By
Ron Coan, Mobsteel Custom Painter
Red is hot. Red is fast.
Red is good trouble. And Axalta’s
Radiant Red is the coolest red that
I’ve ever seen. It’s smokin’!
I had the pleasure of
painting the infamous No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS motorsports racecar for
Axalta’s Automotive Color of the Year 2015 reveal at SEMA automotive
aftermarket tradeshow this past November.
I used Axalta’s Cromax™ Mosaic low VOC solvent-borne paint that has top-notch
sprayability. I work with Axalta
products on a daily basis at Mobsteel, a custom design/build car shop in
Detroit. I love how the color goes down
and blends ever so nicely. A smooth blend
was key for the racecar, because I put a little twist on the styling. Radiant
Red faded brilliantly into black at the back of the car, reminiscent of
Axalta’s Brilliant Flames paint
scheme, driven by four-time NASCAR® Cup Series champion, Jeff
Gordon. The fade process could easily
get muddy, but not this one. It stayed
nice, red and clean. It was quite a
memorable experience to go to Hendrick Motorsports’ garage to paint the racecar.
There was a little
pressure, especially going to someone else’s shop. Nevertheless, it was a huge ego boost to
paint a car that millions of people see on a regular basis and the feedback
from spectators at SEMA was pure affirmation.
Every comment that I heard was so positive. I’m a humble guy. So it was nice to sit back and hear people
talk about it. The awesome reviews could
make even a tough guy like me get a little emotional. I’m not saying that happened, though. But it could have.
In the past, I’ve painted
many concept cars in red hues, but they were typically solid, saturated reds. However, Radiant
Red uses Axalta’s Vermeera™ technology in order to achieve a high chroma
color that also has an added sparkling effect.
It’s not your average red, people.
Radiant Red is so inspiring that I would love to spray one
of my favorite cars in this color–a 1950 Mercury Coupe. With its lines and roundness, Radiant Red would explode on this
car. The curves would really make the
color pop with all the glass flake technology.
That color…on that car would be a perfect match.
I’ve worked on quite
a few classic American beauties as well. You can see some of my work on a 1963
Lincoln Continental on a new television show titled, Mobsteel.
Check out Ron Coan in
his new NBCSN automotive reality show titled, “Mobsteel” along with the rest of
the team on Sunday, August 16, 2015 at 6 p.m. EDT and on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EDT,
following the premier.
About Ron Coan
Born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Ron first
started working in the automotive industry at the age of 15 when his neighbor
offered him a job washing cars at his auto body shop. Ron has been in the industry ever since,
graduating from South West Oakland Vocational Education Center with a certificate
in auto body repair. He has more than 30
years of experience painting custom cars. For the last nine years, Ron has been painting
classic cars for the design/build car company, Mobsteel based in Brighton,
Michigan. He also owns and operates the paint
removal and restoration company, Alternative Media Blasting in partnership with
Mobsteel. Ron was a celebrity painter
for the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS racecar driven by by four-time NASCAR®
Cup Series champion, Jeff Gordon. Ron’s newest
project is a 1952 Buick. Ron is also one
of the stars of a new automotive reality television show called Mobsteel that airs on NBCSN.
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| Ron Coan, of the Mobsteel crew from Detroit, is known for starting with “Detroit's finest vintage luxury cars and turning them into modern day menacing street machines.” |
