2001 Chevy Silverado - Project Intimidator

Up until now, the flames looked like a bunch of swoopy lines crossing each other. Tape was cut out where one flame was supposed to cross another, which was in order to give each lick a more identifiable shape. Tom then laid out the flames on the tonneau, too. This wasn't part of the original concept, but flames served as a good way to break up the tonneau's monotonous expanse.

Next came more taping and papering in preparation for shooting the silver paint for the flames. Light sanding with 800-grit paper evened out the imperfections on the surface to be painted. Blasts of compressed air and a good wipe down with a tack rag cleaned it up.

The Silver basecoat was shaken for about a minute and then applied to the truck, tonneau, and SS vents on the bumper cover. This routine was repeated for the next couple layers of color-Silver mixed with Black Crystal, then Silver and White. The Silver basecoat was thinned before it was applied as a 2 to 1 ratio. The Silver and White were thinned 1 to 1. Then a quick layer of mid-coat clear was applied to protect the graphics from the taping that was to come later.

Tape was removed (shown here on the truck) to expose the silvery flames (illustrated with the tonneau photo). This was only part of the color that would go into the flame graphic.