How to Airbrush Flames

Posted on June 3rd, 2009 by Marck

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For hot rods and fast trucks, flame artwork can add a sense of speed and power. Airbrushed flames are quite tricky to make, and fiery-looking airbrush jobs are considered works of art by many customization aficionados. Here are the steps you need to give your car or truck that airbrushed flame job that you always wanted.

Tools

Here are the tools you need for an airbrush flame paint job:

Airbrush
Air compressor
Fine-grade sandpaper
Airbrushing paint
French curves (rigid plastic ones are best, but you can also use ones made of cardboard or paper)
Clear coat

Steps

Prepare the surface by very lightly sanding a wet car panel. The trick is to give the car the needed amount of scratches for the airbrushing paint to hold.
Attach the compressor to the airbrush, and load the kit with the base paint color for the airbrushed flames. It’s best to use a very clear paint color. While you can use stencils, you’ll come away with a better paint job if you do all your preparatory brush strokes in freehand.
Go over the clear paint with a darker, more opaque paint color. Follow the outlines for now. Make sure to stay within the outline of the first paint color.
Highlight the flame with a lighter shade (if your base is red, for example, highlight with orange). A French curve is quite useful for those flicker strokes.
For accents, alternate between darker colors (like blue) and lighter colors (like yellow). Use the sweeps of the French curve to make realistic-looking flickers.
Go over the flicker effects with a lighter color (like a very light yellow), but make sure to adjust the airbrush to make thin lines. The other colors on the base of the pattern should still be visible.
Go over the finished flame job with clear coat.

It takes a lot of practice and skill to make freehand airbrushed flames, but with enough patience you can make the perfect airbrushed flames to give your car a unique look.