current trend in custom paint is a bit more involved than the standard traditional flame job, but we figured we'd give it a try. The included DVD, narrated by Harris, helps to breakdown the steps and gave us the confidence to believe we could actually pull it off with no prior experience. Eastwood also carries a selection of airbrushes and the mini-compressors to run them, plus a line of custom paints; everything we needed came in one box.

The Hell Fire flames look best over black, and we happened to have a discarded black hood from an old project car to experiment with. Read on to see how much of a mess we made.

Both the Hell Fire stencil kit and the airbrush kit included instructional DVDs-the modern equivalent of the instruction manual, and you may be tempted to treat them similarly (i.e., toss them aside thinking you know better). Do it right: Grab a beverage, kick back on the couch, and observe. If you want this to come out right, you should probably take some simple notes unless your shop has a TV with a DVD player-ours doesn't.
Both the Hell Fire stencil kit and the airbrush kit included instructional DVDs-the modern
The Hell Fire flame stencil kit can be ordered with a corresponding paint kit that includes the required colors and some clear, all of which are premixed and ready to shoot. Gun-cleaning solution is part of the paint set as well. We also needed an airbrush, and Eastwood recommended its Iwata automotive airbrush set featuring an Eclipse professional airbrush plus the Smart Jet Compressor setup to feed it, the water separator, and all necessary air lines.
The Hell Fire flame stencil kit can be ordered with a corresponding paint kit that include
The airbrush is a simple device. Just fill the cup with the pre-mixed paint, snap the lid on, and you're ready to paint. The button on the airbrush has two functions: Pushing it down lets the air flow; pulling it back feeds the paint. You'll need to get the hang of metering each to get the desired combination of air and paint, but we found it to be pretty forgiving.
The airbrush is a simple device. Just fill the cup with the pre-mixed paint, snap the lid

Setting up the airbrush takes minutes. Position the compressor unit somewhere near your workspace, attach the intercooler line-that's the one with the coils-to the compressor output and then to the water separator. The non-coiled line goes from the water trap to the airbrush. Plug the unit in, flip the switch, and it will run until reaching 35 psi, then automatically shut off. When the pressure drops, the compressor kicks back on to maintain pressure.
Setting up the airbrush takes minutes. Position the compressor unit somewhere near your wo
The stencil kit has six different stencils for varying types of flames. Each one still contains the cut-out portion, which is called a positive stencil. Both will be used during the flaming process. We selected a style that seemed the most like traditional hot rod flames.
The stencil kit has six different stencils for varying types of flames. Each one still con
To get started, simply hold the negative stencil over the area you want to flame. Begin with red, and for the Hell Fire-style flames, ghost the area with a light spray. Laying a heavy coat of paint will make the stenciled flame too sharp.
To get started, simply hold the negative stencil over the area you want to flame. Begin wi