candy apple red paint
 

The wife and I disagree on the above paint color popular today on some cars,, I claim t's like the custom candy apple red popular back in the 60's.

Question: is today's version similar?

george

Old candy paints were 3 stage
base(gold or silver)
candy color
clear

Formulas have changed to urethanes
and i doubt the newer ones use the base coat.

What about the appearance of the modern stuff compared to the '60s version?

george

I say that nothing 2 stage will equal the 3 stage

Can you give an example of the newer paint you speak of?

Several brands have it recently, saw a Tesla today also. I'll look around for more.

George

A true 3 stage Candy will have more depth.

The original candy paint in the '60s was a translucent color applied over a white, silver or gold base usually high metallic. The sun shining through the color and reflecting off the base gave the candy effect. White base gave the brightest, gold the darkest. Followed by several clear coats. Color choices were limited back then, the more coats you applied the darker the color.

Today you can buy premixed candy colors in dozens of colors or you can mix your own color using a concentrate mix. House of Kolor is what I like to use. Same basic procedure, base color, candy mix, followed by clear coat. Except today the base colors can be from vibrant to black, you can mix pearl or flake into the candy, lots of possibilities. Todays candy paints outperform yesterdays.

As far as todays factory OEM, there are several colors that can be made to look custom right out of the can and are easier to touch up. Such as this Corvette that I sprayed with 2009 Corvette Atomic Orange over a bright white base. Another one I like is 2014 Corvette Longbeach Red over a black base.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1710022415

Mazda Soul Red

This is as custom as I know of for production vehicles. Base, tint clear, clear.

Insurance adjusters will squeal if you get body damage as very difficult to match.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...380BA96CF.jpeg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=tVEU7XpAGWM

Mazdas painted that color really stand out, I can't think of a modern production car color that's any closer to looking like a candy paint job.

Is the Mazda paint 3 stage?
I know of some modern 3 stage paints,white diamond comes to mind.

Got the white diamond on my Allante.

George

To understand the difference between a Candy paint and a conventional paint you need to look at how the "paint system" is constructed. A conventional paint will have the plastic that forms the protective film, pigments that provide the color and solvents to make the paint sprayable. The pigments are suspended in the medium. This is like mixing fine sand with water, which results in an opaque system. If allowed to stand the pigments will fall out of solution. In a Candy system the color is provided by a dye which is soluble in plastic/solvent system. This results in a translucent system. This is similar to dissolving sugar in water. As has been pointed out the final color is dependent on the base coat underneath. The final color is also dependent on the NUMBER of coats of paint, as each succeeding coat will darken the color. This requires careful application of the Candy color as tiger striping can be the result of improper application technique.
The candys of the 1950-1960's were based on lacquer paint either nitrocellulose or acrylic lacquer. These systems have marginal durability. The current systems are based on Polyurethanes a much more durable system. I am not aware of any OEM that uses a true Candy paint.

That Mazda Red is 3 stage.

Next time you see one...have the owner open the door for you...so you can see the color in the jams....lmao !