Custom Paint Tricks - You Name It We Flame It

Time spent masking and reattaching crossed tips will be time well spent in the long run. The actual shading of these tips goes very quickly. Like taking the time to plan a symmetrical layout, crossing tips in livin’ color will set your flame job apart from the average.

Now that all our DBC base colors have been shot, we’ll carefully remove the masking from our crossed tips, switch back to a larger HVLP clearcoat gun and hammer on a single coat of bargain basement generic urethane clear. We’re intentionally holdin’ back on gloss.

For this job, using only a single coat of clear helps us in two ways; it’ll keep our edges low for ease of pinstriping later and, because our canvas is not glossy, we don’t want to overdo it. The clear we’ve opted to use is designed for spot repair, so it flashes off quickly.

We still find this stage fascinating. Before the masking is removed, it’s difficult to envision what the finished product will look like, but we know. When unwrappin’ a flame job of this size, it’s best to catch it at just the right time. Bring a buddy and pack your lunch if necessary.

At this point, it’s been a long, cold, dark, rainy night. Mrs. Rotten and I were in the garage well into the wee-wee hours as careful removal of this much masking material became a marathon.

This is what $71.71 worth of high-quality masking tape looks once it’s been removed.

The legendary Lyle Fisk has agreed to wave his proverbial Mack #00 wand for us. Fisk has been draggin’ his daggers for the fortunate folks of Southern California since 1955. In addition to striping, he does signs, gold leaf, wood graining, custom designs, logos and corporate ID. In fact, he’s known for flames as well.

Once a color decision is made, we’ll clear out so Lyle can take his time. “That’s a lot of flames,” said Lyle. He also had some complements regarding our layout and so on, which feels pretty good, as he may have actually forgotten more about flames than we’ll ever know.

No, it’s not Manny, Moe & Jack. No, it’s not Larry, Moe & Curly. From left to right: it’s some hobo, Lyle Fisk & lucky Ken who scored a flame job for this story. We’re especially stoked to have Lyle involved. After 54 years of striping in California, this job will be his last.

Oh no, he’s not hangin’ it up or anything like that. Lyle tells us he’ll never retire. He and his wife Yolanda are, however, makin’ a move to Saint Augustine, Florida, where he’ll continue building tradition, as he has since 1955. Attention Floridians: Our loss is your gain.

With a whole new attitude, Ken’s ol’ panel seems to scream for a moniker. Ken likes the name ‘Firecracker’. In this particular instance the poor condition of the canvas adds character. As anticipated, the crackly old lacquer finish is no longer what people notice and we’re satisfied that we have successfully created the desired dramatic effect, a ‘three alarm’ distraction. Now dependin’ on legalities in your localities, you just might be able to achieve similar results at home in your own garage. You name it–we flame it! Now, maybe so can you.