Hi all I was wondering in the 50s was kandy paint used often, obviously there might be a difference between early 50s and late 50s but was kandy used across the whole of the 50s or more towards the end of the 50s ?
Candy paint was not invented until 1955.... https://kustomrama.com/wiki/Candy_Paint#:~:text=In 1955 Mel laid what,first to apply candy paint.
Used only by rich guys who had work done by custom shops. Before that 41 Chevy Ruby Maroon was the choice because it was the first metalic red. It was used on the Ray Vega 38 Ford tub when painted by Valley Custom Shop. Later, in the 50's, the same color was made popular again by Chevrolets as a factory color called Honduras Maroon. Candy Apple Red was invented by Joe Bailon
Yeah, they were 'show car' finishes, not practical for drivers. Candy paint fell out of favor pretty quickly. Even with Bailon's improvements, it still suffered from fading and was all-but-impossible to touch up or repair. And the clears used for the candy base back then had little or no UV protection, so paint failure was common. Metalflake had most of the same issues plus a few more. Again, the clears available as the medium to carry the flakes didn't hold up well. Fading wasn't as much of an issue as the color was 'built-in' to the flakes but the flake size was much larger than what's used today. This gave a very rough finish (imagine the worst orange peel you ever saw) unless buried in multiple coats of clear. Even without the extra clear coats, paint thickness of 1/16" or more was common and the brittle lacquers of the day would chip easily.
Thanks for the info and links thats much appreciated Only reason I asked is over in the uk a 50 ford club coupe project has come up for sale and it's sectioned and apparently was done in the 50s, not sure exactly what part of the 50s though. Been thinking about having a look and maybe buying
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