Well, the new (3.2.36) "Metallic Car Paints" are really a blast! For this I wanted more of a "candy apple red" look. Took about 30 seconds to tweak it! Hot Rod is mine, in SolidWorks. No post.
Bill G
That's really good work. (http://www.goldwingfacts.com/forums/images/emoticons/thumbsup.gif) .
Those candy reds are hardest to get right in CG or Photoshop. My Dad works in a car repair garage and they spray cars all the time. He says what gives the sharp "bite" to that kind of paint is because they spray the metallic base colour (often silver) on first, then the main tinted colour coats, and clear coat on top of that. What you end up seeing is the full colour with the metallic underneath it, instead of the normal method of having the metallic flecks mixed in the actual colour, which gives more of a duller result.
You got a good result on the front end, nice work.
That front highlight looks great, and I agree reds can be tricky (along with yellows), but going more to the dark end of the spectrum has helped avoid that funny look you can get.
Cheers!