Black Paint

[rickd13]

I am thinking about doing a car in black. I have never done one in black before and I have heard that it is a tricky color to get right. What is the best way to get good results with black? I thought I read that a good way to do black is to use a flat black base coat and then a nice wet look clear over the flat black. Is that the best way to do it?

[Ace-Garageguy]

Black's bad rep is more misconception than anything else. What makes black "tricky" on real cars or models, is that when it's very glossy, it shows EVERY flaw or wave in the underlying bodywork. Also, it shows surface imperfections like orange peel. White, on the other hand, minimizes the visibility of flaws.

Get your prep right, get your bodywork straight, and get a good smooth finish with a clean gloss and your black paint will be fine.

A flat black basecoat with a clear topcoat can look great. So can a straight gloss black. This is cheapo Ace Hardware gloss-black rattle-can lacquer, sanded and polished...

Edited January 11, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[StevenGuthmiller]

Black's bad rep is more misconception than anything else. What makes black "tricky" on real cars or models, is that when it's very glossy, it shows EVERY flaw or wave in the underlying bodywork. Also, it shows surface imperfections like orange peel. White, on the other hand, minimizes the visibility of flaws.

Get your prep right, get your bodywork straight, and get a good smooth finish with a clean gloss and your black paint will be fine.

A flat black basecoat with a clear topcoat can look great. So can a straight gloss black. This is cheapo Ace Hardware gloss-black rattle-can lacquer, sanded and polished...

Bill's right Rick. Black is just another color. It's just a little more prone to showing imperfections under the paint. Do it like you would dark red or dark blue & you should be fine. Steve

[jwrass]

I totally agree with Aces assessment of black paint prep etc! In fact black is probably one of the easiest colors physically to paint as the atomized paint leaving the gun, can, airbrush is easy to see due to the dark color and light refraction, whereas white is one of the most difficult colors to apply due to the same principals of light refraction.

Being old school I personally like a deep straight black paint application with no clear top coat, It is my personal opinion, taste and experience that straight black has more depth than black with a clear top coat. I know it may sound counter intuitive but for my eye clear over straight black mutes the true pigment of black.

For a real killer black add some violet tint to the mix (a little go's a long way)

Experiment with it and spray some test panels! It's all about having fun with it and learning!

[Cool Hand]

As Bill mentioned to have a decent looking black paint job, it all comes down to the prep work.

I prefer Tamiya TS-14 black. If you do the prep work cant go wrong with TS-14 and it wont need a clear coat.

[W-409]

Luke's paint jobs are really unbelievable. That paint on the Chevelle looks much better than my gloss black paint job after a couple of clear coats & lots of polishing.

I have done one car in black... And according to my experiences, black definitely is a hard color to get right. Not only because it needs really smooth bodywork under the paint job to look good, but it is very hard to polish nicely, too. All of the tight spots, corners etc are easily left grey and not as glossy as middle of the roof, for example. In other colors that is not seen so well, but black shows it immediately.

I've done one car in black...I was planning to do a couple of other ones, too, but that's probably not gonna happen.

[atomicholiday]

That Chevelle looks like it's soaking wet! Amazing paint job.

[jwrass]

Great Job Luke!!!!

That's what I was referring to with Black without a top coat of clear. The depth in Luke's paint job is amazing!!!! You can't get type of color hold out with clear over black. Kudos Luke!

[Mike 1017]

As said above "prepping is the key". Before the primer goes on my car gets sanded from 400 grit all the way to 12000 grit. And after each coat of primer and paint. I use the Don Youst method.The money I spent buying his DVD's are well worth the investment.

Good luck

Mike

[gtx6970]

I did this one probably 10 years ago. And I am real happy with how it turned out . I think it's testors gloss black with testors clear very light sanded between the color and clear coats with nothing but a waxing on the final coat

It wasnt prepped or treated any different than any other color I use. It doesnt have that mile deep look to it,,,,,,,,,then again neither did the car I was trying to replicate. So it thats what your after try the above methods.

It's just like the fullsize cars,,,know what you want in the finished prodect BEFORE you start said project.

Edited January 11, 2015 by gtx6970

[Snake45]

I've seen many, many outstanding black paint jobs accomplished with Model Master Classic Black right out of the rattlecan. There seems to be something almost magic about that paint. I usually airbrush but I was so impressed with what others were doing with it that I tried it once. The only downside seemed to be that it takes a LONG time to dry/cure hard enough to not pick up fingerprints. Weeks, maybe.

Nowadays I just airbrush the MM Classic Black from the bottle, and polish it out for a good shine.

[rickd13]

As Bill mentioned to have a decent looking black paint job, it all comes down to the prep work.

I prefer Tamiya TS-14 black. If you do the prep work cant go wrong with TS-14 and it wont need a clear coat.

I don't use an airbrush. I paint straight from the rattle can. Do you think I can get similar results with the same Tamiya TS-14 right out of the can? Do you wet sand in between coats, and then just sand and polish your final coat?

[rickd13]

Luke's paint jobs are really unbelievable. That paint on the Chevelle looks much better than my gloss black paint job after a couple of clear coats & lots of polishing.

I have done one car in black... And according to my experiences, black definitely is a hard color to get right. Not only because it needs really smooth bodywork under the paint job to look good, but it is very hard to polish nicely, too. All of the tight spots, corners etc are easily left grey and not as glossy as middle of the roof, for example. In other colors that is not seen so well, but black shows it immediately.

I've done one car in black...I was planning to do a couple of other ones, too, but that's probably not gonna happen.

This is exactly what I am worried about. I know I can get the prep work done well, but what I worry about is getting the sanding and polishing right, especially in the tight spots and corners.

[Cool Hand]

I don't use an airbrush. I paint straight from the rattle can. Do you think I can get similar results with the same Tamiya TS-14 right out of the can? Do you wet sand in between coats, and then just sand and polish your final coat?

The paint on the Chevelle is a straight from the can finish, no wet sanding or polishing.

As mentioned by Michael I do the similar prep to the body before primer and wet sand/block sand with 600 up to 12000. Apply the primer and wet sanded 4000 up to 12000.

It did take some practice to get use to applying TS-14 in just the right way that it wont need wet sanding in between and after application. Knowing how much paint can be applied on the final heavy wet coat before it runs is key to a straight from the can finish.

[rickd13]

The paint on the Chevelle is a straight from the can finish, no wet sanding or polishing.

As mentioned by Michael I do the similar prep to the body before primer and wet sand/block sand with 600 up to 12000. Apply the primer and wet sanded 4000 up to 12000.

It did take some practice to get use to applying TS-14 in just the right way that it wont need wet sanding in between and after application. Knowing how much paint can be applied on the final heavy wet coat before it runs is key to a straight from the can finish.

It looks great. Thanks for the reply.