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Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
Hey guys,
As the title says, I'm having some difficulty with coming up with a method to get the color I'm looking for. I've seen some other paint jobs that look similar to what I'm looking for, but there's tons of conflicting methods of achieving the look.
Unfortunately I've only painted solid colors before, so layering techniques are somewhat foreign to me (as in pearl, flakes, etc). Essentially what I'm trying to do, is get what appears to be a black or charcoal finish, with just a hint of very dark green with direct sunlight. I'm thinking green pearl\flake over the black will very likely be too green. I really would like the green to be very subtle and only seen on a bright sunny day at certain angles.
I've seen a few jobs like this, but using red pearl. That said, they all look too red or maroon-ish, even in low light situations.
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
Also, for what it's worth, I had found a picture of someone's third gen that was painted Cyber Grey Metallic, and I swear I saw some green peaking through, which sparked this whole idea in my head. But for the life of me, I cannot find the picture again, nor can I see it reproduced in any other pictures I've run across.
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
Found it!
This is on the "What Color to Paint" sticky by ATCFLYBOY02, post #424 on page 9. If you look closely, you can see a bit of green (or are my eyes deceiving me?) on the front of the fender, close to the nose cone. Or maybe it's just a reflection from something else. Either way, if it's the paint, it's exactly what I was thinking.
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
I experimented around with custom tricoats awhile back just for the fun of it. I'll have to check if I still have the sprayouts but if I remember correctly you can get a color that is pretty close to black in the shade with a metallic pop in the sunlight by putting a coat of pearl over black. You might be able to get a similar effect by just adding the pearl right into the black. Thats how pretty much every metallic black is made, though I've never seen a green metallic black.
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
I've put a green pearl mid-coat over black and it turned the black a dark shade of green. I've taken the same green pearl mid-coat and put it over metallic gold and it only slightly changed the gold but gave it the green shimmer under fluorescent lights.
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
The more I look, the more I'm thinking this isn't something I'm going to be able to pull off. I might be able to bounce the idea off of a pro, though, but I don't think we really have anyone around here that really does custom stuff (ie has the experience).
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
Yeah custom tricoats aren't a good idea for amateurs. Just adding a bit of green pearl (like 1% - 5% depending on how green you want it) to black would still get you pretty close to what your looking for and would be about as easy to spay as plain solid black.
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
So, here we are almost a year later and I still haven't been able to decide on a paint scheme.
I do need to order paint, though. All of the exterior is sanded, surface rust addressed, dents pulled, etc. Once I have the epoxy sprayed on, I'll touch up anything I may have missed or overlooked as far as dents and such go.
My budget at the moment pretty much allows for using either Omni from the local jobber, or Kirker via an online outlet. I've more or less settled on Kirker, since the reviews I've read seem downright great, especially compared to Omni. The downside, obviously, is that with Kirker I'm stuck with their specific colors.
I ordered a Kirker paint chip sheet and none of them really scream "Pick me!" to me. I had heavily considered doing Black Cherry Pearl with black ground effects, but the pictures I see online are way brighter looking (more like a deep maroon) than the effect that I see from the paint chip (which is very dark, even in direct sunlight. It's about the darkest red color I've seen).
I've thought about some orange colors as well. I like the "Sun Burnt Copper Pearl" that they have. I also considered Dark Jade Metallic, but again it's a color I like but I'm not in love with it being on a Firebird.
I'm open to suggestions. I honestly cannot make up my mind on this. The interior is light\dark charcoal. All of the suspension pieces are red or black. The engine compartment is black, with red strut mounts. The rims are a silver\gray aluminum, but I'll probably have them powder coated black to match the wheel wells\ground effects.
What I don't want: White, Pure Black, Bright Red.
I know you guys can't make the decision for me, but maybe just having some people to toss ideas around with will help me come to a conclusion once and for all.
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
This looks kind of neat. Does anyone think it looks too "loud"? I don't think I'd want to do stripes, but it looks nice. I wonder how black ground effects would look.
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
The way i do it is take black base and add green pearl into the black until you reach your goal then do a sprayout and clear it thats your color and pearl coat is going to make it green really fast
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
I think I'm over the idea of the custom pearl job, haha. It sounded neat but it's just one more coat for me to screw up. Presently I'm just looking at spraying BC/CC, most likely using Kirker, although I'm unsure if I should use the EC100, EC200, or EC300 for clear. The other option would be Omni from the local jobber, but from what I've heard Omni seems to be lacking in the pigment department.
Here's the colors I've considered this far.
I like the colors, although the greens have a little too much flake for my taste. Honestly, though, the only one I can see looking nice on a Firebird is the Medium Charcoal Gray, but that just seems a little too boring to me.
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
So, my thought at the moment is going with the Sun Burnt Copper Pearl, and then running black ground effects, and powder coating the rims black. I know a lot of people like to paint the ground effects the same color as the rest of the car, but I think I prefer the idea of breaking it up a little bit. What do you guys think?
If I do go with the black on the ground effects\rims, what sheen should I go with? Semi-Gloss? Satin? Full gloss?
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
I like the body color but i dont like the 80 two tone and i like semi gloss on the wheels and i would paint the wheels base clear i have wheels power coated and got beat down by the sun
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
Ford Tuxedo Black. Looks like classic black in the shade, metallic black in the daylight, and shows metallic green on areas that are pinpointed by spotlights or the sun.
Nissan Galaxy Black. Similar characteristics, except it reflects multiple colors when spotlighted.
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
Originally Posted by LAFireboyd
Ford Tuxedo Black. Looks like classic black in the shade, metallic black in the daylight, and shows metallic green on areas that are pinpointed by spotlights or the sun.
Nissan Galaxy Black. Similar characteristics, except it reflects multiple colors when spotlighted.
Both are current production colors.
I second tuxedo black, I considered painting mine that color. It barely has any pearl in it so its as easy to spray as a solid color.
Re: Having Difficulty Finding the Right Color\Pearl Combo
So, it's been another 10 months and I still can't decide on a color.
The idea of Tuxedo Black piqued my interest a bit. I actually painted my engine bay Tuxedo Black. I'm not real happy with the Omni paint. It scratches extremely easy. Thankfully what I scratched won't be visible.
At any rate, I don't think I want to do the entire car with it. I've been looking at Summit Racing's paint because it appears to be get pretty good reviews. Free shipping is a bonus, too.
Thoughts on Colors:
Bright Orange Metallic https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...314g/overview/
Mostly a coppery color unless it's in direct sunlight, and then it shines a little bit. I like the coppery look more than I like the hugger orange look. It's a nice look on 2nd Gens. Not sure if it would look nice in this case.
Plum Insane Pearl https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...6-12/overview/
Purple Haze looks pretty swank on Camaros. Oviously this isn't the same pigment, but I like it. Once again, not sure how it would look on a TA.
Gunmetal Metalic https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...3-12/overview/
My car was originally painted Silver Sand, so the idea of keeping it Silver\Gray appeals to me a bit. However, I like the darker shades over the light shades. I like the color, but afraid of getting bored with it.
Black Starburst Pearl https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-up704/reviews/
Black is probably my favorite color for this car, but it's also the color I'm most afraid of. Black shows everything - not only in bodywork, but also with dust, dirt, scratches, etc. With the extent of bodywork I've done to the drivers side of the car, I'm really worried that something will show up with a black paint job.
06-29-2015, 01:03 PM
