I learned a tidbit yesterday that others painting their trucks may find useful. I am sure that some of you knew this already.
I am painting Willard red and I wanted a very bright, but not orange, red. I had planned on painting Willard the same red as my 2003 Ranger which is Vermillion. Vermillion, a somewhat diferent formula, was a Ford truck color in 1949 (as well as other years). However this fall I was gasing up the Ranger and a late model Audi pulled up right next to me on a nice sunny day. Both my Ranger and the Audi were nice and clean. I definately preferred the Audi Red which is brilliantrot or brilliant red. The origins of the color go back to the Porsche Guards red of the 70's and 80's. Yesterday I stopped at the body shop of the Audi dealer and asked the body shop manager what kind of experience he had with brilliantrot-any tips. I mentioned that I had been priming with a red tinted primer. His immediate response was not to spray the color over the red tinted primer but to lay down a coat of white just before shooting the red basecoat. It will make the brilliant color "pop" (his word). He told me that the first time he did it was on a car for his son and he was thrilled with the result-couldn't wait to clear it. He found out subsequently that Audi actually did this on their paint line. My wife is a decent artist and she explained to me how this is done sometimes by artists to enhance colors.
Needless to say I am going with his tip.

 

Good one, thanks.

 

I have heard that, and seen it done on some of my favorite re-buildem shows. thanks for the info....

 

Back in the day, (60's/70's) gold or silver under topcoats would do funky things as well. White should definitely make it 'pop'.

My own 'dark amethyst pearl' was enhanced by the red oxide primer I used. Doesn't look nearly as red over gray primer.

 

Yep, that's a good one alright. I did know that one already, only cause my dad is an old school painter. Real candy colors were nothing more than a base coat of silver (for lighter colors) and gold (for darker colors) with clear and whatever color you wanted to make"candy". The transparency of the topcoat allows the base to show through.


Also, its good that you talked to the guy at the paint shop and asked him about spraying red over red primer, as it's hard as the dickens to see where you are in painting. The same color over the same color with overspray in the air, it gets real CONFUSING!!

But some colors are not good at covering, so sometimes it's better to use the tinted primer the same or close to the color you're spraying. I worked for a body shop that only worked on high end European cars. The owner loved canary yellow. The only problem is it goes on like water, it doesnt' cover well at all!! So we used yellow tint in the primer, which helped, but you had to pay close attention to where you were spraying to make sure you had enough paint on it, and not just primer.

That is definitely a good tip, and it really works!! The proper primer color will make or break your paint job. Also on a side note, with the white base down, it makes it real easy to see where you're painting

 

PPG has a sealer coat before the base/clear that neutralizes any color bleeding.

 

Great tip-I remember a Porshe red on a VW years ago and it was a knock out