I'm thinking about putting ghost flames on my car. its red with white stripes. what i was thinking about doing was to paint red pearl ghost flames all the way up the stripes:i.e. starting on the bottom and flames coming from the sides also. Would this look right? I'm looking to have a unique paint job and be diff from everyone else. thanks for the help.

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Rob
1970 chevelle malibu
454/M20 muncie
RATIFIED

Before you do it, just get some fine line and tape them out. get a good feel of how it will look.

As far as if it will look good, heck no one can tell you that but you.

But I can tell you this VERY important point.

Being "stupid" just for the sake of being different is still stupid. There are MANY cars out there that people try WAY too hard to be different only to end up with an afterbirth.

DETAIL, nothing can set your car apart faster than DETAIL. Do a nice job on the car, spend your time and do every square inch like it is the center of the hood. If you do this, your car WILL stand out. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

thanks for the help. I wanted it to look like the flames are coming out of the red paint. how much red should i mix into the clearcoat?

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Rob
1970 chevelle malibu
454/M20 muncie
RATIFIED

Rob, didn't you say you planned on putting "pearl" ghost flames? In your last post you mentioned "how much red should i mix into the clearcoat"? Did you mean "how much pearl red"?

You wouldn't want to put red paint in the clear, it would make a picky dirty color. As far as how much pearl, I HIGHLY recommend you test a little bit.
What brand of paint are you using? I recommend that you use a "mixing clear" off the toner bank to add the pearl to. If you were to pull up a formula for a "mid coat" or "three stage" color used on a factory car, the mixing clear is used. With Dupont it would be part number 150 (there is some letters that I forget) on Martin Senour it would be 9850. You add pearl to it and reduce it 1-1 just as you would with any other base coat color. DOUBLE CHECK to be sure no drier is needed with the particular brand you are using. Anyway, the more coats you apply the darker it will be so even if the amount of pearl is not "correct" the more or less you apply will change the look.
As a rule for ghost flames, you don't want much, that is for sure.

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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

sorry, i always thought that you would put a tiny bit of color into the clear and spray. Does this pearl additive give off many colors or just the one i would like? sorry, im really new to this stuff. Ive only painted one car and though it turned out flawless, i think i still need to work on my skills. I like to jump from beginner work to super advanced work and it always works for me. thanks for the advice.

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Rob
1970 chevelle malibu
454/M20 muncie
RATIFIED

Rob, the pearl could be an additive that is used in making colors at the paint store. Or it could be a "Custom" paint additive you could buy from someone like House of Color (they specialize in custom paints). I really am not very well versed in custom painting and have little knowledge in HOC products. You should get in contact with them or a jobber who sells it.
You could easily use the first thing I mentioned that is already at the paint store in the form of a "toner" on the mixing bank. Some pearls are liquid others are a dry powder.
I would assume the the HOC pearls would offer a prettier (can I use that word?) pearl look.
Yes it does give a sort of budget "hologram" look. From one angle it may not be seen at all and from another angle it will be a red metallic look. Cool stuff.

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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

I would never suggest that someone that is 'new' to this stuff, try to pull off a custom ghost flame job without first trying it on a test panel or two. Or three. 1st hand experience is the only way to develop your skills. When I wanted to first try, there was nobody to ask who knew just how to do it and the people I did ask told me to stick to the basics. I didn't listen to em!
I did however have many differnt colors, pearls, mettalics and Kandies to experiment with. My paint store let me 'play' with their Martin Senour mixing station. Kinda fun!
If I were going to try a ghost flame job on a straight red SS with white stripes, here's how I would do it:

Spray the red and lay down the stripes in base coat.
Lay out the flames. I would carry the flames into the stripes as well. You have to paint the ghost effects separate of course (red;white)
Take your base red color and add some pearl to it. NOT MUCH! You have to keep in mind that the clear coat will applify the pearl's effect greatly. This is where your test panels come in. When you're adding pearl to a straight color, it's really going to show. I would strive on the most subtle pearl effect possible. Better too little than too much!
Don't spray a full wet coat like you do with the base color. A light mist coat will do here.
Once you have a good formula (concentration of pearl) add just a bit more and do the outside edges (tips) of the flames.
Remove your masking and repeat on the white stripes. A more concentrated amount of pearl will probably be needed with the white.
Masking techniques are CRITICAL!
Don't skip the test panel. You're really going to want to know what it's going to look like.

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MY 69 (http://www.chevelles.com/cgi-bin/xchange/xchange.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=22&exact_match=on&photo_size=full)
My 65 (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/JPs65frt.jpg)

JIMMY, you are OH SO RIGHT. I meant to go back and add doing a "let down" panel so see how it would look. You are VERY right, practice, practice, practice. Thanks to setting me straight. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"