How To Get Oxidized Black Paint Finish?

[gjorenby]

Looking to achieve and old faded/oxidized black paint finish on a car.  Not flat black, but less the semi gloss.  Like its been in the sun since 1966 and never waxed.  Any suggestions?

[Fat Brian]

I would do black on the whole thing then shoot the sun faded areas with either a less black black or black cut with just a touch of gray. Then satin clear everything and finally hit the most faded areas with flat clear. It will be much easier with an air brush but can be done with cans if you find the correct blacks.

[Bernard Kron]

I've done several paint jobs going for this effect. Here is the most recent one, which I completed about a year ago. The base paint is red oxide primer followed by grey primer and finally color coats of cheap gloss black lacquer paint (Brite Touch Gloss Black I got at O-Reilly's auto parts). The cheap paint has a very light orange peel to it that provides some "tooth" for the subsequent weathering powders. The grey primer layer allows for of the faded paint effect, and the red oxide represents lightly rusted edges. Once the paint was applied and allowed to cure I wet sanded it with 1000 grit which smoothed it out and then selectively burned through to the grey or red oxide where it would have worn or faded on a real 1:1. Finally I lightly applied light grey (for dirt and dust) or rust colored weathering powders. Nost of the weathering powders were wiped away leaving only light residues. I suspect I could have done pretty much the same thing without them. The trick is to be restrained about the effect throughout the process. That way the paint looks relatively intact and the wear, dirt and light surface rust more closely approximate an o;d. 60 year old paint job. The first 3 photos are outdoor daylight shots so they are quite objective in representing the final effect. The 4th one is a TRJ style "studio" shot.

Below is an earlier "rat rod" project with more aggressive rusting, but using the same technique. The color coat was Krylon enamel finished with Testors matte clear applied after the wet sanding but before the weathering powders. The matte clear was lightly polished with a paper towel to take some of the dull off.

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by Bernard Kron

[Theo]

Another option is to heavily dilute a flat white acrylic and brush over the "faded" areas repeatedly until you get the desired appearance.

[SfanGoch]

On 10/18/2020 at 8:11 PM, gjorenby said:

Looking to achieve and old faded/oxidized black paint finish on a car.  Not flat black, but less the semi gloss.  Like its been in the sun since 1966 and never waxed.  Any suggestions?

I know exactly the look you want. One way is to spray the body with enamel or lacquer flat black primer, then spray flat or semigloss black acrylic paint over that. After the acrylic paint dries thoroughly, take a nylon bristle toothbrush and, with a small amount of dishwashing liquid, scrub various locations on the body (hood, trunk, roof, etc.) with varying amounts of pressure while rinsing the body under running water. Depending on how much brush pressure was applied to a specific area, the result will be anywhere from a slightly semigloss to a worn dead flat, slightly chalky look that you'd find on a car that spent the last 25-30 years sitting outside.