1st time flames, masking residue help

Hi, i have just masked up and attempted to lay down my first set of flames, I rubbed the guard back with 1000 grit wet before masking, I then mixed in a fine dark blue flake into the clear and applied 2 light coats, I then applied two coats of straight clear. (I am using 1 stage acrylic)
when i removed the masking tape and fine line blue tape i discovered that the thinners has melted the glue on the tape and left lots of residue behind,I made a point in buying the correct tape from the paint supplier, i have tried wax and grease remover and the lines left from the tape disappear when the wax and grease is still wet, but return once i wipe it dry, also would like to know the best way to remove the hard edge left behind from the fine line blue tape.
any help will be greatly appreciated.
thanks Brett
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...lamejob005.jpg

What do you mean "rubbed the guard back"? That's a term I'm not familiar with. Do you mean you sanded off the gloss?:confused:

Hmmmm... Not sure why a residue was left under the tape. Are you sure it's a residue, or did the paint solvent attack the existing paint under the tape? You said you are using single-stage acrylic. Acrylic what? Acrylic enamel, acrylic urethane, or acrylic lacquer? Is the paint you are using on the flames the same type and brand used on the base color?:HMMM:

The hard edge is paint build-up. Your flames are 4 coats thick which could be anywhere from .006 to .020 inch thick. This would happen no matter what type of paint you are using. The only way to get rid of the edge is to bury it under a clearcoat, that is, clear the entire panel. That may also get rid of the residue/ solvent marks.

Below is a pic of the last flame job I did a few years ago. It was DuPont Chromabase acrylic urethane basecoat/ clearcoat. I sprayed the black first, then did the flames, then clearcoated the whole truck...

As JR sez, any masked paint job will leave a ridge. I sometimes pinstripe over the ridge with blue, or just leave it.

I'm confused. Are you saying that the "melted glue" is an actual residue now bonded to the original paint, or are you wondering about the "step" between the original color and your new flames? You mention laying down two coats for the flames, then adding two more coats of clear only to the flames which made the step bigger once the masking is removed.

thanks for the replies, I have decided that flakes are too much effort for a beginner, although they turned out not too bad for a first timer, i am just going to strip back and repaint to body color and concentrate on getting my car back on the road, I will save my dollars and have the flames painted by someone who knows what they are doing sometime in the future.
cheers Brett

Don't give up now. You were off to a good start. Put a coat of clear over the whole thing and see how it looks.:HMMM:

Although nice flames are not the easiest thing to paint, they are fun to do. It takes a lot of practice to really achieve nice proportional flames, but they give the painter lots of freedom for expression. There are several different styles of flames; seaweed, crabclaw, celtic, and real fire. Some painters use combinations of the different styles to achieve even greater originality. If you pay someone else to do them they may look nice, but you won't have the satisfaction of having done them yourself.:cool: Also, custom paint work is VERY expensive.:eek: Learn to do them yourself and you will save a pile of money. You may even get hired to paint some more for your friends and/ or acquaintances and earn some extra cash to spend on your ride...

My first flame job was on my dad's Craftsman riding lawn mower when I was 14.:rolleyes: After that I painted skate boards, bicycle fenders, and just about anything that would hold still long enough. By the time I was 16 I had progressed from spray cans to spray guns and an airbrush. Now, at almost 63, I can't count all the flame jobs I have painted over the years; some were just for fun, but some paid very well...:D

Thanks, I think i need a bit more practice lol.
I guess thats all part of the learning cycle. I am going to see if i can save what i have done by adding a few more over the top. I have just spent a few hours on youtube checking out how the pro's do it, so at least now i have gathered a few ideas, so i thought i would give some of them a try before i attack what i have already done with the grinder. :)
the blue flake doesnt show up much in the pics, probably not everyones cup of tea , but i guess every one has to start somewhere, I am going to try adding a few more to it and maybe even chuck in a bit of red flake that i have laying around, at least if i can't fix them i can always resort to rubbing them off and starting all over again.
cheers barnsey.
suppose i had better stop hiding my handy work and show you what the first attempt turned out like. no offence will be taken for constructive criticism, :)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...cleared002.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...cleared008.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...cleared004.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...cleared007.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...lamejob002.jpg

Nice colors...:cool::D

Well, it helps to watch the pros sometimes. If they've been at it for a while, they will have learned some short-cuts or labor-saving tricks. Meanwhile, you will develop your own style. I am basically self-taught (I learned to paint back in the days of acrylic lacquer), but have adopted some hints and tricks along the way from more experienced painters. There are at least two guys on this forum that can give you good advice, Spraytech and Hotrodpaint. Both of them make their livings painting and their knowledge is more up-to-date than mine.;)

Anyway, keep painting and have fun with it. The good thing about doing it yourself is if you don't like something or get tired of it, you can always sand or strip it off and do something else. If you pay thousands of dollars for custom paint, you'll be reluctant to even use it, let alone change it. Since I was old enough to drive I have owned over 40 vehicles; of those, about 12 were new enough they didn't need refurbishment. The other 30 or so all got painted at some point - by me.:rolleyes:

Barnsey
I think the flames you got going look good. Keep going. After everything is together I think you will be suprised on how good it looks. If you unhappy with the results then I would look to reflaming it.
Andy

Does your wife know you have her rug in the garage? ;)

lol........... old rug , and its on the floor in the back room of the house he he, was too hot out in the shed, was much cooler wet sanding in an airconditonrd room.
its great living on my own too, don't have to answer to anyone, but it would be nice having someone to cook and clean one day lol

if your worried about the little lines around the flames, (which aren't that bad especially for you first time) why don't you try your hand at pin striping?

yep, thats my next adventure, just bought some mac brushes off ebay, waiting for them to arrive, then i will have a go at striping, I have also remasked the flames then painted them silver and then put a heavier coat of the blue metalic over silver, havn't cleared anything as yet, its been 45 deg C here all week so its been too hot to be out in a steel shed.
barnsey

this is what they turned out like this time, still need to wax and grease then pin stripe and clear, will see what they look like then and make a descision lol
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...etwolol006.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...etwolol005.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...etwolol005.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...etwolol004.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...etwolol003.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...etwolol002.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...etwolol001.jpg

Move down to vic it hasnt been that hot for ages down here!

Ive been drawing flames since primary school (bout 10) havent painted a car yet- apart from primer and hi-fill 2pac.

Maybe practise on a scrap peice of steel sheet or a door skin/random panel form the wreckers if you dont want to keep doing the guard over and over again.

I prefere the silver you did second time round.IMO but i do have a sof spot for ghost flames.

Barnsey,
Unfortunately, I can't open the pictures. For some reason my anti-virus software has blocked Photobucket.:confused: Anyway, why don't you just post the photos directly on this site instead of making us link to them? I'd like to see how you've progressed.:3dSMILE:

I think they look great for a first timer painting flames. I have been thinking about doing the same thing on our golf cart. It is smaller than a car body and if is is not perfect... don't really care too much.

I actually predict having the same problems you are asking about and talked to our local English Color shop here. She..yes 'she', told me to color sand but to be careful to not sand though the paint. Then to put on many coats of a very good quality clear. She then showed me what she meant. They had a motorhome that had many different colors (with lines) and they were smooth as a baby's butt. She said it was mostly done in the clear coat stage of the job.

Don't give up. Just finish what you started. I painted the golf cart and the color sanding took three times as long as the original prep. But I am very pleased with the work. The key is the clear coat.