Expedition to Vault 81, and all the friends I made along the way.

From the first time I heard about the new FLAME line of paint, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some to try it out.  Having used Molotow Premium exclusively for the last 4 years, I must say that my standards and expectations were quite high going into it.

    As a first impression, the silver cans have a high-quality, classy look with a nice large color ring (making it easy to spot the color you are looking for).  From the very first lines I made to put up my sketch, one of the first things I noticed was the valve system… pushing down the cap was so smooth and easy a baby could do it!  The benefits of an easy valve system are obvious… precise can control and less fatigue after hours of painting.

It’s no secret that green is one of my favorite colors, so I decided to use a range of greens as the basis of my fill.  As far as caps are concerned,  I am a creature of habit and continue to stick to what has worked for me for years… NY fat and NY outline caps.  I was able to fill the entire piece surprisingly fast.  The paint covered solid in one shot and blended easily with the next color in my fade all the way up to white at the top.  

     Outlining is my favorite stage of the piecing process, (and probably the stage that gives many beginning writers the most anxiety!) and this is where the valve system really shined.  Even when the can was totally full, it had that “last-quarter can” low pressure control right from the start.  The lines were sharp (despite painting with a strong tunnel cross-wind), and required no cleaning up.  Despite Flame Blue being a low-pressure can, I was able to achieve very wide and even output for my background blends, which makes it a very versatile can.  Being able to work both large areas quickly, and small areas with precision with the same can is a huge plus.

Overall, my high expectations were met (if not exceeded) during my initial trial of this line.  The most noticeable strengths are:

*Effortless valve system = increased can control and less fatigue *Matte finish paint covers quickly & smoothly in one shot *Vibrant colors *Precise low-pressure control for details (while still able to smoothly fill large areas quickly) *Low odor *The cans look cool !

     I look forward to using FLAME more extensively, and am especially interested in seeing how the black outlines chrome…the true test!!!