Best Exterior Black

Hey, I'm new to the forums and pretty new to modeling; I was wondering what kind of black you all would recommend for the exterior. Would a Testor's gloss black work? Thanks.

You're likely to get a different answer from each person that replies - everyone has their favorite type.

Personally, I hate enamel paints - I only use them when there is absolutely no other choice for that color, for minor detail painting, or as a base for Alclad polished finishes - they take forever to dry for me. Acrylics tend to dry a bit softer, so to me they're not ideal for body painting. That being said, I've seen others achieve brilliant finishes with these paints - but I can't get the hang of it.

Personally, I mostly use Tamiya lacquers (you'll see a lot of TS-## references here - those are Tamiya). They dry pretty quickly, go on smooth out of the can, and seem to be pretty forgiving for the most part. I usually decant them to a spare glass bottle and then airbrush them, but that's more to save paint - the cans (like all cans) tend to spray a lot more paint than you need, and most of it ends up on the floor of the spray booth.

I've done a few with Zero paints, which are a base coat/clear coat system, and I'm going to use their black for the first time on my current Lambo build - but I'm nowhere near the paint stage on the body. The other colors have been great, though . . . .

The two Corvettes in my sig were painted with Dupli-Color universal black. I haven`t found anything better. The color seems deeper and darker than both Tamiya and Testor`s. However, you must clear coat it and buff it out.

Welcome to AF!

My personal favorite is CobraColors Ferrari Nero Tropicale. Bit of a shame about the availability, though. When I run out, I expect I'll switch to Zero, or airbrush decanted Tamiya lacquer.

Wow, those Vettes are gorgeous. I found this site yesterday and have just been looking at people's cars and been amazed at the detail...so many models are so complex!

I got the '79 Camaro Revell kit, I think I'm going to steer clear from the black for now cause in reading the FAQ, I'm not really sure I understand the "buffing out" of certain colors. I just went to the Hobby Lobby near by and bought some spray primer and a copper color.

Basically you spray your coats primer, let it stay for a week or so, spray your primary color, let it sit some more, clear coat, decal, and wax? Do only lacquers require buffing out with rubbing compound? Or enamels and acrylics too? Thanks a lot! :icon16:

Letting the primer dry for a week is overkill, but if you're going to polish the paint you'll want to wait that long (unless you have a dehydrator setup).

I have gotten a lot better at the painting process since checking out the tutorials around the web - one very good site is http://www.italianhorses.net/ - the guy who runs this is also a regular here on AF (360spider - check out his F40 in the motorsports WIP).

Although black is a gorgeous color when applied and treated correctly, it is one of the hardest colors to get down correctly. It shows every inperfection.
If you've never done a gloss black car before, expect to spend a lot more time perfecting.
The two hardest colors to get down well imo are black and white. If you really want to do black right away, I would suggest a 2 stage paint process. IE: Zero base + a clear. That should make things a bit easier.
HTH,
Steve

If you are new to the hobby, I would recommend that you try the Testor's black.

There are a couple of reasons....
You don't need an airbrush like you would with the Zero paints.
Testors (at least around me) is usually a little cheaper than Tamiya paints.

And if the primer is nice and flat (sand out with 600 or 800) grit, the testor's will lay down nice and smooth. And if you are using gloss black, you may just get a nice enough shine without having to polish.

Of course if you are adding stripes or decals, you will likely want to clear over that.... but for a basic, no fuss quick black paint, testor's is a pretty safe bet.

Mr Color super gloss black works really well.

gunze C black (C2) is the best one around. for me the normal one is better than super black