Flame Painting Tech - Dave Perewitz Lays Down the Fire

A nice even coat of PPG Deltron Indy Yellow which when combined with the white basecoat will act as the color for the flames to rise from.

Once the paint had dried, he went over everything gently with a tack cloth to remove any dust contaminants that might have settled onto the surface.

To bring the flames to life, Perewitz loaded his SATA Dekor 2000 air brush with PPG Deltron candy orange to begin shading in the flames and add plenty of depth to the formula.

With 2" masking tape, he proceeded to re-mask in the flame crossovers and carefully trim the fine details using an X-Acto knife. This is a very time consuming part of the job and requires plenty of patience to complete.

This image lets you see the completed re-masking, prepped and ready for additional shading and details to be applied.

To begin shading in the flame crossovers and tips, he switched up to his BearAir RichPen air brush using a combination of PPG Deltron candy orange, red, and purple to make the flames come alive.

Throughout the painting process, the workbench filled up with plenty of tools including (from left to right) a SATA pistol-grip air brush, various shading color bottles, caliper for measurement, X-Acto knife, masking papers and tape, and of course his trusty BearAir RichPen air brush.

Here you can begin to see the flow of the flames coming to life.

We caught Perewitz kneeling at the altar as he continued to let the creativity flow from his mind, through his air brush, and onto the body of the '33 hot rod.

Once the driver's side was finished, he worked his way across the hood and then onto the passenger's side on his way to completion.

Perewitz team member Jay Crone got busy the next morning by first clearing the body with three coats of PPG 2042 Deltron clear. Once the body was unmasked, he wet sanded the surface with 500-grit paper to ready it for Hanson to add his magic to the formula.

This close-up lets you see what it takes to wet sand the surface with 500-grit paper to even out the paint for a perfect glass-like feel.

Legendary custom painter Keith Hanson, of Hanson Custom Design, added the final grace to the flames by outlining them with a rich shade of red making them come alive.

The final product is nothing short of breathtaking and will without a doubt give the '33 hot rod its calling card letting everyone know that Perewitz is in town!

Check out just how cool the '33 has gotten thanks to the team at Perewitz Cycle Fabrication.