The Process of practicing some custom paintwork on my own lawnmower

 

STEP 1:

 Okay, I'll try to keep it short, here goes:

The tractor is a "Mastercut," which is one of those cheap ole bargain tractors, but we've had it for years now and the paint was peeling off--mainly on the hood.  The color was originally this same red, but in order to paint flames on the hood, I had to sand the old paint, make a few minor dent repairs and primer some bare metal spots.  Then I went to Wal-Mart and picked up two 11 ounce cans of the perfect matching red paint by Dupli-Color and then sprayed the hood so it would be a good surface to paint on.  This surface had to be sanded with a maximum grit of 320 and I usually use 400 or finer.  This picture leaves off from there:

Using 1/8'' blue fine line tape, I laid out the flames with just a plan in my head...

STEP 2:

Then, I used 2'' masking tape and laid it on the hood strip by strip and after laying down one strip, I used a X-Acto knife to cut out the tape that was over where the flames needed to be painted on top of the fine line tape that I previously put down...

STEP 3:

The tractor hood ready for and painting...

 

STEP 4:

The base for the flames--yellow that I sprayed on the whole hood with an 11 oz. spray bomb, also by Dupli-Color...

 

STEP 5:

The flames tipped in orange.  This is the first time I used an airbrush, and I'm looking to get a nicer one to practice with.

STEP 6:

 Got a few runs on the sides, but hey, its only a tractor, and I was only about 15!  Now, check it out actually ON the tractor:

Final Product: