5/29/08 Edit: Please also see:

http://thepropden.aokforums.com/black-p ... t1059.html


Foreword

Kustom Kolors is a subsidiary of Valspar, a company whose paints was supposedly used in ESB and ROTJ (I've not been able to verify this, however.)

I've heard that "Black Pearl" (like a very dark gun metal, almost black but with very fine metallic particles) and "Galaxy Gray" (a medium gun metal) might have been the colors used back then. That was so many years ago. Today, Kustom Kolors offers both of these but bear in mind we do not know if the formulation has changed, if at all. There may be some differences. Also, I'm not sure where this information originated from.

Black Pearl is in an aerosol can. It turns out that Galaxy Gray (slightly similar to Tamiya's Gun Metal and Duplicolor's T-177 Gun Metal) comes in a small glass jar for airbrushing. I don't own an airbrush so testing that will have to come at a later time.

Bsaically, Black Pearl is a black paint with some pearlesence. It's debatable whether it's a dark gray or not. Metallic particles will add a whitish effect to paint. Metallic particles can range in fineness; the larger the particles the more "grainy" they become. So paints with coarse particles will look like they have a lot of glitter, whereas paints with very fine particles will reflect with a subtle sheen without need for a gloss clear coat.

Back in the days of the production of the original trilogy, in dark, low lighting situations, anything that helps Vader's many facets refract or reflect light differently will allow the distinctiveness of his features to show up in celluloid film. I personally do not believe Vader was meant to come across as a zebra of alternating colors. Rather, I believe he was to be all black, but the painted highlights on alternating facets was necessary for the film camera to pick up the distinctiveness of his facial features in low light conditions.

Some dogmatically tell you "gloss black, gloss black, gloss black" and yet when you see photos of their work, their "screen-accurate" stuff just doesn't quite look right. Sometimes it's flash photography which over brightens anything it photographs, especially when photographed up close.

The advantage of Black Pearl (without a gloss coating) is that it gives a subtle sheen to the black without it being glossy and too reflective like gloss black.

Indoor studio lighting is going to be very different than outdoor. If you are trooping, then how you Vader is photographed is also a whole different story. Cameras might train their aperture on the brightness of your surroundings, so if you are in bright sunlight, your Vader costume might appear as one big black dark smear and your features would be obscured.

For indoor situations, Black Pearl might be advantageous. It's not "in-your-face." Quite frankly, I like it.



So that you understand the scale of what you're looking at, the above is a plasic 8" sphere photographed from 2-3 feet away (I tink)

I primed it with Duplicolor sandable primer (black). I then shot it with Black Pearl. No wet-sanding afterwards, though if I had shot extra layers, I might have wetsanded it at 2,000 and the buffed it.

Observe the granularity of the paint, and it's not bad for something that came out of a can. It's granularity is fine and subtle, so if you had a dark gun metal (not anything bright like aluminum) you'd probably create a nice contrast on your Vader.

Just an option. Not claiming this is exactly what they used on the screen helmets, but an option that can be purchased at WalMart for a reasonable price (visit their toy/hobby section).

It's hard to make out anything in that example. Would be easier to make out the colors if there was an abrupt line separating the two instead of a wavy blend of colors due to the spraying effect. And the harsh light doesn't help either. Any chance of getting a better example?

I have ordered the Black Pearl and would really like to see how it differentiates from the black and how gunmetal grey it looks.

That's just too dark for ESB (for ANH in any way too dark) ... Some shots
of the "Hero" Vader helmet in ROTJ seem to show a very dark Gunmetal
Tone, but this "Black Pearl" (AYYY, Captain Sparrow) seems just too dark.

For ROTJ "hero" (Vader and Emperor Death Star Arrival Scenes) I'd study
the "original" Gunmetal of the DP-Deluxe, as it looks pretty good and just
lacks a clearcoat in my opinion. But again - just a Theory

Well... you're missing the pictures... the Black Pearl was painted on top of a black undercoat... so you are seeing the black... and not much of the Black Pearl.

CSM... we need a better and more definable picture of the Black Pearl against the black.

I think he is actually suggesting using this Black Pearl as the black on your vader helmet, not as the gunmetal color... Hence his "Some dogmatically tell you "gloss black, gloss black, gloss black" and yet when you see photos of their work, their "screen-accurate" stuff just doesn't quite look right. Sometimes it's flash photography which over brightens anything it photographs, especially when photographed up close." Statment.

I think he is still suggesting using the gunmetal color as the lighter colors.

I could be way off though.

Well, if it really is meant as the black I can tell you right away it is wrong,
as I handled the TM Dome for quite some time, and the Original black ESB
paint does not look like that. It looks more like Tar - it is a glossy although
not shiny "gentleman" Black Tone, appearing more brownish than blueish
(there are alot of differences in black colors - sigh)
The closets I have seen that looks like it is the Black Color Tone that was
used on those famous black Vintage British Austin Taxi Cabs.
There is no "metallic" to this it is a deep and rich "soft" black - man it is
hard to describe ...

Okay, "Tar" works for me.

But it's good confirmation. Valspar was supposedly used in ESB. I learned from another board during my early months in the community it was "Galaxy Gray" and possibly "Black Pearl" but what you're saying contradicts that website's info.

Good info. But what level of gloss would you characterize this as?

If you're talking about the info on STT, then it was said that they used the Valspar Black and Black Pearl... and that you should stay away from Galaxy Grey from that other vendor, as it was too silvery.

The Black Pearl was used for the gunmetal highlights.

At least that's how I read it... but the pictures over there are not very good, so it's hard to tell how it really looks.

OKay.

So here is a paint test. I'm using an Don Post Deluxe with its original paint job. The same ball (no gloss coat, no polishing) is displayed to its right.



It's hard to say, currently, if this is a match or not. It's very similar.

1) We don't know what brands of paint that Don Post Studios used

2) Paints will lose their lustre over time depending on how much exposure they have to sunlight

3) There is only one very basic coating of Black Pearl on the plastic ball. It has not been polished or wet sanded by any means, so there is some natrual graininess from the paint droplets drying on the surface.

But despite these challenges, it doesn't look bad.....

That shows it off much better... looks pretty good. Now I'm no longer worried that I bought two cans of this Black Pearl stuff!

Well, the more I study this now, the more I actually like it. It shows differently under flash photography due to the metallic particles the paint contains, and their fineness.

As a result of indoor up-close flash photography, the highlights will appear brighter than what you'd see on the film. Consequently, people who paint their Vaders based on flash photograph's contrast might end up painting their highlights far too brightly.



I like how this turns out. The ball is now near the cheek, and they look very compatable.

Here is how the Don Post Deluxe (ESB/ROTJ) and the Black Pearl respond to flash photography at approx. 4 feet distance.



Please note that in movies, they do not use flash photography, nor did they use direct outdoor lighting for Vader.

Nicely done Mac. I have had a can of this stuff sitting on my workbench for 5 months or so I think. I shot some of it on my Rubies Vader prior to beginning the rework, and I was pleased with the results. I thought I would have it finished alot sooner so that I could post the results. Unfortunately that project has fallen way back to the back burner for now.

I didnt have anything to really compare the color to though, so I am pleased that this looks to match very well. It should be perfect for my Rubies that I am painstakingly going to rework into a ROTJ helmet.

I even picked up the Galaxy gray that I was going to try using an airbrush to see how the two compared. But unfortunately time has not been a friend thus far in letting me get some work done. One of these days though........

Good match, looks just right.

I was wondering if any of you out there OS would be able to get some of the black pearl sent over here to Australia?