Customs Is Satin or Semi-Gloss Paint Dead??

Hello,

Satin finish is a pretty common sight in So Cal. It started off with the high dollar extra paint scheme on new European sporty type cars. Then gradually it filtered down to wraps and actual paint jobs for the look and lower maintenance on any cars/trucks. We have all seen them on various cars. The original extra paint colors were called "ice" as it did not look shiny. It looked like a satin finish that glistens, but is not shiny, like gloss.

If you listen to several people talking about satin finish paint jobs, it is kind of funny. The talk is that the satin paint could look like a regular primer paint job with a high sheen buffing surface. So, any primer paint would give the base paint. Then give it a wax buff.

Jnaki

It all depends on your own taste and of course, cost. Try the primer paint on a wagon or metal surface and then buff it. Maybe that is all you need. Sometimes it is better to wait until you have saved money to do any custom touches to your car. We have seen some odd ball additions on some old cars here on the HAMB, just to save some money for a pro to complete the job. Any short cuts of that nature will obviously bring on the critics and chuckles.

IMHO, your start should be with experimenting, by painting the wheels and making it look good enough to drive without spending too much money on stuff. Once that happens, it will be noticeable and now buff your paint. It might surprise your anticipating look of satin. Wheels and tires will make your car look nicer instantly. Forget period correct, start with low cost paint and small hubcaps.

But, if you need to see more of a Suburban that has one of the nicest paint jobs, here are a few more shots.

 

Satin has its place, just as different wheels , engines , styles and everything else about this lifestyle we choose to live.
I like satin , metal flake and gloss , but it doesn’t really matter what I like though aye.

 

I just finished a big woodworking project that required a dead-flat clear finish. I wanted catalyzed urethane for durability but read everywhere that true flat is virtually impossible in urethane. Most require a flattening agent additive that doesn't work very well. Decided to try Summit Racing satin clearcoat. It is fantastic! it is not satin, it is dead flat which was perfect for my purpose. Bonus, it only costs $63/gallon where most paints cost the national debt nowadays. Directions say it come out more satin with thicker coats but I didn't try that.

 

I've always seen semi-gloss or satin paint on a car as "faux primer". I think of it the same way I think of "faux patina".

Real primer on a car, before it gets it's coat of gloss paint, is just fine, of course.

 

What makes paint glossy or flat anyway? I mean either can be buffed to a mirror finish.. There must be gloss additives or flat additives. Must have to do with light reflection.

I thought about flat or semi gloss when I was doing the bodywork and figured I'd never get it straight enough for gloss. But I persevered and got it straight enough for gloss...white.

 

Here is a pic of a Hot Rod Flatz brand paint that the owner didn’t like after it was painted. He cut and buffed the Hot Rod Flatz paint and it looks absolutely fantastic!

 

^^^^^^ a before photo would be interesting if you have one !

 

My 33 plymouth sedan is going to be satin black. I know it's been done over and over again but I don't care.

 

For me it's a year/body thing, 48 and older can wear flat or satin and look fine due to the shape. Envelope bodied cars with lots of flat area, require shine, just my opinion.

 

here’s a before picture, car built by @El Bombero https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ed-hot-rod-sedan-update-it-runs.395389/page-4

 

Thanks for posting the before shot. I much prefer the cut and polished version in post 36.

 

Just an observation: when a trend starts the 1st few I see are cool and different. After that yawn.

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Side by side. Either way...a nice Hot Rod!

 

I say do what you like & can afford to do - if a $20k paint-job floats your boat, do it ....... if the very thought of that gives you a migraine, just "run what ya brung" ..... and enjoy the trip!

 

My Son is building a very high dollar OT car...having it done professionally and is going with a semi gloss black..
At first I thought...yuk, but after seeing it painted I really like it a lot..
I am building a '49 Ford Club Coupe, and considering a semi gloss color also.
So hey, if you like it, go for it...

 

I'm reminded of a guy I used to work for, who wanted the look of '50s Brazilian brutalist off-shutter concrete on a high-end residential project. There was an elevated freeway on piers behind the office, and that had been cast that way to shuttering made of cheap pine planking. It was pure Oscar Niemeyer; it pegged the look exactly. When I pointed it out I was told, noooo! the planking needed to be spruce imported from Scandinavia at great cost, and then sandblasted to bring the grain out. As I recall that wall was demolished and rebuilt twice before it was considered OK. All that to get the look of an elevated freeway pier.

Satin paint is a bit like that: a lot of trouble to get the look of primer, to such an extent that it looks wrong if it actually is primer. Not necessarily bad, though.

I also remember the survival/ratbike thing which was big in European custom motorbikes in the '90s. It was all about it being accessible and affordable, a bit on the edges of society, scroungeable, findable, riggable; practical, durable, serviceable; radically DIY. Matt black was part of that. Now I see matt black wraps on BMW X7s and it's more than all wrong: it's cynical, even treasonable; a slap in the face of the bikers who revived moribund Urals with XT500 parts. (Though I also like my wife's reaction. She wants to write on the cars with chalk. Why else would they be finished like blackboards?)

That said I would like to see matt finishes used on a car in a way that references neither work-in-progress primer nor post-apocalyptic matt black; perhaps like the way Hoopers used something akin to wallpaper on the flamboyant Docker Daimlers of the early '50s. There is a world of possibility in printed commercial-graphic wrap materials, perhaps in very coarse matts, used in combination with gloss paints. Whether that could produce anything HAMB-appropriate is another question.

 

This is just me....
When I see a big roof two tone sedan of that era whether it be a Biscayne, Impala, big Fairlane, Galaxie or some other make....I think Grandma and groceries. If it's a Ford, in anything that resembles police colors, I think Barney Fife. .

On the other hand a 2 door sedan of that period in a solid color, nice black walls 15" or even 14" meats, a slight rake, a big or hopped up engine and dog dishes....That's the look I like. Think 409 Biscayne or 390 Interceptor Fairlane or Galaxie.

As far as paint. I prefer a slightly subdued finish, that looks like period paint rather than plastic.

 

I'm still of the mindset that the ultimate goal should always be shiny paint. If your car is unfinished or in-progress, and you want to make it one color, then a primered or satin finish is fine with me. But the end goal should be finished, shiny paint. The issue I see is where guys go through all the leg work to do good, straight bodywork, then paint the car a flat color to give it the "rat" look. I'm not into it.

And FWIW, I've owned both shiny and primered cars, and I can say without a doubt, the shiny cars are much easier to maintain and keep presentable. A good BC/CC job especially, though same holds true for single stage, can be waxed, wiped off, and cut and buffed back. There is some protection for the paint. Flat or primer you have no such ability, and after a while, the car just begins to look filthy. Pass.

 

shine it or go home

I had a crappy not quite shiny paint job on my old truck. It looked bad so I cut and buffed it shiny. Even though it was white, it showed how bad the body work was. So I cut it down with comet and bleach and a scuff pad. It didnt show off the bad bodywork as much, but wouldnt stay clean for anything.
Stripped it down and did new paint, shiny of course. Much better.

 

eyes .............left

 

Even OEMs and SEMA builds have been doing satin finishes for the last few years. I would say its trendier than ever. I see late model SUVs and dailies around town all the time

 

YES,at lest I hope so.

1950 n 60s shiny was King an what every one liked,no one thought primer was anything but preparation for shiny, Prime was not a good look.
Some were around the 1970s,there seemed to be some lazy hot rod n custom guys with little history idea of what they were doing,just made up BS about how it was,but was not.
I started seeing some that had the screw up idea primer was a finish{ idea formed from,"O-boy I don't need to work that hard ,have a made up excuse".
Then there was the guy that did paint job wrong ,that came out dull,so crappy paint that needs redoing! "O-boy I don't need to work that hard"< is in head,but tells every one; He loves looks of flat look. So it starts being the trend,not how it was but how newer guys would like it to be=so they have excuse not to work hard. Plus for some to say,shiny cost too much/when the fact is cost is not at all the prob.
Work is.
I see a flat or dull car,I still can like what work was done so far,but is unfinished and may be just getting ready for shiny,or the owner actually thinks is finished?= It's his car,OK. However if he is trying to be like the 50s n 60s, do shiny or you missed the 50s n 60s boat. Dull just looks like a faded or failed paint too me. If one is not trying to look like 50s n 60s,do anything you like,but don't say it's like it was done then. Like your own,just don't label it wrong an have fun.

 

IS SATIN OR SEMI-GLOSS PAINT DEAD??
I hope so!

 

oh yeah i love semi and flat

 

Satin is tits


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!!!!!!!

 

Saw a new OT Tesla today with a satin paint job, so I guess that everything old is new again. BTW, my Grandpa had a '61 Ford Fairlane years ago, was garage kept for years. What a beautiful car that was! I especially liked the way the trim was integrated with the door handles, and the chrome cover that you swiveled to get at the trunk lock.

 

...or you can shiny clear-coat it...

 

I painted my merck. with Rustoleam Flat Black so when
it Rains its Shinny/

Just my 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a Fool

 

Opinions: OK
Satin black is played out for me, due to so many of them lookin BAD, uneven, streaky etc.

Use enamel automotive paint, add a flattening agent to any color if you want or make it shiny. Use a solid color, shoot it from a gun. Single stage - solid color, you can do a panel at a time.
Enamel was a go-to paint for years for OEM and resto, not every project needs base/clear and the cost involved. Enamel is "safer" than urethane and its reasonably priced.

Rustoleum- I use it a lot, Im not bashing. Why use the absolutely lowest quality paint available on a car paint job? We're talking the difference of 100-200 to buy budget automotive enamel.

I like tcpglobal. They will add a flattener to any paint in their resto line. You dont have to only choose from hot rod flats. I ordered a quart of urethane with a flattener recently for interior panels - Low sheen dash paint.