PAINT, Tech post on laying out flames/masking

[Tuck]

Every painter has there own method of masking... mine has developed from useing masking tape, to gerber mask, to a liquid mask... back to good old masking tape

all in the name of "QUALITY"

its all about the line and how it flows, and how to keep the paint from flowing beyond that line. (BLEED THRU)

Here is my method, right or wrong its the highest quality method I've ever used.

You start out with blue fine line by 3M 1/8" tape b/c its easy to form to the curves. Some people like crape tape, there are many other options but with this method blue fine line works great.

so say your going to flame your traditional fat tire chopper that you ordered parts for from Jesse

First thing I do is adapt my buck to fit the bike parts to hold them secure.

This is KEY.
anybody tried to wetsand a bike tank in your lap? you get the picture

Plus when it comes time to BUFF the bike your buddy isnt holding it down on the table wearing a face mask to keep the compound out of his eyes...

I'm going to SKIP the bodyworking part of this... lets just say that the bike was bare metal... etched, tank sealed and primed then skim coated, primed with surfacer and painted tripple black. Then wetsanded with 600 WET...

as it sits the clear is wet sanded. I'll get into some products later down the line so hold on.

Now we begin the magic

I play with the tape, usually go thru a few rolls with different layouts...

The layout is the most important thing... expensive paint will only amplify crooked lines and a bad design!!

try and tie it all together like a theme...

I do the layout in 1/8" blue fine line as mentioned above. I make sure that its as symetrical as possible and that the lines are as smooth and flowing as the flames... no STRAIGHT LINES here or there...

So heres the first pic.

After you do the layout in blue fineline you cover it in 2" masking tape so that its flat and smooth as possible. You will see the blue tape thru the masking tape.