Crab Claw Flames

Tribal and "Real Fire" flames are so Mini-truck and DUB style ****! I love Watson's flame jobs,well,most of them. When I decided to flame my Merc,I went through 100's of magazines and cut out what I liked best of each one. I brought the pic's with me when I took my car to Vandemon. I told him I wanted something that was 50's looking.Even though there weren't hardly any cars with flames in the 50's. I get told all the time that it looks 50's style. It came out exactly the way I wanted. If a guy wants crab-claw style to capture a specific look of Watson,or Jeffries,than that's cool.

 

The flames on the Grabowski T were done by Dean Jeffries.

 

I think that the Grabowski T is awesome, but when it comes to flame jobs (a subject of which I have some p***ion) Bad Bob's rule!

 

crab claws are awesome. they are traditional as it gets. as well as the early seaweed flames.

 

All right.....But dont say you wern't warned, I'm going out on a limb here so try to remember this car was a joke.

 

my old daily driver, back around 95, with crab claw type flames

 

Here is a flame layout sheet I created to educate my customers. The "modern/traditional" is what I prefer, and do most often. And yes, I do know "modern/traditional" is a contradiction in terms, but what I mean is the modern evolution/interpretation of traditional flames. Every artist is different, but this is my take on it all. Also one of "my" style flame jobs.

 

I guess mine are a combination of Modern/Traditional and Seawed.

 

To me...I kinda see it as flames evolving. Kinda the way that "True Fire" did, a guy had an original idea and it caught on and everyone gave it a shot.

Here is what I mean...

Here is the originators work:



...a follower's work.



good flames:



bad...



if you aren't an artist...if you have no concept of flames and how they should look...find someone that does. haha

 

I met Mike Lavale(spelling?) at a show last year and watched him do his "Real Flame" job. It was amazing to watch. BUT,I wouldn't want it on anything of mine! Well,maybe my truck...

 

Looks like my car. Hey, it is!
Flames are a very personal choice & some can be quite traditional. I like crab claws- on the right car. I'm not a fan of the "real" flames on any car. I just don't care for the style. Same for tribal.
I remember when I wanted to flame my 55, like Bob- I took pics of all the flamed 55's I liked & went to a local flame painter & handed him the pics. He was horrified & said he's an artist & has his own style & was insulted I wanted him to copy a style on my car. Back then- I thought WTF! Who's writing the check? Him or me? So I p***ed on the flames. What I did learn is you pick the artist who's style you like & go from there, not the other way around.

On my roadster- I knew what I liked. I like front to back fades. I hate white noses on the car. I want traditional looking colors- no purples & no color shift ****. I like wide flames. I like licks that turn in & out. I don't want tips crossing over. I don't want flames laid out on a computer & transferred via plotting paper (many do this now) I want someone who can work with me to get what I want & what he's happy with also.
My choices were few- the top of the list was Dennis Ricklefs. His schedule & mine didn't jive. But at last minute- Dennis calls me & said we are a go. Car was at So-Cal's shop so it will be done there.
Dennis lays out the 1st side of car in tape & for some reason- it just doesn't do it for me. Licks are too close together- I want him to open it up. How the **** are you suppose to tell Dennis you want to change the flame layout? What I found out was Dennis is a great guy to work with & was 100% open to my suggestions. Over the period of 2 days- we tweaked flame licks here & there until I was satisfied. When it was all done- Dennis has his son stop by to lay out the other side & do the hideous task of dealing w/ the louvers. His son loved the layout & so did Dennis. It took a little over 2 weeks to flame the car & I was there every step of the way. Dennis didn't mind- even calling me one Saturday to meet him for coffee & donuts before we got started. They couldn't have come out better IMO.

Here's a slide show of flames- start to finish. Look close in beginning & you can see the subtle changes we made to the licks during tape (yes- I move tape too & Dennis would follow & fix). We even removed everything & started over at one point! There's also pics of a test panel he shot. The pinstriping was all removed at the end. Didn't fit style of car IMO.

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/slideshow/19765674

 

Check with Hoovs42. He has a killer set of crab claw flames on his hot rod.

 

Nope, yours are Bad Bob Bad *** Flames! I love the flames on your Merc. Hell, I love the Merc in general. I've admirred Vandemon's work for years. Never had the chance to meet him, but hope I will some day. On the other hand, I'm buddies with Mike Lavalle, and your right, it is amazing to watch him. I learned how to do the real flames from watching him, but I'm nowhere near as fast as him. His speed is incredible! I've seen him do an entire car in a few hours. The real flames have their place, but not really on traditional cars. They're great on bikes and late model stuff, and high tech rods.

 

'32 roadster of Leland Kolb from early - mid 50s

 

I with you all the way Zombie and Fidgiter... I can't wait to get the flames off my 53. The guy that did them put his own taste in them...

 

Phew,
after the first few replies I was begining to doubt my sanity, but now the thread has run awhile I'm pretty sure my head was in the right place all along. I guess I'm with the Fidgiter, Zombie and Rikster when it comes to "traditional" flames, and I want my flame job to look like an early one, more stylised than realistic. I've been familiar with Dean Jeffries, Larry Watson and Kenny Howard for some time, just wasn't sure if "Crab Claw" applied to these styles. From what I can tell, "Crab Claws" are pretty much like anything else, there's good ones and there's bad ones. Rickster, thanks for posting those shots, that's just the kinda thing I was thinking of. Bad Bob, your flames are way kool, Lil Toot I'm thinking a blend of "Crab Claw" and "Modern Traditional".
Thanks a lot guys and keep the thread going if you've the time to spare.
Paul

 

What would you call these?

 

Now this is more like it!

 

I've found in my experience that you can layout flames or you can't, crab claw or any other style. I like the ones that are a combo of crab claw and sea weed. They look like the letter C stuck on the end of a pool cue.

Heres a style that I like to call.."Pain in the *** flames"

 

Check out "Up in Flames; the art of flame painting" by Tim Phelps, "Yosemite" Sam Radoff and Paul Westbrook at www.motorbooks.com.

 

When the early flame paint was being developed the only tape you could buy was 3/4 inch and it was hard to get it to curve. The guys that I first saw working with tape in the mid fifties had just started using the new 1/4 inch tape. Flames and scallops got a lot smoother after that. Striping was used to cover up the ragged edges. 1/8 inch tape came out much later. Get the Barris book on paint techniques by David Fetherston. It shows some of the early styles.
RodP

 

Thanks Pal...I think they're pretty *****in' too.

 

here are some flames from the 30s

 

I've also heard the old timers used to put a roll of tape between 2 blocks of wood & cut it in half w/ a bandsaw.

 

FLAME IT.





(A photoshop job)

 

I don't wanna say

 

(wicked tin) they are big but not clever