Dreaming about flames and ghosts... oh my..

[Northstar T]

I had the Northstar T all buffed out today by a pro. I'd color sanded and buffed it myself a few months ago, but I didn't do that great of a job (according to my buddie the pro ). anyway. one of the reasons I wanted to get er all shined up was so we can begin planning the next stage, which is stripping, flames, ghost flames, pearl flames...... well... like I said. I'm still thinking about it. My buddie that did the buffing owns a hot rod shop and although he doesn't claim to be a painter I've seen lots of his work and it's very nice. best part is that he's VERY artistic. he comes over to my shop to bs every morning as sits there and doodles out flames that are as good as any pro show painter I've seen.
We'll be playing with some ideas in tape, over the next few days, and I'm open to ideas on how this would look the best. as you can see from the pics, the car is a very dark metallic green. many folks ask about "that black T bucket" as that's how it looks until you get a lot of light on it. I had thought about gold ghost flames, as brass is somewhat of a theme on the car already, but then after masking the car today to buff, we noted that the green tape sure looks nice against the car so perhaps pearl green ghosts would look better? here's what it looks like now, whith the rear end in the sun so you can see the color.

your ideas and concepts welcome,

Russ

 

[putz]

Maybe ghost flames coming up from the area just above the mufflers. I think that would be cool and give people a hint of hot pipes.I can picture it but hard to explain what exactly what i have in mind.

 

[Northstar T]

I've seen the style I think you have in mind. I do like that, but I think this car needs more coverage on the sides of the body.
Today I received a surprise gift. I didn't know my karma bank was that full, but I'm happy about it anyway. A total stranger to me happened to be at the hot rod shop next door to mine wile my Buddie Mick and I were discussing the flame job. He was checking out the Northstar when out of the blue he pops up with "I have some green/violet flip flop that you can have. left overs from a job last month. $1200 a gallon, but you can have what's left" (a little more than a pint). when he brought it over to me an hour later he also donated a dab of pearl glass (can't recall the actual name at the moment) powder "to add a little sparkle". WOW! when I got home tonight I prepped and blew some epoxy primer on an old fender that I'll shoot with the T green so we can experiment with some ideas we have for the car. I'm gettin' all excited :hey: .

Russ

 

[Ted Brown]

That was a very good day all around it sounds like... Flames and such is hard to figure without a photo of another car with something that turns you on... I usually leave it up to Dennis Ricklefts my stripe'r and flame man, who knows better than a guy that does it everyday???, and is very good at it... I most generally already have a general idea of what I want, and if he agrees, we/He goes from there...

 

[Northstar T]

That was a very good day all around it sounds like... Flames and such is hard to figure without a photo of another car with something that turns you on... I usually leave it up to Dennis Ricklefts my stripe'r and flame man, who knows better than a guy that does it everyday???, and is very good at it... I most generally already have a general idea of what I want, and if he agrees, we/He goes from there...

I have a Northstar powered T bucket with my own ITB injection and a 5 speed bolted to it...... I'm not good at using "a photo of another car with something that turns you on". :hi: . I do get ideas from looking at other cars, but I usually end up mixing many ideas together to come up with one that works for me. It's funny how I'll see one concept and somehow it developes in my head into something very different by the time it gets built. my problem sometimes is just getting that initial "spark" that ignites the inferno. anybody got a light? :spy:

Russ

 

[Ted Brown]

That picture was just for the spark... Never a copy of anything... I see great ideas on just about every car I look at, somewhere, or just something small that starts a thought, for a great new idea...

 

[Northstar T]

Thursday update.
last weekend I sprayed an old fender with some "T Bucket green" and dropped it off at my buddy Micks. he has the artistic eye necessary for laying out flames, which he did, and then we sprayed some green pearl and a coat of clear to see how it looked. We've (I've) decide to add the smallest dab of gold pearl to the tips and coves, but overall I like the effect just as it is. taking this photo was a real challenge, as the reflections were hard to control, but this is pretty close to a true look. when viewed from an angle, the flames fade away, which is just what a ghost flame should do :hey: . next week we'll play with the real thing if we both get the time.
whataya think??

Russ

 

[putz]

Looks AWESOME let the flames begin only in ghost form.

 

[409T]

I really like it. The flames have a very nice flow. I think the addition of gold pearl highlights would be a great idea, but I would make them very faint. Just my .02

Jeff

 

[Northstar T]

I really like it. The flames have a very nice flow. I think the addition of gold pearl highlights would be a great idea, but I would make them very faint. Just my .02

Jeff

Yup. if you met my friend Mick, who did the layout, you would never guess he had a talent for anything but BS (ask Ted :hi: ), but the guy constantly amazes me, and paint work isn't really a regular part of his business. he's a metalwork guy. top chops, customs and lots of patch panel stuff but the customer gets the car back in bare metal because he's "not a painter". go figure.
I agree on only having a faint hint of gold on the tips and highlights. I figure it will look good with the tan top and interior color, but it would be easy to go overboard on it to.

Thanks,
Russ

 

[Northstar T]

Last week didn't work out for Mick or myself, but today we finally got our ducks in a row and got the flame job started. It ended up taking Mick several attempts to finally get a layout that satisfied the customer !! (that guy's a real jerk :hi: ) at the end of the day, I neglected to take a pic wile the car was still on the ground. when closing time comes around here... webegone, so the pic below is the best I can do for now. tomorrow we'll do the other side of the car. I took a photo of the first side with just the 1/4" tape applied, then photoshoped it to highlight the pattern, and reversed the photo so it looks like you're looking at the other side of the car. this photo will be used to "copy" the flames to the other side without running back and forth a hundred times.
If I was doing the layout myself I'd most likely do it a half dozen more times to get it "just" right, but I'm not pushing my luck with my friends cheep labor :angel: , and I have to say it's a pretty darn good layout as it is anyway. IMHO.

 

[putz]

I really like the separate flames all by them self

 

[Youngster]

Plain and simple comment ... I like it!!

Ron

 

[Ted Brown]

Russ, can't see both sides at once anyway, so if they are a bit different, no biggy. should look great when finished... that must have been your neighbor that we were talking with the day I left?

 

[Northstar T]

Russ, can't see both sides at once anyway, so if they are a bit different, no biggy. should look great when finished... that must have been your neighbor that we were talking with the day I left?

Yes Ted. that was Mick that you met at my shop. I agree that you can't see both sides at once, but still..... I think it is nice to have them both be very close in design.
We (Mick actually) did get the right side of the car layed out today and masked. it was a bit harder due to the door. I agree with Mick that it would have been easier to do the right side first. that way the flames could have been worked around the hinges, latch etc. no biggie I guess. it's done now and looks fine. tomorrow the car gets fully masked and we'll shoot the pearl at it if all goes well.

Russ

 

[Northstar T]

boy it's hard to take a decent photo of ghost flames (must be why they call them that eh?). especially out in bright sunlight with reflections all over the place. oh well, here's a fairly decent shot. 4 coats of clear buried them very well. nice to have plenty to sand off during cut and buff I recon' :angel: . next week we'll buff er out and put the top back on.

I like it!!

Russ

 

[409T]

Looks good Russ. What color is the green of the body?

 

[Northstar T]

Looks good Russ. What color is the green of the body?

Thanks 409T. the body green is a custom BC/CC mix (Montana paint system 50). it has some pearl in it, and a lot of metalic. sprayed over a black primer/sealer base.

BTW: you may have noticed we decided not to use any gold highlights on the flames after all. just too much chance to turn out bad. Mick did use an airbrush to highlight with the flame green however. just by adding material in strategic areas.

Russ

 

[409T]

BTW: you may have noticed we decided not to use any gold highlights on the flames after all. just too much chance to turn out bad. Mick did use an airbrush to highlight with the flame green however. just by adding material in strategic areas.

Russ

I noticed that. I had to look twice to see it, but to me, that is perfect. I like subtle highlights, ones that create the art but do not become the art. Nice job.


Jeff

 

[Northstar T]

tadahhhh. now if summer would just hang around for another few months