Bellmeister General Posted November 24, 2003 Report Share Posted November 24, 2003 I've just aquirred a killer usa made strat shape bc rich...... only problem is, being from late 80s, its art deco/crap paint graphic looks horrid, almost embarrasing. Anyways i'm looking at stripping it and refinishing it, was gonna go just black but if one of yall could tell me how, Id love some blue or green ghost flames. Anybody know how?? thx Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted November 24, 2003 Report Share Posted November 24, 2003 Ghost flames are a pretty simple concept - on a dark background, shoot flames in a reflective color, like flake, pearl or metallic, then shoot the whole thing with a transparent color like a kandy and clear coat as usual. In practice, it ain't quite as easy as it sounds - if I understand what you're looking for, I'd probably use a black background, put down a couple of coats of intercoat clear, shoot the flames in white or silver pearl, more intercoat clear, spray several coats of dark candy blue, green or teal (your choice) until you get the color you're looking for, then topcoat clear, cure and polish. Of course, prepping the surface before you shoot anything is paramount, so read the tutorials. And keep in mind, before you repaint that "horrid" graphic, that you're pretty much gonna lose the collector value of an original USA BC Rich - now that D&H own BC Rich, "real" ones are likely to go up in value, especially if it's an uncommon graphic. You might want to let somebody qualified take a look before you ruin a potential "classic". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butnut Posted November 24, 2003 Report Share Posted November 24, 2003 Ghost flames are kool. True ghost flames don't appear unless light hits 'em. They look good on black, but I've see 'dark' ghosts on white too. The House of Kolor has the best 'pearls' I've used. The frosty pearls look 'white'...even the colors like green red etc. This is what is shot on cars when you want a color change in light...invisible in clear. I use their Azrek Gold pearl which looks like a dark gold pearl...this will give a heavy pearl color without light, but still transparant depending on how heavy you shoot. I'm sure they have it on other colors which is what I would use for ghost flames. You'll need to test the amount of pearl powder you mix in your clear...always a guess. 1/2 of my pinky finger nail of powder (on a popsicle stick) is usually enough for my paint cup...much less if using an airbrush, you gotta experiment to get the right amount of color mixed in with the clear. I higly recommnend the 3M blue plastic fine line tape for masking and making your design. The 3M green tape is good for masking large areas on fresh paint. lovekraft covered all the other bases, yeah, I'd check to see you don't have a prized original...I only repaint repop or Squire Fender bodies. Good luck. Flame tape off with 3M tapes and paper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsera Posted November 25, 2003 Report Share Posted November 25, 2003 could you guys post a pic of this so I can have a look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted November 26, 2003 Report Share Posted November 26, 2003 Here are some examples of ghost flames: And finally, here's Jackson's take on it: BG, sure would like to get a look at that Gunslinger before you start work on it. Butnut, Are you using HOK for everything, or are you clearcoating with something else? I've had 2042 (PPG) recommended to me, the guys say it flows out better and doen't drip/sag as easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted November 26, 2003 Report Share Posted November 26, 2003 Theoretically you could do them freehand with an airbrush, although it might be easier to do it the other way. My office wasn't done by taping off anything and it was a total pain in the arse: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted November 26, 2003 Report Share Posted November 26, 2003 Damn! I wanna go play at G. Edward's house!! Puh-leez, huh, huh,can I?!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butnut Posted November 26, 2003 Report Share Posted November 26, 2003 Nice pics lovekraft. Good examples. You'll need to use tape to get that crisp edge and heavier build of pearl there. Freehand airbrushing will look too fuzzy. I use the HOK pearls and PPG clears, lacquer for flakes and poly for the pearl. The HOK stuff is real pricey, I bought everything from primer to clears for my PUCH moped...going on 5 years to complete it. The PPG poly is a fast cure but anything shot too heavy will run, thats why I shoot the bodies flat, when I hung 'em, I would get a run. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsera Posted November 26, 2003 Report Share Posted November 26, 2003 thanks guys for the pics,very nice work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 Damn! I wanna go play at G. Edward's house!! Puh-leez, huh, huh,can I?!! My wife and I were thinking of moving to Harrisburg, PA (her hometown) for a little while. I hat to tell her that I was NOT going to paint another office like this. the walls took about 24 hours to finish. The doors are on their third coat and still neet to be painted again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weezerboy Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 does anyone know where i can get a flame template...or stencil.so i can draw the flames how they're meant to be? thnaks dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butnut Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 I prefer to freehand layout using the 1/8" 3M blue tape, but HOK sells airbrush templates, I've never used 'em but I've seen them at the shop, they look like a good scale size for guitar bodies. I would think they work by just using an airbrush and shoot heavy at the edge and let the middle ghost. FLAME TEMPLATES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weezerboy Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 thanks butnut..after looking at your pics i was sorely tempted...but then i saw a guitar with a tattoo so i'm in 3 places at the moment... should i get blue and black ghost flames or the tattoo on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butnut Posted November 27, 2003 Report Share Posted November 27, 2003 Can I see the tat? And any info on it...if it's a water rub on thing...kinda doubtful, may have better luck with a real decal, but those can react under clear too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.