Funny detailing story...

[DUBL0WS6]

My neighbor bought an old 60's Ford pickup. Nice looking truck with aged paint, no real rust and a cool looking patina. Or that's what we thought. A few days later he washed the truck and the paint started looking more shiny. That's when he got suspicious and did an even deeper cleaning. Turns out a lot of the aged patina was nothing more than black wax applied to the single stage paint. Even the wheels were aged with black wax.

 

[Big DaveBig Dave is verified member.]

Never heard of black wax used to give patina to a car, but I have seen it done on old furniture.

When I bought my barely 2 year old Impulse Blue Commodore it was very nice and shiny, the paint looked very good. After the second wash I noticed the some scratches starting to appear on the hood in the perfect imprint of a soccer ball, I knew it was a soccer ball because of obvious hexagonal pattern. I later found out the dealers were using a product called Ducofill, basically a colour matched heavy wax that hid most paint defects.

And that vehicle led me to this hobby, I did a course at a Detailing Supplies shop and promptly spent almost $800 on stuff from them to "get me started". And I did manage to completely buff out the soccer ball mark.

 

[Desertnate]

That is funny! I know there is a segment of the automotive enthusiast world that goes for the patina look and tries to lock a car into it's current state, but I've never heard of someone trying to make it look more aged than it really is. I don't understand it, but I know it's a thing. Personally, I prefer restoration over preservation.

Speaking of preservation, the Ferrari 499P Hypercar that won Le Mans this year in the top prototype class was preserved in the exact state it crossed the finish line. They actually applied a clear coat over all the bug splatters, oil streaks, and globs of rubber to make sure everything is preserved. I've heard of some winning cars being pulled out of competition before and kept in their original livery, but never preserved in their filty post-race state.

 

[BLM]

Artificial patina is a concept I don't understand. For as long as I can remember vehicles that had real patina were vehicles that I said needed a paint job. It's not a look I would intentionally create and am not really partial to those with real patina. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Big DaveBig Dave is verified member.]

Of course you can get a vinyl wrap that mimics patina, at least it won't wash off. This is a prime example of too much.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Of course you can get a vinyl wrap that mimics patina, at least it won't wash off. This is a prime example of too much.

Years ago when I used to watch Gas Monkey Garage or whatever that show was called (edit--Fast N' Loud), they had an old pickup that looked a lot like that, and they sprayed clear over it to "lock in" that look, as was mentioned previously in different context.

 

[Big DaveBig Dave is verified member.]

Years ago when I used to watch Gas Monkey Garage or whatever that show was called (edit--Fast N' Loud), they had an old pickup that looked a lot like that, and they sprayed clear over it to "lock in" that look, as was mentioned previously in different context.

I have 11 of the Fast n Loud DVDs, so I probably have that on one of them somewhere. I also have Counting Cars, Overhaulin, Kindig Customs and a bunch of other car shows. I mainly watch stuff on YouTube now, but if the net ever goes down, I'm all set.

 

[DUBL0WS6]

I think the patina craze started with people who are car enthusiasts who just didn't have the insane amount of money needed for some restorations so they resorted to clear coating their paint in it's state of disrepair.