HOT ROD TV: true Fire Part 2
In Part 2 we go through the pre-visualization process with the teams graphic designer as well as the vehicle prep process needed to get the vehicle ready for its new fiery look. We also take a look at some of the bigger jobs Mike has had in the past – from helicopters to speed boats…
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MotorTranscript
00:00 We're back with a whole lot more Hot Rod TV.
00:09 We're also fired up to the extreme here with flame painting genius, Mike LaValle.
00:16 Welcome to Killer Paint.
00:17 Nice car.
00:18 The ride about to take Mike's heat, this '49 Merc.
00:22 The fire's going to work great on this thing.
00:24 I think we're going to knock it out of the park.
00:27 In Canada it's a little cool, so we like to heat things up a bit by putting some flames
00:31 on it.
00:32 I got just the thing for it right here.
00:33 Come on in, let's take a look.
00:36 Before Mike begins painting, he takes photos of the car and using a computer, previews
00:40 how he plans to lay out and shape the flames.
00:43 We start off by taking a photograph of Terry's car outside and then we are going to open
00:49 up the picture of the Merc that Mike's already done and we're going to cut and paste and
00:53 superimpose some of the fire that we did before just so we can get a feel of what it's going
00:57 to look like and kind of preview it for him.
00:59 This preview allows the car's owners to see exactly what they're going to get.
01:04 And that's how it's going to look when it gets all done and then we are going to take
01:08 a Canadian leaf and then we're going to put it inside of some fire.
01:16 That'll warm up Canada.
01:17 Yeah, that'll warm it up a little bit.
01:20 Next LaValle is going to let his prep crew get their hands all over this entire job because
01:25 Mike can't begin to spark up his airbrush until his team makes this '49 Mercury ready
01:30 for the big flame job.
01:32 Let the fun begin.
01:35 Today we are going to be taking apart this car.
01:38 We're going to wax and grease it, get all the wax off, pull the bumpers off, sand it,
01:48 mask it and put it in the booth for Mike to shoot.
01:51 Robert Peffley is one of the key cut-ups here on the team at Mike LaValle's Killer Paints,
01:56 always ready to keep things lively.
01:59 Painter, repair, disassembly, assembly, destruction, polishing, body work, psychologist and devil
02:10 music listener.
02:16 The team proceeds to get the Merc ready for Mike, a one of a kind artist who is going
02:20 to take this classic from fairly amazing to totally blazing.
02:24 It's Mike's method that gives the True Fire flames their three-dimensional and ultra-realistic
02:28 quality.
02:29 He paints flames that look so real they cause trouble.
02:33 One of the famous stories about True Fire has got to be the helicopter incident.
02:37 After Mike did Don's lightning here, I had him do a helicopter for me.
02:42 I painted his helicopter, he's got an R44 Robinson helicopter, black.
02:47 Cleaned it out, had the mouth of it kind of look like an old Tiger plane.
02:51 The mouth looked like the mouth was open fire, ripping out the face.
02:54 On the very back, where the exhaust port is, we put a skull back there.
02:59 It kind of looked like a Terminator skull.
03:01 We have a restaurant in Tacoma.
03:02 I flew down there on a Sunday afternoon.
03:05 It was this parking lot across the street.
03:08 It was vacant.
03:09 So landed, went in, ordered our pizza.
03:13 About 20 minutes later, we heard sirens.
03:16 Everybody sees a cruiser pull up, and another cruiser, and a fire truck, and an ambulance,
03:20 and a nut.
03:21 It was like 14 or 15 emergency vehicles that showed up.
03:25 They all pulled into the lot, surrounded the helicopter, and I walked out, and they said,
03:29 "Well, we got a report that a helicopter crashed here."
03:32 I said, "No, I just landed to get some lunch."
03:35 Some guy saw the helicopter coming down, turned into the sun.
03:38 Whoever reported it thought that this helicopter was coming down on fire.
03:43 He saw the skull on the back, and I guess he had been drinking a little bit.
03:46 He says, "I think it's been lodged."
03:49 That's the realism that Mike and his team will be putting down on this cruiser.
03:52 But before the ride can burn, the team at Killer Paint must prep the surface.
03:58 It's not easy watching the beautiful finish on this car get scuffed up, but it's necessary
04:03 to get the paint from Mike's airbrush to stick.
04:06 We'll be hitting it with an abrasive 800 grit, and then we'll go back around the edges and
04:11 scuff it with a scuff pad until we get proper adhesion.
04:17 It's all scratched up.
04:25 Before his paint can begin to set sail, Mike LaValle has one very important job in front
04:30 of him.
04:31 He's got to mix his colors.
04:32 This is basically the layout that we came out with for the car.
04:36 I mean, it'll vary a little bit from there, but it's a rough guide.
04:40 So I'm going to need to mix up my colors, and there's probably, I don't know, six or
04:44 seven colors total for this whole True Fire paint job.
04:48 Bam, look at that.
04:49 To do my fire on the Merc, I'm going to need basically two spray guns.
04:54 I'm going to need my airbrush with the larger cup, and my mini jet spray gun.
05:00 This handles the big candy coats and the larger areas of paint.
05:05 Peff and his crew are finishing up the prep work, and Mike has mixed his colors.
05:08 He's ready to begin slinging paint.
05:11 Once the paint booth doors close, only Mike and his crew are allowed inside during painting.
05:16 The owners will have to just wait until the Merc's unveiled.
05:20 Fortunately, Mike works very fast.
05:22 It won't take long to see this Cruiser transform from deep purple to red hot.
05:26 He's fast.
05:27 He gets it done clean.
05:28 He does amazing things.
05:30 When you look at the car, you see the body lines, you see the flames moving the same
05:34 way.
05:35 It's an illusion of being real.
05:41 And being real is what True Fire is all about.
05:45 Stick around to see things really heat up when we return on Hot Rod TV.
05:49 Keep the faith.
05:50 I have done this before.
05:52 I've done it before.
05:53 I've done it before.
05:54 I've done it before.
05:55 I've done it before.
05:55 (upbeat music)