BURTON MAIL - WEEKENDER CONSUMER Saturday, April 16th, 2011 - BLACK MAGIC

Stephen Sinfield

Stephen.sinfield@burtonmail.co.uk
 

Life's a box of chocolates but this paint really is magical.

The words Black Magic will more than likely strike one of two images in your head – one is a box of chocolates made by Nestle, the other means you’re a viewer of Ideal World’s Sunday DIY show.

The Black magic I’m interested in is certainly not the edible variety and is one which requires the use of a paintbrush.

I have watches the Ideal World DIY show many times and admit that I was thoroughly impressed with what appeared to be a super paint – but was this just shopping channel hype?

The paint stands out as being different as soon as it arrives – my 250ml sample came in a plastic tube with a crew top lid – no tin in sight.

The paint itself is water-based so is virtually odourless. When set against the white sides of the plastic tub the product takes on a slightly greyish charcoal tinge but it dries a satin jet black.

One thing to note about this paint is that a little goes a long way. Unlike some gloss paints where you have to ladle on so-called ‘one coat’ products, a brush full of Black Magic covers an unbelievable amount of surface area.

Passing over the basics, this product as you would expect creates a stunning black stain finish on wood. There are no brush marks, no nasty gloss paint fumes and it dries rapidly – touch dry in about 20 minutes on a sunny day.

But I didn’t want to try Black Magic on something as simple as wood. I want to paint all of those areas that are almost impossible to paint.

I wanted to paint plastic, rubber and rusty metal.

If you have ever attempted to paint plastic before you will know that as soon as the plastic flexes the paint starts to flake and eventually peels off. Blasting painted plastic with a hosepipe also tenders to fetch off huge sections of paint.

The plastic I was painting was badly weathered and had started to change from a shade of black to a worn shade of grey and therefore was in need of a new look.

Using Black Magic on plastic was surprisingly easy. Although water-based the paint didn’t run off and the slight greyish tinge to the wet paint made it possible to see where I had covered.

As an ultimate test, the product I was painting had remnants of silicone sealant present – the ultimate nightmare to try and conceal.

I gave my test piece two coats of the paint and although you can clearly see brush strokes when applying, the product dries smooth and blemish free. Even the silicone covered with ease.

I was thorough impressed with the finish of the dried paint but the ultimate test would be to flex the plastic.

I tried, but I couldn’t force this paint to crack, peel or flake. I even tried two or three days later once the plastic had had time to bake in the April sun but the finish was still perfect.

Painting rubber is not something that you need to do very often – if at all, but if you’re looking for a super flexible product likely to cause all sorts of problems for paint, then rubber is the obvious choice.

Again the Black Magic held firm and the finish as with the plastic was impeccable.

My next challenge for the paint was somewhat more traditional but one which I have always resorted to buying specialist paint for – metal.

The metal I was painting had been pre-treated but was starting to show signs of rust and corrosion.

The paint quickly adhered well to surface even though the existing paint had a weathered but gloss finish. I was again surprised at how well this water-based paint adhered to difficult surfaces.

Like the specialist metal paints on the market, Black Magic also contains rust neutraliser to give long-term metal protection.

At first the scepticism in me failed to believe what I was seeing on a television shopping channel – but I too can now verify that this general purpose paint is simply magical.

 

Burton Mail Saturday, April 30, 2011