Faux-tina

[Diablo de la Noche]

So, I was watching "Trucks!" on tv and they had an episode on how to patina your truck. It looked really easy and looks very cool. Here is how it goes:

1- get the colors you want to use, black underneath, primer color, outside (imagined original color), white highlight. They used dupli-color pint cans for the black, red mixed with a little black for the "primer" and rattle can light blue metalic for the outside, and rattle can white for the highlights.

2- Mask off everything you want to keep clean.

3- Brush, that's right, brush on the black over the top of your dirty old paint using almost random paterns. I don't think they even prepped beyond cleaning the mud and bird poo off the surface. The rougher, the better. Let it dry. Roll on the primer color, let it dry. Spray on the outside color (it doesn't have to be perfect), then lightly spray some highlight to look like a bit of oxidation.

4- Wet sand using your hands (and sand paper of course, unless you are REALLY caloused up) with medium grit paper. Add a couple drops of dish soap to a bucket of water and use a wet rag to drizzle the water on the sanding surface, keeping it really wet. Remember that the sun usually causes the paint to patina, so sand off the paint mostly on top. You can go all the way to the metal if you want the rusty look, or you can stop at the black "under coat". If you take off too much, just add more paint and go at it again in that area.

5- Sand off all the shiney-ness on the rest of the truck (just not the windows) and there you have it, faux-tina!

It only took about 10 minutes for them to do one fender, but I have a sneaking suspicion it was the magic of television. Shouldn't take more than a weekend, or a month if you work as slow as I do.

I liked the idea, and thought some of you guys would like it too. My appologies to any purists out there, and more appologies to anyone who already did it and wanted to keep it a secret!

The blue fender is the faux-tina they did on the show. Looks pretty realistic to me!

[big_al_71]

To me is cool to look at but is something I would not be interested in doing. I would much rather have a serious paint job that I can get lost in looking at it.

[Jobe72]

Fake patina is pretty dumb...haven't seen one that didn't scream fake when I saw it.
If you want patina...find a truck with it...lots of them out there!

[colin_havens]

I personally like the idea. Lots of people like this look, but I personally dont want to watch my truck rust away. For people like me, where mine had the rust repaired several years ago and a paint job put on it, it would allow for a weekend change up on the cheap, and being able to know that I can easily sand that down, and repaint without doign a ton of rust repair.

Also for anyone that watches the show or looked hard at the picture he posted, you would notice the frenched in headlights. They also installed the old caddiliac bullet tails in the rear fenders, both which were popular mods back in the day when this truck was more popular. I cannot think of another way to perform these mods and keep the natural patina on your truck without it looking like an unfinished project. What they have done is make it look like the body mods were done 40 years ago, and you have brought this past custom back to life. I personally like it.

Now that being said, my paint job is still in good shape, although Im dieing for a repaint and update just to freshen up the look. I wont be doing this on mine, but it has crossed my mind. At the end of the day, its your ride and your artistic visons and personal tastes in automobiles coming out in what you do with your truck. Post some pics if you decide to do it as I would love to see them.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

I myself feel that the whole patina thing is slowly going away.. Its neat if its real but I don't care for people doing it unnaturally...

[Tx Firefighter]

I am not one too big on faking patina but I do enjoy having a truck with it. About 12 years ago I built a pretty nice truck. I hated it. I was too afraid something was going to happen to it.


My trucks since then have been so much more fun and worry free. You don't think
rain clouds or mud puddles worry me now do you ? But I do admit I have patina-ized
some of the mods I did to make them match the truck better.


Actually faking age and wear can be pretty fun and takes skill to make it look right. And fun is what these old trucks are supposed to be.

[**grumpy**]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

About 12 years ago I built a pretty nice truck. I hated it. I was too afraid something was going to happen to it.

My trucks since then have been so much more fun and worry free. You don't think
rain clouds or mud puddles worry me now do you ?

This^^^

I had a beautiful, straight, perfect Black 53 Chevy truck with flames. It was so perfect you could eat off the bottom. I loved it, and I hated it. I was a nervous wreck everytime I took it out, and found myself yelling at my kids if they got within 15 feet of it.
I had so much time and money in it, and couldnt afford to fix that paint if it got messed up.

So since then, Ive had a dozen or so trucks and suburbans that were primer, weathered or just a satin finish.

So much more fun to me. So much more fun...

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I am not one too big on faking patina but I do enjoy having a truck with it. About 12 years ago I built a pretty nice truck. I hated it. I was too afraid something was going to happen to it.


My trucks since then have been so much more fun and worry free. You don't think
rain clouds or mud puddles worry me now do you ? But I do admit I have patina-ized
some of the mods I did to make them match the truck better.


Actually faking age and wear can be pretty fun and takes skill to make it look right. And fun is what these old trucks are supposed to be.

My current truck looks darn near identical to your red one and I used to have my '67 Frankentruck. I stress about my bright, shiny red truck especially when I have to park it somewhere other than home whereas I never had to stress about the '67.

[dukkie]

Im thinking of adding just a shop logo to the doors but want it to look old, i guess i would use this same technique?

[Ackattack]

I have thought way too much about doing this to my beater 69 GMC "no buck". I think if I weren't moving in a few months and was going to keep the truck I'd do it.

I figure it would really make it look a lot better (and I could fix the bed where I welded it back together) and be cheap.

And then I could do the rust repair on the cab later (or get a different cab in better shape). I could then just re-create the faux-tine on the cab and it wouldn't have to be perfect.

I like the patina look, but I think the fad of it will go away (and I fully I admit that I probably like it because it is a fad) Oh well.

[Jim_PA]

That's why I'm still considering doing mine with thinned-down heavy machinery paint in my garage.

I think one day I'll want some color, but I don't have a bubble to keep my truck in.

[Diablo de la Noche]

These are my thoughts. My particular truck has a beat up body and a crappy white rattle-can paint job (thanks PO). Trucks in my area don't rust and therefore don't patina very well. I love the patina look and the "rat-rod" look, (traditional hot rod look, if you are a purist). I'm not rich and therefore can't afford to just go out and buy a patina'd truck on a whim, I'm stuck with this one. So it is a logical step for me, personally.

A lot of people don't like the patina look, or the original look for that matter. That's fine. I like the Foose look, too. It takes a lot of skill to create a perfect custom paint job, or a perfect restore paint job for that matter. But, it takes creativity to imagine what your truck would look like with some weathering, then it takes artistic ability and skill to actually put that vision on your truck and make it look authentic.

There are two types of people who appreciate classic vehicles. People who have the money and means to build a dream machine, and people who want to. When you see a finished classic car, you can appreciate it. However, when you see an unrestored classic that is driving around, it puts your imagination to work. I like to think about the possibilities, what I would do to the vehicle if I could get ahold of it. When we see an old shop truck, we imagine what it has been through, who has driven it, where it has been. It is like a time machine that can take us back to the days when hot rod parts were plentiful, our favorite vehicles were on every street corner, and gas was cheap.

That is the point of the patina'd shop truck genre, to ignite the imagination.

[bruceman1968]

Originally Posted by Diablo de la Noche

These are my thoughts. My particular truck has a beat up body and a crappy white rattle-can paint job (thanks PO). Trucks in my area don't rust and therefore don't patina very well. I love the patina look and the "rat-rod" look, (traditional hot rod look, if you are a purist). I'm not rich and therefore can't afford to just go out and buy a patina'd truck on a whim, I'm stuck with this one. So it is a logical step for me, personally.

A lot of people don't like the patina look, or the original look for that matter. That's fine. I like the Foose look, too. It takes a lot of skill to create a perfect custom paint job, or a perfect restore paint job for that matter. But, it takes creativity to imagine what your truck would look like with some weathering, then it takes artistic ability and skill to actually put that vision on your truck and make it look authentic.

There are two types of people who appreciate classic vehicles. People who have the money and means to build a dream machine, and people who want to. When you see a finished classic car, you can appreciate it. However, when you see an unrestored classic that is driving around, it puts your imagination to work. I like to think about the possibilities, what I would do to the vehicle if I could get ahold of it. When we see an old shop truck, we imagine what it has been through, who has driven it, where it has been. It is like a time machine that can take us back to the days when hot rod parts were plentiful, our favorite vehicles were on every street corner, and gas was cheap.

That is the point of the patina'd shop truck genre, to ignite the imagination.

Well said night devil well said. I agree with you 100 percent

[chris71]

I like it, and i dont think patina is a fad so much, it may be really popular right now, but patina was around 10 years ago and will be 10 years from now, its a fact of the old car/truck hobby, we are constantly seeing patina on old cars being pulled from barns, on parts at the flea market, etc. i think it is a neat alternative to spending thousands of $ on glass like paint. I think on the episode it cost them like $100, which includes the cost of the sandpaper. dont get me wrong i love a good paint job, i dont mind blowing 5G on paint for a show truck, but for my daily driver (that just got hit last saturday by the way) or shop truck, I think patina or fo-tina has its place. plus it alows you to get creative and say, hey, I did that.

[GruntMoanCough]

Originally Posted by Diablo de la Noche

.......But, it takes creativity to imagine what your truck would look like with some weathering, then it takes artistic ability and skill to actually put that vision on your truck and make it look authentic.

Amen!

[junkyardjohn]

Rat rods, hot rods & patina finishes (either real or faked) are three completely different things. To me it's kinda like someone saying 72 chevy luv, a 72 international & a 72 cheyenne super are the same. After all... There all trucks. to each his own. John