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Grill slot blackouts


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I am working on a ‘41 Chevy pickup. The grill has wide shallow indentations that represent the open slots. What black paint would look better, flat or semi-gloss? Actually opening them up is too difficult and would destroy the chrome. I think the SG might give the illusion of more depth.

F12D8E68-18DE-4DCF-8990-7F64411DDC38.jpeg

Edited by NOBLNG
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I use any Black Acrylic paint and thin it with Golden Airbrush Medium . Once I get the effect I want I let dry for about 30 minutes. Next I gently remove any paint that winds up on the grille bars with a tooth pick. It is a lot easier to remove it dry than wet.

Good luck

Mike 

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All of the prior suggestions will work and sometimes combining some of them also. I use Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color for the most part. In addition to Black they offer other colors also. A thought on the Grill you're working on now has a large area between the Grill Bars. Something I have noticed is that most any paint doesn't want to cover the kit chrome very well. Some times just a couple of passes with a #11 blade will create a grove in the area you're wanting to paint Black. Just about any thinned out paint has a hard time covering the chrome surface so you may have to apply more than one coat.   

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Thank you All for the suggestions. I think I will try the gloss black. I don't believe the panel line accent would work well here because the slot is very wide and the accent very thin. Stripping it and using a Molotow pen or silver sharpie will be a last resort if I screw it up. I am going to try to mask the bars with some 1mm tape I just bought and spray it. I have some self-etching primer that I may decant a bit and give it a mist coat to help adhesion to the chrome. Wish me luck!

Greg.

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That looks GREAT Gerry! If I screw up the paint I think I will try that instead of painting the whole thing black and then trying to do the reverse of painting the slots. Did you strip the bumper and headlight bezels also, or is that the kit chrome still?  Do you have a thread on that truck somewhere?

Edited by NOBLNG
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I would never think of using glossy black paint.  Gloss (like a mirror) reflect light.  Flat black is what I use to simulate grille openings. Flat black absorbs (not reflects) light, so the black area looks liek a hole.  Flat Black Hole! :D

Edited by peteski
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6 hours ago, Mike 1017 said:

I use any Black Acrylic paint and thin it with Golden Airbrush Medium . Once I get the effect I want I let dry for about 30 minutes. Next I gently remove any paint that winds up on the grille bars with a tooth pick. It is a lot easier to remove it dry than wet.

Good luck

Mike 

I use the exact technique using acrylic craft paint thinned with regular old tap water.

It has worked very well for me for in excess of 35 years.

 

 

Steve

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1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

That looks GREAT Gerry! If I screw up the paint I think I will try that instead of painting the whole thing black and then trying to do the reverse of painting the slots. Did you strip the bumper and headlight bezels also, or is that the kit chrome still?  Do you have a thread on that truck somewhere?

There's really no need to strip the chrome to open up a grille like this.

A deep grooved grille like this one is relatively simple to grind away at the back of the grille with a variable speed Dremel tool fitted with a reamer bit.

Just keep carefully grinding until the slots are close to opening up, and then if you're unsure of your Dremel skills, you can finish with sand paper.

The chrome on the front of the grille will remain intact.

 

On this particular grill, you would need to leave a little material at the bottom for strength purposes because there is no border around the base of the grille.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

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I usually use acrylic artist paint, Liquitex to be more exact. And I make almost a wash out of it thinned with a combo of there airbrush medium and some thinner I make up for acrylic paints. Liquitex sticks well to plastic and chrome is why. But I've also used craft paint made into a wash as well, in fact the most recent build of a 39 Ford I used that on it ( licorice black). Looks good, don't know how it will hold up compared to the artist paint though.

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Well I took the easy way out. This is Tamiya acrylic flat black free handed and cleaned up with some nice tapered cotton swabs that I got at a local electronics supplier. It needs at least another coat, and I may try semi gloss?:unsure:

IMG_9765.JPG

Edited by NOBLNG
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1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

Well I took the easy way out. This is Tamiya acrylic flat black free handed and cleaned up with some nice tapered cotton swabs that I got at a local electronics supplier. It needs at least another coat, and I may try semi gloss?:unsure:

Looks great the way it is.

I wouldn't change a thing.

 

 

 

Steve

Edited by StevenGuthmiller
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Like Steve, I made a wash but I used black “chalkboard” craft paint and water.  Usually I need two coats over chrome, but it seems to work great with one coat for weathering a motor, chassis or suspension parts.  Really brings out detail next to a gloss finish like steel wheels for depth and definition.

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