So this buddy of mine wants me to black flame the shit out of his wagon that may or may not already be satin black by the time it gets to me. He was originally thinking of doing gloss black flames - then he asked me about just shooting clear coat over the satin instead for the contrast. I'm not even sure what kinds of paint we're going to use and he really doesn't give a damn about the longevity of it all in terms of "decades". Part of me thinks to go with a single stage black and flatten it for the body - then alter the flattening recepie mix for the flames - making them subtle. Part of me is curious about how it'd look/work laying down clear overtop of single stage satin.... Part of me thinks to just use regular black base coat with NO clear on the body, lay the flames out, then just clear them - but I'm not up to speed on how a base coat on the body would look or hold up without the clear on top of it. If you guys have any thoughts, advice, and especially pics of how to go about this as cheap as possible, please let me know. I'm trying to learn and we'd both really appreciate it. Advance Auto has also started to sell a line of auto paints by the quart. It's all ready to shoot BC/CC Urethanes for $20. If we decided to go that route, is there anything that I CANNOT put urethane on top of? I ask since that may be our cheapest route and I dont' want to deal with a chemistry experiment. If we DID go with the shitty advance auto urethanes, what can we use to flatten it ourselves and what ratio would give us satin as opposed to flat - or should we just not put the clear on? Peace, John
I did my '57 Custom in satin black with a basecoat only and added UV protectant to it when mixing it. No topcoat at all. It has held up for over three years and still looks good. The flames are glossy.
id do a single stage with flattener in it for the body, gloss black flames and pinstripe them with a gloss black with a black pearl, or pinstripe them with a very dark charcoal
I used a single stage gloss black on the whole truck then rubbed it down with a scotchbrite pad to a matte finish then I masked for the flames and shot them with a clear coat. That has been about 8years ago with no problems. They are subtle but in the right light they pop hard.
Killer truck man and it's awesome to see it look exactly how I thought it would...... but I'd really prefer to not have to rub down an entire wagon to make it dull as opposed to just shooting it dull from go. Also excellent to know we can shoot clear on top of single stage.
Your right, it was a pain to rub it down. I did it becouse of two reasons. First becouse at the time I did it I could not find a local supplier that sold satin paint, everone I spoke to said to use John Deere Blitzblack or an epoxy primer. I wanted a "real" paint job that would last. The other reason was becouse instead of satin I wanted it to look weathered like vintage black paint....which is kind of dull and satin looking.
I like the look of gloss black flames on a satin black car. There is just something about it. Here are a couple of pictures of a car like that I found, I think it's from Monster Garage.
Well I spoke with the homie last night and apparently we're gonna try using good ole Rustoleum brand satin black paint from WallMaht at $27/gallon. He spoke with a guy that said he shot a truck with it 4 years ago that still looks great and ya just reduce it 2:1 with acetone to make it sprayable. He's gonna get a pint of gloss black for the flames, and a pint of red - to tint the black to shoot the tips of the flames a real dark "dried blood" red. The only downer is that the cans say to wait 24 hours to recoat - so I'm hoping one wet coat will work out since it needs to be in and back out in a weekend. Haha - I think we're gonna spend more on the tape than on everything else and we expect to come in WAY less than $100 for the whole job. He's rolling in from out of town so he DEFINITELY gonna spend more on gas! Thanks for the great pix guys. I really appreciate it. Hopefully it won't look like a sub $100 job.
I wouldn't thin it 2:1 when I shot rustolium I only needed a small amount of acetone.Did a whole f100 with about 1 1/2 quarts of paint and maybe 1/4 pint of acetone. Just remember when it's time for a real paint job you will hate trying to get that shit off. I would go with the black basecoat and just clear the flames...especially if time is important....basecoat will dry quickly. Maybe add a few drops of hardener in the base to make it a little tougher.
Thanks Brewsir. I'll pass this along. He was concerned that shooting only a base coat would get chalky looking over time. He didn't know why he thought it and I couldn't offer a confident "nu-uh" about it. Makes sense to me that it would work - especially if we add some hardener to it.
For comparison, here's my 'kinda glossy' wagon with some flatblack flames. The flames are vinyl though.
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