No fear fades

BODY SHOP

* SECRETS FROM THE PAINT BOOTH

A "No Fear" poster hangs on a wall in my home studio; it shows a surfer blazing through the "pipe" as the wave closes in behind him. Beneath the photo is the simple caption, "Never let your fears stand In the way of your dreams."

What does this motivational message have to do with bodies? Actually, a lot; we all want to improve our painting skills, but if you repeatedly do the same thing, you'll always end up with the same results. To improve, you must cast aside your fears and self-doubts and try something new.

The technique that most people want to tackle first is the "fade"-combining several colors with a seamless transition between them. It's a lot easier to do than you might think, but only if you stay on top of the two most important elements: color choice and paint control. Let's look at color interaction; I'll explain how to select colors that work together every time. You'll also learn about the various types of fades. Yes, an airbrush is the easiest tool to use for fades, but I'll clue you in right now: this month's feature body was painted with spray cans. I'll show you how.

Fades offer yet another way to expand your arsenal of body-painting tricks and to truly personalize your paint jobs. It's another example of an effect that looks kinda tricky, but it isn't really. My goal every month is to share a new tip or technique or to introduce a product that will inspire you to try something different. If you like a paint job you see here and decide to copy it exactly as it appears, I'm genuinely flattered. If nothing else, I hope that "Body Shop" sparks an idea that makes your paint job outstanding. The next time you sit down with a body, follow the advice given on my poster. Remember: no fear! That's my pep talk this time around; now go paint something!

FADE TYPES

ADJOINING COLORS. The easiest way to begin is to choose two colors that are adjacent in the spectrum that naturally merge into each other. For example: red into orange, orange into yellow, yellow into green, green into blue and blue into purple. With these color choices, even poorly applied paints will seem to flow together naturally.

PRIMARY BLENDS. This color selection uses two primary colors, and, as we saw on the color wheel, a third transitional color forms when two primary colors are combined. The red-toyellow fade creates the classic red/orange/yellow "fire" spectrum; the red-to-blue fade creates a cool purple blend; and the yellow-to-blue fade has the classic "Ty-D-Bol" green transition.

SAME-COLOR SHIFTS. Another cool fade to experiment with is to combine varied shades of one color; for example, go from natural orange into fluorescent orange, candy red to natural red, navy blue to sky blue, and so on. But don't combine metallic shades with non-metallic shades. That usually dilutes the intensity of both colors and just doesn't look too good.

BLACK AND WHITE. You can blend any color with black and white, but you must use the black or white as the lead color. For example, if you've decided to paint a white nose, start by hitting the body's beak with a couple of quick shots of white (this breaks the rule that says you have to apply dark colors first). Do this because if you apply the white last, it will accentuate any stray overspray; if you wiped off the overspray before you applied the white, the white will make the wiped area more obvious. When you transition into the white with another color, be careful not to go too far into the white. Instead, spray on a light coat as a bridge into the area, and then add a little more white. To smooth the blend, repeat the process until you're satisfied with the transition.

Black is such a powerful color that it's tough to use it as a backing color in a fade; it powers through other paint layers and makes the colors look muddy. If you want to incorporate black into a fade job, make every effort to use it first.

CANDY STORE. The translucent properties of candy colors provide unique opportunities for body coloration. They can be blended into one another, and you can also get a really cool effect by fading from a candy color into silver. Silver used as the backing color gives the candy hue a metallic look, and a blend from a candy color into silver looks amazing.

New in the Shop

PARMA X20 touring car body

The touring shell pictured in our "Fresh Paint" sidebar is perfect for the TC racer who wants a new look. The Parma X20 sedan is molded in 0.030 Lexan, is ROAR-legal, and it has classic, Euro-look, beautifully molded lines. The wing has a cool multilevel design and large side dams; according to Parma, the body has perfect balanced aerodynamics. It comes with vinyl window masks and precut full-color decals and is available for nitro and electric vehicles.

Item nos.-10124/10114,190mm/200mm; $24.99. CONTACT THE BODY SHOP

Send you "Body Shop" questions and comments to Bob Hastings, bobh@airage.com.

PACTRA (800) 837-8677; PARMA (440) 237-8654; TRINITY (732) 635-1600; testors.com. parmapse.com. teamtrinity.com