Hello. I am a newb here and was had a question about a paint job I recently did on my Triumph tank. The Grey I choose for the job didnt come out exactly the shade I expected (swatch looked darker than actual color once sprayed).

My question is, is there any method anyone can suggest to get an overall darker shade to an overall paint job before I finish with clear coat? Will the clear coat itself make it darker?

I was thinking of possibly trying a tint spray made for taillights to get the desired look, or maybe even Plasti Dip smoke spray incase it doesnt turn out right I can just peel it off.

I dont absolutely hate the final outcome, but I dont love it either. Id live with it as opposed to respray and retaping just to get a darker color. So I figured Id ask here first.

I will post an image of the actual color of the gray, and a photoshopped desired look l was trying to get. Thanks in advance!

How many coats of color did you shoot?
What was the color you painted over?

Hello. I had 7 coats of black underneath (5 plasti-dip to preserve original paint, a 2 gloss black) , and 2 coats of the gray on the top.

Original color was Red white and black

That's a lot of layers of material.
What brand paint are you using?

Generally, it takes about 3 coats to get the "true color" of the paint (without influence of undercoat) but it can take more than that with lighter colors. Spray out cards (black and white checkerboard) will help you determine how many coats. Once you reach true color you will not be able to tell the white squares from the black anymore, everything will look the same.

In your case, I would have thought painting only two coats over black would have produced darker color than you desired, not a lighter shade.

Your using all shaker can aren't you. in that case you might try the tail light tint but be ready for disappointment, the key would be to get it no nice and even. but that's about all you can do.
Jay D.

So...I found a video of a guy adding black paint to clear coat in order to give a darker tint to an overall paint job and it turned out great. In the end, however, I winded up going back to my original paint.

Just figured I would post incase anyone was trying to accomplish the same thing.

Here is the link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVMhcwXoYmk&index=3&list=WL&t=6s