Many years ago (late 80's or early 90's) when Clarence was in gray primer I decided the evening before leaving for the NSRA Nationals that I'd paint flames on it. All I had was 3/4" masking tape (the kind for painting walls etc.) and a couple of rattle cans of flat black. All I can say is thank God there were never any pictures taken and shortly thereafter he got painted all the same color (black basecoat with no clear).
I like flames as well, although I have never had or painted a flame job. I do feel as though they are a make or break proposition. You have to have the right canvas (car) to pull it off. They don't work on just any ride. As for the crude style of flames. NO GO !!! If I went with flames on a project they would be the long stretched out swoopy style with cl***ic colors and pin stripping. As cool as they look when done properly i doubt i will ever go that route.
I'm not into flames. To each their own. There is a PT Cruiser that shows up at cruise ins locally. Flames don't make it cool. I also have the same opinion on go fast stripes. A couple deck stripes don't make it a Z28.
My first set of flames although shaped different weren’t far from the ones on the 57 at least when it comes to skill level. We did them on a buddies slightly OT C10 that was in red primer to break it up a little. We actually used tinted primers for the yellow, orange, and red. I later ended up buying the truck from my buddy and was amazed how many people asked how I was going to save the flames when I painted it. They weren’t that great at all but was the beginning of my “flame painting career” on Harleys and lots of pickups. I still love a good flame job and am looking forward to doing some soon on my kids 51 Chevy pu.
I put pinstripe flames on the hood of my OT (trusty-rusty) work car once (as a joke). It was, as a few guys thought it was really cool. It's what happens when you're bored and find a roll of fine-line you didn't know you had...
These are (obviously) super basic, rattle can flames done with my brother while drinking a few beers. Amateurish, juvenile, and I absolutely love them! Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Driveway flamejob. The best kind. I like somewhat crude flames. For that matter, I like somewhat crude hot rods.
I kinda love the crude job on the Catch Me '57, it totally looks like what a high school shop cl*** would do to that car in the late 80's, and there's something really great about that. It's so much better than the lame *** "true fire" flame jobs that seem to be trendy. Put that **** on your car, you'll get the Fast Freddy dance cancelled and Johnny Phatmun is going to own you for life!
Reflecting back: My teenaged son did not have a date for the big high school dance and was kinda bummed. I said "Let's do something cool". I grabbed some tape and showed him how to lay out flames on his and his brother's O/T Pinto wagon. We rattle canned it with a couple of colors. Then they got crazy and put in lime-and-chartreuse **** carpet, a statue of Mick Jagger on the dashboard, and some pin stripes out of a Buegler tool. The car was voted "Best Student Car" by the student body two years in a row and was in the yearbook. Great memories for the three of us. Respecting HAMB guidelines, I'll not show pics.