pictures instead of decals

[dirtjoedirt]

Hello all. Crunch time is getting near and in the interest of saving time I was thinking of printing out pictures of flames, then gluing and clear coating them instead of stenciling them on my sons truck. I am using krylons paint and clearcoat. I am not too worried about the flames not being 'automotive quality' but I would like it to look nice. Any thoughts on potential mishaps? Thanks in advance for any and all help.

[sporty]

Get the bumper sticker decal paper. then clear coat it and let dry and then cut or apply or both. it works okay. many wal-marts, staples usually carry it.

[dirtjoedirt]

Get the bumper sticker decal paper. then clear coat it and let dry and then cut or apply or both. it works okay. many wal-marts, staples usually carry it.

Thanks. Unfortunately I have already invested more in this car financially than I am comfortable as it is. Another 10.00 might in fact cause my wife to kill me. Will the results I get on just printing some flames get me good results? And do I need to spray clear coat on to the flames themselves before I cut them out them spray another clear coat on the car with the flames attached to get a fairly smooth look? Or can I just glue the flames on there and then clear coat the whole thing.How will the clear coat interact with the paper? Like I said, I want it to look nice but does not need to be show room quality.

[FatSebastian]

I have already invested more in this car financially than I am comfortable as it is.

You're not alone there!

How will the clear coat interact with the paper?

We have spray painted directly over paper and card stock before, but we have never tried to clear-coat an image. In our experience, paper is somewhat porous and it will soak up paint -- sometimes unevenly -- requiring a lot of very light, thin coats.

FWIW, some suggest using Pledge or Future floor polish to add a clear coat finish, but that can cause ink-jet artwork to bleed. I would be concerned that clear-coat paint might similarly react with an ink-jet image.

Will the results I get on just printing some flames get me good results? [...] Like I said, I want it to look nice but does not need to be show room quality.

I might suggest you try it on some scraps and see if it is the look you want. (And then report back so we can learn from your experience.)

[dirtjoedirt]

Thanks. I will test it out first and report back as well as the pictures from our overall process

[Speedster]

Here's a way to have some fun and your son will be very proud. You can accomplish it in a couple of hours and probably a whole lot less. Go to a paint store that services your local body shops and buy a roll of 1/16" of "Fine Line" tape. Lay out your own flames. Look at a picture of a flame to give you an idea. Your flames don't have to match the ones in the picture. Start at the tip of the flame, swerve it back and forth a bit as you move down, make the curve at the bottom, and travel up the other side. Break the tape. Now start at the top of where you broke the tape and make a tip of that flame, go down and make the curve and up the other side. That's the way flames are laid out. It isn't difficult. If it was hard I wouldn't do it. If you want to change something, simply pull the tape. You can run the flames down the side of the car if you want to. You can let your son hold the car or stick a piece of Double Face tape on the bottom of the car and stick it to something. Buy some cheap color at Walmart in those little craft bottles, the kind that cleans up with water. Get a couple of artist brushes with pointy ends for the real narrow spots. Your scout can paint them all red or part yellow, some red, and put blue tips on them. If he feels like it, he can paint them Purple. When he is finished he'll know they are his flames and no one else in the world has any like them. Don't try to make the flames match from left to right. That's not how a fire burns. There's no need to clear coat them. He'll love them just the way they are. For practice, lay out some flames on the kitchen table. Don't try to make them perfect. You're just doing it for practice. Your wife will love you for "flaming" her table. Whatever you do, DON'T PAINT the flames on the table.
Cheers
Speedster

[dirtjoedirt]

@speedster and every one else-Thanks! Not sure if I am going to do this last idea, my serve me better for next year. I guess I should have prefaced the topic with the fact that I am doing flames for an optimus prime and will be working with some very small areas for the flames around the fenders and the cab.

[Noskills]

Dirt, goto you tube and search prime flame stencil. (don't know how to post from you tube) . There is a nice tutorial there with Prime. You might be able to make your own stencil with layers of painters tape and wax paper. That's what I did in my threat on "painting experiment". If you already have the paint, tape and wax paper if will not cost you a dime.
If you end up clear coating a paper print let us know how it looks and tell us what type of clear coat you used- enamel vs lacquer.
Noskills

[dirtjoedirt]

Dirt, goto you tube and search prime flame stencil. (don't know how to post from you tube) . There is a nice tutorial there with Prime. You might be able to make your own stencil with layers of painters tape and wax paper. That's what I did in my threat on "painting experiment". If you already have the paint, tape and wax paper if will not cost you a dime.
If you end up clear coating a paper print let us know how it looks and tell us what type of clear coat you used- enamel vs lacquer.
Noskills

Its a year later but since it is time to start thinking about this years projeccts Im back on derby talk. I ended up using the standard method of tape to create my flame stencils. One key tip I did follow from some body was to paint the flame to match the underlying color before following with a coat of the new color to help prevent any paint runnoff.
I did however print a copy of the autobots symbol at kinkos and slapped it on the back followed by a coat of clear coat. The ink was fine and did not run at all. I used krylon paint primer and clear coat and you can see the results at http://www.derbytalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=6832" target="_blank

I also used some transparency sheets (I'm a teacher) and painted them black to make the windows.

[whodathunkit]

How will the clear coat interact with the paper?

We have spray painted directly over paper and card stock before, but we have never tried to clear-coat an image. In our experience, paper is somewhat porous and it will soak up paint -- sometimes unevenly -- requiring a lot of very light, thin coats.
I might suggest you try it on some scraps and see if it is the look you want. (And then report back so we can learn from your experience.)

dirtjoedirt,
I have tryed useing a photo cut out of Hot Rod Magazine for a decal,
useing super glue spred thin on the back side to stick it down and then clear coat over it.
Useing Krylon crystal clear paint.

Heres how it turned out:


It did soak threw some what.
With what everone is saying about the flames.
pinstriping tapes with flames look good also or look for the..
Ducktape brand tape has some cool looking flame tapes that could be cut out a stuck on as well.

[dirtjoedirt]

Thinking back, maybe I did not have a problem with the image running is because the the first coat of clear was pretty light and then I added the additional coats thicker at a later point so I guess the first coat could have protected the image? Still that is a sweet looking guitar