paint the back of a grill.

[willey1997]

I would like to know how to paint the back of a grill. so its crome and black.

[SuperStockAndy]

It's so much more realistic to sand from the back of it and open it up completely

[MikeMc]

You want to "blackwash" it...thin some flat black 1 part paint to 9 parts thinner......flow it in and let dry, more as needed ! Polish Chrome edges with a Q Tip

Edited March 4, 2012 by MikeMc

[59 Impala]

I use India ink for the wash. You brush it on, it sinks to the bottom and no need to polish the edges because the ink doesn't stick to the top edges, it sinks to the bottom. Quick and easy. Both of these grills were done that way.

Dan

[weasel]

i use an acrylic blackwash, as it's eaiser to fix if ya mess somethin up!! lol

[Monty]

I would like to know how to paint the back of a grill. so its crome and black.

I see several people have given you instructions on how to detail the front of the grille, but if I understand your question correctly, you want to know how to make the back side of the grille look as accurate as the front. Is that correct?

[Prostreet]

You want to "blackwash" it...thin some flat black 1 part paint to 9 parts thinner......flow it in and let dry, more as needed ! Polish Chrome edges with a Q Tip

So you let it dry complety first? then polish it?

[David G.]

Or, like Andy said, you can file and sand away the inner portion of the grille, making it more like a 1:1 grille. There would be no need to paint the recesses black if they're not there,

Here are a couple of pics of a 55 Chevy on which I filed away the back of the grille.

On this shot, you can see just a glimpse of silver from one of the fan motors on the front of the radiator.

From the top, you can better see how I filed away the entire back of the grille, leaving just the "eggcrate" front portion.

It's just another option to explore; I hope you found the information helpful.

David G.

Edited March 16, 2012 by David G.

[Mike Kucaba]

Opening up the by sanding from the back is the way to go,but some grilles are just too fragile to do this(I did that to the grille from a '64 Mercury and I'm afraid to breathe on it) so you blackwash it like the others said. I do prefer Tamiya Smoke for this,and it really helps tone down the chrome look on hubcaps and wheels.

[Monty]

I would like to know how to paint the back of a grill. so its crome and black.

Couple points:

1) Am I still the only one who doesn't think he's asking how to detail the front of a grille?

2) Even if he does the sand-through technique to open the grille, he'll still need a realistic way to address the areas where the chrome was sanded off. The OP hasn't even been on here in two weeks, but this might help someone else with the same question.

[Mike Kucaba]

Ok Fair enough. If ALL he wants to do is paint the back of a grille,wouldn't the procedure be similar to painting ANY part? I guess this is one of those "a picture is worth a thousand words" .

[SteveL]

Hey everybody! I see some amazing talent in this group and some amazing ideas that i can't wait to apply to my nect build ( 1937 Ford Pickup (Revell) ).

About the sanding process, do you do this by hand or with the aid of a Drimel? I love the look and want to give it a go. Thanks for any responces and keep up the amazing builds !

Steve

[Austin T]

Hey everybody! I see some amazing talent in this group and some amazing ideas that i can't wait to apply to my nect build ( 1937 Ford Pickup (Revell) ).

About the sanding process, do you do this by hand or with the aid of a Drimel? I love the look and want to give it a go. Thanks for any responces and keep up the amazing builds !

Steve

This is just me,but I would sand it by hand,A dremel could make things worse.

[outlaw035]

steve sand by hand for sure...like som1 said tho some grilles are just to fragile to sand...

[SteveL]

<~ sings in a low blues beat....." I'm a sanding my grill, been sanding alllll night long....I've been sanding my grille ! Sanding alll night long....Cant wait to see the daylight.... get some sleep before too long"

[Casey]

Couple points:

1) Am I still the only one who doesn't think he's asking how to detail the front of a grille?

Until the O.P. returns and replies, we just don't know.

I suspect the other posters are correct, since very few people would take the time to detail the backside of a grille.

[Monty]

Until the O.P. returns and replies, we just don't know.

I suspect the other posters are correct, since very few people would take the time to detail the backside of a grille.

Last time i checked, he'd only posted twice, so it's doubtful he'll be popping in to solve this once and for all. I took him literally because his query specifically mentioned the back side of the grille. Had he meant otherwise, he probably would've just asked how to detail a grille.

I happen to think the other responders overlooked the words "back side" & automatically went to their personal default responses for applying black washes etc.

In my experience, the back sides of many model grilles have imperfections that need to be removed, which will leave you with bare plastic in need of paint. The best builds I've seen have the back side of the grille detailed with muted silver and black, mimicking the design on the front side (usually done when the design makes it hard to use the sand-from-behind method).