To Pearl or not to Pearl

[Aussie Frontier]

The truck is going in to get painted at long last and its now down to choosing small details
The truck will be painted in Jet Black tiner so basically all straight Black
For an extra few bucks I can have any pearl colour I want.
bear in mind this is a lot of sheet metal that will be all Jet Black.
What colour pearl if any should look good on a Large Black paintjob?

There could also be stripes flames etc all in the pearl without it getting too intricate type deal

the truck will then get 2 more coates of Glasurit Showroom clear ( I think its called) then rubbed back n buffed. Well thats the plan at this stage.

Any ideas?

Oh yeah am going with the new style Paint Protection so in theory the paintwork should look good for a few years to come

 

[Bosshog]

OK - S.Q. coming - what is 'pearl'

 

[Aussie Frontier]

Ok in the 70's the big deal was really heavy metal flec in the paint that made the paint "Sparkle"
Pearl is basically as I can see it a gazillion little sparkly bits so its mega fine. When you look at the paint it appears to semi change colour.
Mazda a few years ago had all their range in a pearl finish.
If you look at a mother of pearl shell in low light its basically white. If you add more light it changes colours etc. The pearl stuff in the paint changes the way light reflects back off the surface .
It can change colours to a single colour so black will look blue in direct sun or you can have it as a colour split so it will change to purple in one direction and a different colour in a different direction

That make sense?

 

[MAD D40]

dont go too big of flakes or youl be driving the biggest dodgem car around. lol

But a Blue or Red pearl would improve the jet black nicely, maybe a very fine purple if it is suttle.
If you choose ghost flames or the like be careful it could turn into that tattoo you got when you were 13 it seemed good at the time.

Are you getting the front bar and sports bar painted the same colour too??!?

 

[Aussie Frontier]

I am toying with powder coating the upright sections of the front bar and just polishing the rest. My sports bar is from a Craplux and again Ill polish the snot outa that alloy. I will be painting the main sections of the grill and the rear bar and possibly even a set of side steps all in body colour.
Wheels will just stay jet black centres and polished alloy rim

 

[Old.Tony]

I'd not bother, because I'd hate to see a grown man crying over bush pin stripes.

 

[alphabet]

Not to say it will happen but if you ever have any panel damage pearls are hard to match up but in saying that a mate has just done a hot rod up, black with a gold pearl through it..... Real nice!

 

[MAD D40]

Scratched paint is better than a stick through the radiator.
On the other hand Aussies rig misses out on a front diff. So consequently will miss out on the ninja branches also lol

 

[Aussie Frontier]

Tony I totally agree but mine is a 2wd street queen so doesnt get much bush action. More likely to get stone chips at the racetrack

The lucky part is once this guy paints my truck it will always be going back to him if it ever needs repair and he says seeing he paints it he will be able to match it. have to take him at his word.

I was actually thinking about the gold pearl .
The painter has just done his XR6 ute in jet black base with wild berry or a purple pearl and he reckons it looks pretty flash .
I am not after something that burns the eyeballs just something that will give it that little something extra when its in the direct sunlight.

 

[alphabet]

The gold is real nice..it seems to show more at night as well.

 

[Bosshog]

Ok in the 70's the big deal was really heavy metal flec in the paint that made the paint "Sparkle"
Pearl is basically as I can see it a gazillion little sparkly bits so its mega fine. When you look at the paint it appears to semi change colour.
Mazda a few years ago had all their range in a pearl finish.
If you look at a mother of pearl shell in low light its basically white. If you add more light it changes colours etc. The pearl stuff in the paint changes the way light reflects back off the surface .
It can change colours to a single colour so black will look blue in direct sun or you can have it as a colour split so it will change to purple in one direction and a different colour in a different direction

That make sense?

Yet another day where I have learnt something. I now know what its called. Isn't there a HSV colour out there that does that? Black turns purplish? Perhaps it was just on a custom ute I saw.

Anyway, I have metalic paint and never again. As Tony points out above the bush pin strips are just murderous.

 

[Aussie Frontier]

The truck is currently Midnight Black or black metallic. painters have tried 4 times to colour match and none can get it right. hence its now going the same as a Nissan D40 Frontier in Super Black or straight black tinter.
The pearl goes into the first coat of clear over the black base. As I said mine is a Street Queen so not likely to see many trees lol. However the factory paint is as soft as butter. I will be using amuch tougher paint from Glasurit not factory PPG. Ontop of that the painter is saying that paint Protection these days is worth the money to stop minor scratching.

 

[BOOGZ STR]

I'd not bother, because I'd hate to see a grown man crying over bush pin stripes.

i'm with tony, if i had the choice just matte black for me

 

[MAD D40]

Paint will scratch regardless of colour. White usually gets black scratches anyway.
Your getting the paint redone for it too look good so go for what you like the most.
If pearl suits you go for it you now have a few answers to colour pearls too think about.
At the end of the day if it has got a scratch no point crying over it at least the thing still runs.
Use it for what its ment for take it to the track and have fun with it.

Voodoo Ride polish followed by Meguiars tech 2 wax does wonders for the scratches too for future reference.

 

[scottybobcat]

Glaserate is the best paint on the market aswell.Have a look at different pearls and decide from there .I would go for it as yours is 2 wheel drive and it will look hot.
All the cars I have done over the years I heve done in pearl and they look great.You dont have to stop at 1 pearl either you can put a few different tinters in it but you need them to write the paint mixture down so you can colour match if you damage it.