In my youth, every kit direction said that we were supposed to paint the chassis of model cars black, so that was default. But nowadays, with cars now more realistic and expensive (as is paint), some kit manufacturers are having chassis painted in overall body color, with certain chassis components in other colors.

I have a 1967 Chevrolet SS in store. The kit says a black chassis, but what is really the case?

Tom,
Back in 1970 I was in the other camp; Ford, so I saw a lot more Fords then the occasional Chevy up close and personal. To a tee they were all semi gloss to dirty Matt Black. And just to confuse the issue even more, back then the cars came with basic rust proofing and the dealer always tried to sell you more. That stuff was something like semi gloss black when brand new.

So going with a semi gloss Black is more then a safe bet.

Joel

For accuracy's sake, it's not as cut and dry as saying, "Paint it black." The chassis color depends on the car manufacturer and model years, among other things. For years, Mopar chassis, unibodies from 1960 and up, had gray primered undersides with a slight overspray of the body color extending from the rocker panel and partially on the floor pan. GM vehicles from the '50s had red primer on the floor pan and the frame rails were semigloss black. If you want to go quick and dirty, use flat black and just say that it represents dealer applied weather coating. Check out Model Cars Magazine Forums for info. There are numerous threads about the subject there.