If you go to the search tab and look up “hood blackout” or “hood template” you will find all the info and pics you need. But the black hood paint should be semi flat black. A lot of guys use Sem Hot Rod Black. My painter used his formula that he’s been using for 30 years.
Like Hemikiller said make sure that you or your painter gets the blackout pattern in the correct position, or it throws the whole look off. Center side to side and then the pattern should be set 2” back from the leading edge of the hood. Which means you measure from the front of the hood trim, not the hood edge.
Well put John.
For us who have been around the site for a few years, this is getting "old hat", but to a newer member, getting that black-out right could be pretty daunting. No matter how many new members ask this question, we all are more than willing to help out and assist with information or where to find this information.
I have a suggestion; perhaps someone with the skills, can put together a separate heading for Hood Black-Out (or Argent) where it all can be found at a click of a button.
One thing to remember, none of these hoods were painted perfectly, but some try to achieve perfection and why not, but should it end up 1/8" off, who's really going to notice?
When my hood was painted, it was me that screwed up. I told the painter 2" from the front of the hood forgetting that the trim piece was not yet on the car. The result was the front ended up 3" from the front. Also, I set the edges 6" in all the way back to front. Most agree that it was more like 5 3/8" at back to 5 7/8" by the scoops. There are pictures of this. The Templates available are not correct, but the one from Graphics Express seems to be about the best. My painter used this only as a guide and used plastic tape to do the actual masking. That template gave the edge dimension as 6" front to back. (Which from an esthetics point f view, looks to be a better proportion imo.)
Geoff.