Art & Inspiration Why'd You Pick That Color?

...you guys actually paint cars?
Dan Hay, love that paint job on your 40,

 

To each their own, said the farmer as he hugged his cow. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One man's junk is another man's jewel. The End !

 

Even though I built mine in height of the red/billet/smoothie era, I picked red for a different reason. I was set on painting my coupe either corvette yellow, or black with flames. There is an iconic 40 here in the twin cities, that is black with flames. As bitchin' as that car is, I couldn't get myself to go with that look, because for me there's only room for 1 black and flames coupe in this town!!
Then suddenly one day, I saw the color! We were coming down the freeway down one side of a big valley. Coming down the other side about a mile away was the brightest red car I had ever seen. I turned out to be a guards red Porsche 944. Instantly, I knew that was the color I wanted! When it came time for my flames, I thought I'd do something a little different, and go with the brightest white I could find which turned out to be GM frost white.

 

In 1984 when I was getting ready to paint my '57, GM had just come out with code 99 Black Cherry.
I was taken by the color and decided it would look great on the Pontiac.
The dark metallic gray was also a GM color at the time.
The '32 was painted this summer and I knew that Lexus Black Sapphire Pearl was the color it had to be!
KK

 

When I was brain storming on colors for my coupe I went through many ideas. Most of them were solid old looking color choices. Finally decided on the colors and picked single stage paint that were a lot like colors from the 30's. When I sprayed them out I wished they were a little darker. No matter the car turned out good. The choices of painting the frame and fender wells made the car different than a lot of cars out there.

 

I thought I was going to paint the A100 something more modern, a metallic probably. But the more I worked on it and the countless hours sanding and staring, I just had to do something more period correct. I picked a soft white and then mixed the blue until I got it where it worked. I will hold off on full size pics as it breaks from the protocol here what with the 18" wheels.

 

Warren[/QUOTE]
Does this thing glow and shimmy in the dark?? Why doesnt it have screaming orange wheels?? Does it come in Blue??

 

I ended up going with this "Rolls Royce Claret". I was torn between a Tan and also Gray color I liked but the wife swayed me to this. I guess it was a good choice ??

 

I would bet there has never been a car/color seen for the first time than a "Guards Red" Porsche to have such a lasting impression on people.............. other than a red Ferrari.
I have always heard that it was the primer that Porsche used to make the red "pop".

 

The color of my Tudor has lots of meaning for me - the car practically asked to be painted the baby blue color it ended up being actually. I spent many summers in the 80's riding around with my grandpa in his rusty but trusty 64 Ford pickup cutting wood to heat their home for the winter. The tuck was a faded baby blue color. I always remember those summers fondly. When I picked up my Tudor it had a few areas that were bare metal and beginning to rust. To keep it from deteriorating further I grabbed a can of spray paint from my dad's garage. It happened to be left over baby blue touch up paint that had been used on my grandpa's pickup. When I went scrounging for steel wheels for my project, the ones I ended up finding wore faded baby blue pinstripes. I figured the car was telling me it needed to be baby blue. It happened to fit the early 50's build I was after too. Some people aren't a fan of the color, but once I tell them the significance, they usually have a change of heart.

 

Black, because there is no better base for a blended yellow, orange and red Flame job outlined with a white pinstripe. It's timeless!

 

getting a customer to pick a color is usually a challenge. i will NOT let them just choose from a paint chip.
the best way to pick a color is to see it in "real life", on a car, in a parking lot, or on an object such as a kids toy, lawn furniture, tool etc. once we match that to a sample/chip i buy a small amount and spray it on a piece of sheet metal. then have them "live" with it in all lights and angles to be sure. the spray out can also be used to choose matching fabrics, tops, and carpet. more than once we have changed the paint to get the right combo.........

 

Bull==Gorgeous car!

 

Sorry, hit the wrong button. My wife said she didn't care what I build as long as it was green. My deuce is "Yosemiite Green", a 1940 Ford color. I wanted something solid with no metallic or flake. It almost looks military green.

 

Does this thing glow and shimmy in the dark?? Why doesnt it have screaming orange wheels?? Does it come in Blue??[/QUOTE]


It does shimmy. I would never paint a car blue even though I own a blue one. I thought about painting the wheels green, but I saw that would be a mistake.

Warren

 

It's part personal choice, part what's right for the car. Some cars will look stunning with the right color. Personally, I don't care for the early 'vintage' colors as pigment science wasn't that good in those days and most look 'muddy' to my eye. I like 'intense' colors (as opposed to 'bright', which is a different thing. And particularly blues and greens) as they highlight body shape better for me. But there's always exceptions (the baby blue Tudor above is one), and having a overall 'look' is critical. Well done scallops, flames on some cars can add interest, 'graphics' and panel painting not so much. The easter egg stuff in the 80s/90s was effin' awful....

And this is personal opinion, but I feel that American Hot Rods and Customs should have eye-grabbing paint jobs; candies and metalflake is the epitome of the American 'look'. If you want it to look stock, leave it stock. And doing one up as a faux 'coachbuilt' version just isn't all-American to me...

 

Yes! grew up with a local earthmoving contractor who had his fleet (including pick up service trucks) painted white and baby blue (or powder blue) with red pin stripe to separate. His old Fairlane was same colour. Always loved that colour - your Tudor looks great.

 

Before I spent a dime for paint I did these variation. I was hooked on red for the longest time, then I set it aside for a while. With some fresh eyes and and a new perspective, I picked the green. It's going to make a statement!

 

Picked this color because I wanted something close to "olive drab" or "over dirt" to give it a military look to go with the insignia. Lowes didn't have OD in their catalog so this is the best we could do. Brushed on pretty good though, I think.

 

The best color, is the one that you like the best. As you will be the one looking at it everyday. As for myself I think the color depends on the style and year, or the look that I am after. Factory colors always look good! { Red and Black says, Hot Rod} ,{ 50s cars look good in two tones and pastels}. { Show rods and Customs look cool with candy's and Flake}. And I love Hot Rod Primmer, It says { mean and Nasty}. And lastly, { Patina says survivor }. Just say en . Ron...

 

It totally depends on the car. For me, first choice if old and intact is natural patina, no matter the color that's mostly faded away...

I thought I'd be doing my wagon in a two-tone green, but then I saw the deepest, darkest red. Tough decision but I'm happy with the end result.

Not to harp on the red thing but... is a Ferrari of any other color really a Ferrari?.

 

When building my 40 coupe, I saw a 34 5 window at an adjoining town Chevy dealership where I was buying parts for a Chevy II . I asked about the car and was told it belonged to a mechanic there . I went and asked him the color of his 34. It was Topical Green Firemist a 68 Caddy color. That was in 1969 and that mechanic and I later became best friends for almost 50 years . On my 34 5 window. I was in the local Ford dealership and they had a new Lincoln Town car on the showroom floor and I liked that color. I always like to look at new cars and pick a color that way,rather than looking at a small color chip.

 

After flip flopping for over a year on colour for the coupe we finally settled on "gray / green" the same as PPG DP40 primer. Went to the paint shop and went thru the chips and found one exactly on, in a satin urethane so had some mixed up. When we got home and started the shoot, the shop had made a mistake and picked the paint formula one line below our choice. Knew they would have mixed a new batch with no problems, BUT we decided we really liked it. Went back and found out the formula used so it could be recreated in future.

May not be every ones choice but we are getting a good reaction to it and we like it. In real life it is a sage green/gray. (Darker and more green than it is showing up on my monitor)



Added some pinstripping in cream white to match the wheels and cherry red. Hood is still outstanding in this shot. Interior will be black.

Canuck

 

Yeah man, I got that. We're on the same page. First brighter whites? 53 Corvette comes to mind. The "Motorama" line from GM with the Skylark, Fiesta, Eldorado and Vette. By the 60s they all got a bit brighter. Eventually there was that Corvette color from the 70s that actually had a few drops of blue in it to make it really pop."Can Am White" was the name, I think..? If you think bright whites look bad on 30s hot rods you ought to see it on some of the high zoot classics. Major faux pas...

This is a good topic, good job again 'Bomber. Makes us all think about our builds. Another favorite in many forms for me? Pearl. I once laid PPG Frost Blue pearl over Porsche Guards Red. The highlights looked like grape soda under street lights and low sunlight. Sounds fucked up though, right? I pinstriped it with chrome yellow and blue that looks like our "post reply" icon. I called it balloon blue, like on a Wonder bread bag. It actually looked pretty bitchin as bad as it sounds. Fun stuff...

 

her '50 Chevy Pick Up truck - color: Periwinkle, picked from a box of crayolas

 

It does shimmy. I would never paint a car blue even though I own a blue one. I thought about painting the wheels green, but I saw that would be a mistake.

Warren[/QUOTE]
Warren, that is the most awesome paint in this thread. Will you please tell all about it including brand and primer?

 

You're right, the process called for white "primer" which for our purposes is really a sealer. Same with late model Vette "Torch Red" and Ferarris, white base.

 

The day I dragged this thing home from the junkyard- I pictured it in my mind in this color-over the years it took to build it- I tried to talk myself into other colors- pale yellow, black, blue, tan , etc. on the pretense that it was a common color and I should find something more unique- I even drive the car for 7 years in a tinted primer . When I finally got it ready for paint- I had to be true to my original vision for the car- I liked the color and I felt it was right for the car



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Roger that Highlander.
White primer, I just wanted you to say it because this old mans' memory is a bit wobbly and I knew if I was wrong I'd get thrown under the bus due to my limited knowledge on the subject.
I first heard about the white primer deal in (IIRC) mid/late 70's from a friend in the paint biz and also the owner of a real nice original Polo Red 66 Porsche 911/S.