To faux-tina or not to faux-tina...

[Improbcat]

I've been doing a ton of body work on my truck lately, and it has reminded me just how much I hate body work. Welding & grinding is fine, but once I get the filler, and high-build primer and the endless blocking & sanding it hurts my hands & arms and is just generally miserable. On top of it, I do not have an "eye" for it, so even after a ton of work it still doesn't look very straight.

Add to that the fact that I don't have the equipment or skill to paint the truck well, nor the money to pay someone else to do it and I'm not sure what all that miserable bodywork is working towards.

If I do get it all straight and painted, then I fear I will either be too afraid to use it as a truck for fear of damaging the paint, or scratch or dent it using it as a truck like I regularly do. Also with a garage as tight as mine is, eventually I'll scrape the side of the tool box, or whack something into the door...

To that end, I've been thinking of doing a subtle faux-tina paint job like 63c10step did in the fauxtina thread.



mine would be a dark hunter green, but the basic idea would be the same, sanded down till it is flat, and with a bit of the primer showing through here & there.

Seems like the best of most worlds. Paint job that is far more forgiving of marginal bodywork, less money & time in the paint itself, a nice "careworn" look, and something I wouldn't be terrified of messing up.

Thoughts?

Oh, and saving the paint job on the truck is out, as the cab and most of the front sheetmetal is being replaced, and the bed needs work in a ton of spots.

[LVPhotos]

Leave it alone and stock pile the parts. I would rather see it the way it is vs a fake. Just prime it if you do.

[chevyrestoguy]

I would study real, natural patina trucks for a long time before you decide to do this. To me, when a patina is faked, it looks 100% faked. Real patina is never consistent, and fake jobs always assume that every body line, edge and high spot automatically fade away. Untrue.

[Improbcat]

Originally Posted by LVPhotos

Leave it alone and stock pile the parts. I would rather see it the way it is vs a fake. Just prime it if you do.

I have the parts, it is the actual body work that is the issue. Plus the fear that after putting tons of money & time into a perfect shiny paint job I'm likely to damage it since it get used as a truck a lot.

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

I would study real, natural patina trucks for a long time before you decide to do this. To me, when a patina is faked, it looks 100% faked. Real patina is never consistent, and fake jobs always assume that every body line, edge and high spot automatically fade away. Untrue.

Yeah, I agree. Plus I was only planning to wear it through in a few small spots. I want one with what looks like a bit of wear not one that is 80% back through to primer.

Originally Posted by Wasted Income

Guys who do fauxtina should have thieir arms lopped off at the elbow.

Really? People who like a paint style you don't should be horribly mutilated and spend the rest of their life massively disabled? You sound like a really pleasant guy to be around.

[chevyrestoguy]

My '64 has a natural patina, the paint is all original. If you check out my build thread, you can see that the patina is real haphazard. It doesn't have a rhythmic, consistent wear pattern like you see on the fake ones. Feel free to use my '64 as a guide for your upcoming patina project.

Here's one thing to remember:
Our trucks were painted on an assembly line by humans. The guy on the left side may have been a painter that liked a heavier coat sprayed on a single pass, whereas the right side guy may have liked light coats with multiple passes. On my bed, the area above the trim on the driver's side is patina'd down to the black primer, but the area below the trim is not. It's the exact opposite on the passenger side, the upper is OK, and the lower is thin. It's really weird. On my passenger door, you can see where the painter added some more paint to the front section of the door below the trim line. The paint is thicker there, and everything around it wore down to the primer. There is no consistent fading or paint wear-off on any part of the truck. That's what I meant by studying real patina'd trucks before you start yours.

And another thing.....the body parts were stamped and primed at many different locations, and many of them did not use the same primer colors. My bed has black electrostatic primer, but everywhere else on the truck has red oxide primer. That's another way to spot a fake! Most faux jobs have the same primer underneath from front to back.

I always wanted to try this method on an old junk factory painted (lacquer) fender or door. I would like to use a baking soda blaster with the pressure turned waaaay down and just lightly fog around in certain spots and see if the paint can be gently removed without any hard edges. I think it would work. With a soda blaster, you can remove paint layer by layer, and with low pressure and a wide pattern, you can eliminate a hard edge. After blasting, you could lightly wet sand it with a green Scotchbrite and knock off the nubs.

[Wasted Income]

Originally Posted by Improbcat

Really? People who like a paint style you don't should be horribly mutilated and spend the rest of their life massively disabled? You sound like a really pleasant guy to be around.

I am sure that I'm more pleasant to be around as someone who can't identify hyperbole.

[NixxiN]

I agree to the arm chopped off rule. We can hang together.

[Wasted Income]

Guys who do fauxtina should have thieir arms lopped off at the elbow.

[JWheeler331]

Originally Posted by Wasted Income

Guys who do fauxtina should have thieir arms lopped off at the elbow.

Good thing about the Car/Truck Hobby is that there is a niche for everyone. If you like show trucks you will find plenty of guys who like those also. If you like rat rods there is a group of people for that. Faux-Tina, yep......a group of people who like those also.

Its your truck..... Just have fun with your truck.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

I would study real, natural patina trucks for a long time before you decide to do this. To me, when a patina is faked, it looks 100% faked. Real patina is never consistent, and fake jobs always assume that every body line, edge and high spot automatically fade away. Untrue.

Exactly. My '64 VW still has it's original paint still and its starting to wear/fade through. It's not coming off evenly at all- once a spot hits primer it really starts to deteriorate from the primer out, not the paint down. So the same car can have spots that are evenly faded, and some patchy primer spots. There are other places where the paint is so thin that the primer shows through so it's a slightly different color. There are also two different colors of primer and it depends on how far its faded off as to what color shows.

Surface rust on original paint cars comes from underneath the paint, not on top!! You can't recreate that look. And it's usually rust stains, not really that much actual rust coming through the paint.

The biggest problem with recreating patina is that real faded patina keeps the orange peel of EVERY layer. The primer layer has orange peel, and the paint wears off the high spot of the peel, so the primer's orange peel shows through WHILE the paint still has orange peel on top of that. Can't reproduce that...

Originally Posted by Wasted Income

Guys who do fauxtina should have thieir arms lopped off at the elbow.

Can this post be a sticky??

[LostMy65]

I'm with you.
I'm keeping mine simple.
I admire those that have the 'stay-to-it' to do a shiny paint job, but then I'd worry about every scratch and ding.

[LostMy65]

Here's mine.
I'm not trying to fake patina.
If I was, someone should cut my arms off.

[LostMy65]

Has this thread been derailed into a discussion about arms being lopped off?
.
Seriously though, only a few end up with a nice real patina truck. And depending on the area you live, real patina would quickly turn to rot.
.
So, those of you who passionately hate faux-tina, what are some other options open to the OP?
He doesn't want to spend laborious hours preparing his truck for shiny paint, and he doesn't want a paint job where he has to worry about every scratch and ding.
What is your recommendation for the OP?

[Wasted Income]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

So, those of you who passionately hate faux-tina, what are some other options open to the OP?
He doesn't want to spend laborious hours preparing his truck for shiny paint, and he doesn't want a paint job where he has to worry about every scratch and ding.
What is your recommendation for the OP?

I would suggest what hot rodders who've faced the same dillemma for decades have turned to. Flat black primer. Looks killer, is timeless, and not dorky like trying to fake patina.

Originally Posted by LostMy65

I really contemplated a look like this;
I don't know what someone would call this, but I wouldn't call it patina. They aren't trying to fake a worn original paintjob.

If they're not trying to fake a worn paint job...then what are they doing? Still looks like fake patina to me, just a different twist on it.

[LostMy65]

I really contemplated a look like this;
I don't know what someone would call this, but I wouldn't call it patina. They aren't trying to fake a worn original paintjob.

[LostMy65]

Yes, flat black is a good option.
The flat colors help hide imperfections in the body. I have done some looking into flat blue.
Flat colors can be tricky and some have obvious tiger stripes.
But then again, it's all in personal preference.
Spending time in these forums, I've grown to appreciate all the varieties we have of our trucks.
Here is an option if you don't want to have to do any body work.
It was a rusty color red, but of course, I had to make it blue.

[WhippinSaw]

That truck is so big you'll be an expert by the time your finished and doing some touch up will be easy

[Timborees]

I try to be very open minded on this issue (like Jwheller), but I have to agree with most that faking it just doesn't seem right.... so easy to pick and to me it just lacks something.... (trying hard to not be judgmental!)... I have an original '68 that the paint comes off every time I wash it and the natural patina is no-way even.... Mine has obviously had the doors re-painted to then place a shop logo on it at some time, so it is even more uneven.... It is very interesting when you pull up next to a Faux-Tina with a real one at a show and the conversations that follow between the owners.

[slowcpe]

Obviously its your truck and paint it the way you want.

I totally understand not wanting too nice of a paint job on a truck as I'm in a very similar situation. I bought my truck to be a truck and don't want to stray away from that or buy another beater because this one is too nice.

I've considered doing the faux-tina or flat red when the time comes to paint the truck. I agree with the comments about over-doing it or looking fake. If I go down the faux-tina route I plan to spend a lot of time researching and make it subtle. But that amount of time could also go into actual bodywork. A base coat with flat clear seems to make sense to me at this point. However I have a few years to make an actual decision.

You could also do a simple cheap single-stage paint and sit it outside to get patina

[evolve520]

In my case I wanted to get some paint on and remove the horrible flame job the PO did over black and gray primer. I have kids who like to drag things across the garage so spending good money on paint seemed like a waste. Instead I used a couple hundred bucks of paint and went faux-patina. I'm happy with it, I don't care if it gets scratched or dirty and I get compliments on it all the time. And I know about the bumper.... old picture. It is straight now

[LostMy65]

So far that's 3 who want people who do faux-tina to have their arms cut off at the elbow.
But of course it's just hyperbole.
So I say we gouge their eyes out.
Someone with arm stubs could still paint another faux-tina by taping the gun to their stubs.

[ImpalaJim]

[schpeen]

I enjoy waxing my truck. It gives me a chance to fondle her!

[ImpalaJim]

Originally Posted by schpeen

I enjoy waxing my truck. It gives me a chance to fondle her!

Well this ones satin and I um wax it!

[AcampoDave]

What about Rustoleum? This paint job cost me about 350 bucks. (Start to finish) It does chalk in the sun but it buffs out. Plus you can custom mix your own color. Mine is a blend of blue, green and white.