? about flame images on rockets

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LaunchPad

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I got a model rocket kit and want to custom paint and decal/sticker it different then what is suggested in the instructions.
What I envision are putting flames that would run all along the body tube from bottom to top in a thin stream.
My first choice would be to put on a sticker or decal. However I hesitate with a decal because I plan to apply a spray on glitter paint and am not sure if a rub on decal would adhere to it since the surface is not as smooth as regular paint.
Do you think a rub on decal would work in this case?
Does anyone know of available and various flame stickers or any suggestions of how to paint on flames if I would need to do that instead?
Any thoughts and replies on this are appreciated.
 
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I have put flames on several rockets, and there are several ways to go about it.

Your concerns about putting a decal on glitter paint are probably spot on. To me it doesn't seem like it would work but I never tried it. It never hurts to experiment though!

For model rockets what I have done is draw up the flame pattern to whatever style/shape I need using Adobe Illustrator software. Then I use the art file to cut frisket film on my Silhouette Cameo. I use the frisket film as a painting mask to mask the body color and paint the flames on, or in some cases, to mask the flame color and paint the body color on. Back before I got the Cameo I used to just print the pattern on paper and transfer it to frisket to cut out with an exacto blade.

I still have a few sheets of frisket film that have flame patterns cut on them. What diameter is your rocket and how long do you want the flames?

Another techniqie is to use masking tape. If you have really thin masking tape that can hold sharp corners you can use it to outline your edge and then mask off the rest. This works better for larger diameter rockets though since the curves are so tight.

Also, you could just cover your rocket with good masking tape, draw the flame pattern you want on the tape, then carefully cut the pattern with an exacto knife. Use a sharp blade and cut only the tape, not the rocket under it. Practice this on some scrap.

Another option is to have Sticker Shock (www.stickershock23.com) make you some custom stickers.
 
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I took a sheet of glass and covered it with painters tape with enough length, and with the width equal to the diameter of the rocket, then I drew a flame pattern on it. I used a knife to cut the flame into a stencil and peeled the stencil (non-flame portion) and placed it on the rocket. I then painted the rocket with white, yellow, orange, and red to grade the flame color from nose cone to almost the fins. It wasn't the prettiest, but it worked fine.

Sorry, I don't have a better pic at the moment.
View attachment 255928
 
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I went REALLY low-tech with mine. I just took strips of masking tape and ran them down the rocket, overlapping each other until I'd covered the area that I wanted to paint. Then I drew the flame pattern freehand, and used a sharp Exacto knife to cut away the pattern. Just be sure to only cut deep enough to cut the tape, not the body tube. Mine was an LOC tube, so it was thicker than normal. I wasn't unhappy with the result.

MourningWouldatNARAM43.jpg
 
come spring I'm getting my airbrush stuff out and gonna do some "true flames" when I get the rocket done. It'll be black with blue flames
 
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