Paint question: Are there different shades of black?

[CarreraS2]

I suppose there's black, and jet fockin' black . . .

Is there a difference in shades of black? Or is black the easiest paint to match - black is black?

[Wickd89]

I think there are. Browse through a 911 book (like the little red book) and it has different codes. My car is a L700.

[slodave]

Some company in England claimed to have produced the blackest black about a year or two ago. Until I read that, I thought that black is black....

Dave

[nostatic]

you are, Spinal Tarp?

[slammed1000]

there are all types of black. for instince, onyx black used by gm has alot of brown in it. if you dont have a paint code you better have it matched.

[darkbeer]

as with "WHITE"...."BLACK" has many many variations, just ask any teenager into the "Goth" thing....
at the "Ventura" show I was looking at an early 911 sitting next to an SC...both "BLACK", but definately different BLACK's....

[stomachmonkey]

Yes there are different shades of black. Old graphics trick, if you want a "rich" black you add 15-20% Cyan to it. Just enough to punch it up without making it appear blue-black.

Black by itself is generally kind of flat.

[kqw]

"Black is Black, I want my baby back" ........Song from the late 60's....

However yes, there are different shades of black.

[Laneco]

As discussed above, there are definately different shades of black. You don't really notice the differences until you park two different black cars side by side. Then POW it jumps out at you. And this is no even going into the metallic or mica enriched black.

This last year, my husband painted two different cars with a black base coat and a clear coat. He used the exact same black paint on both cars but used two different "clears" over the top. Both clear coats were same maker, but one was significantly more expensive than the other, sort of a "high end" clear versus the "entry level" clear. Both cars are beautiful and black. But parked side by side, the car painted with the low-end clear has a distinct brown cast to it. The clear itself used on that car had a yellowish tint to it whereas the more expensive product looked nearly as clear as glass.

So not just the base color, but also the clear used make a difference in the final "shade" of black. angela

[Dantilla]

Shades of black, shades of white. If somebody mentions shades of grey, and Tech or Mul gets involved, this will be tossed into OT pretty quick.

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by stomachmonkey
Yes there are different shades of black. Old graphics trick, if you want a "rich" black you add 15-20% Cyan to it. Just enough to punch it up without making it appear blue-black.

Black by itself is generally kind of flat.

verrry interesting..

fwiw.. the old Dupont black was a favorite of a shop painter friend.

[Eric Coffey]

With regards to Porsche, I believe there were two distinct L700/041 (non-metallic "Schwarz" ) blacks. The older one is referred to as the "brown-black" and the new one (mid 1980's?) is referred to as the "blue-black".