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Modeling Flame for Flame Throwers

I have been asked to give a detailed step by step description of how I have modeled flame for Flame Throwers. I got the idea after watching color footage of World War II flame throwers in action. The first thing I noticed is that the flame comes out white, turns yellow, then orange as it goes down range. The black smoke only comes in view after the flame has contacted an object. With this in mind, I did an experiment purely to fill in some time while waiting for a model to dry here and there.

The items I used:

White wire

Cotton balls

Superglue

Yellow acrylic paint

Red acrylic paint, to mix with yellow and make the orange.

Black acrylic paint

Clear Gloss acrylic

Step one

I started with a white wire to give it some support, the diameter will depend on the size of the nozzle dispensing the flame. It has to fit inside the nozzle when done. You can always cut the wire shorter so start with some extra for the distance you want. Remember that these are Burst weapons. So long sprays from a man portable would look strange.
I attempt to make it look as if it had just started to fire.

Step two

Spread a cotton ball by gently pulling it apart, I try to keep it somewhat round in shape. Stick the wire through the center. Apply superglue to where you want the flame to start.
Push the cotton ball down over the spot and gently push it to contact the glue. After the glue takes hold you can stretch the cotton ball away from the nozzle end. This starts the flaring out of the flame.
Keep stretching out cotton balls and place them in line until you get the length you want. Cut the wire short and pull the last cotton ball over the end of the wire to hide it.

Step three

Airbrush the cotton with the yellow. I airbrush the yellow at a father distance than normal, about 6-12 inches. This allows a misting effect. I keep this up until I still have the white at the nozzle, blended into the rest, which at this point is almost all yellow. Some white cotton can still be seen through the yellow, this is the effect of the misting.

Next I add a small amount of red to the yellow and blend it on to the end of the yellow. If it looks to orange don’t worry. I apply one more misting of yellow to tone it down.

Last I add just a touch of black to represent smoke. I know that I said that the film that I watched didn’t produce smoke until it hit something. To me it just looks better and gives it depth with the hint of smoke. The last thing I did was to spray the entire flame with clear gloss acrylic.

Summation

The steps I took and the paints and material used are probably not the only things you can use to get this effect. They are just what I used. Weather enamels or other paints would work, I can not say.
Would plastic rod work instead of wire, probably. With wire you can always reshape it, if it gets bent. It is up to what you want to try, and if this gives you ideas, go for it.