The Art of Painted Flames for Custom Die-Cast Cars

A few examples of painted flames. For a long time, I sold the vinyl masks used to make these flames. The market dried up, but I made enough to fund the hobby for a number of years.

I used a Silhouette brand cutter/plotter to make vinyl sheets. Then cut the sheets into smaller sections and sold about 16 masks for about 4$ each. The masks sold really well at Hot Wheels shows. Over the years, the tools available to customizers and diorama artists has increased, the fad of painting flames on Hot Wheels and other die cast cars just faded away. I don’t see many bothering with flames anymore.