Black Magic paint.

[Yorkie]

Buses, narrow boats and railway locomotives were traditionally painted by brush - not by spraying, a skill known as 'coachpainting'. i think that original dark green Land Rovers were also coachpainted. A visit to the National Railway Museum at York or the Crich Tramway Museum near Matlock will provide ample evidence of paintwork with barely a brushstroke in sight.

Lots of firms around who specialise in this work:

http://www.busandcoachpainters.co.uk/

As to Colin's handiwork, having visited him twice, I can confirm that his window frames and handrails up his path - all hand painted - look like they're high gloss plastic extrusions. Quite how he achieves such a standard in such an exposed and windy location, with all the insects, pollen and dust in the air is a mystery to me!

As to water-based paints, acrylic aerosols sold by the likes of Halfords are often water based, and I think many modern cars are too. I must say however, that I avoid any varnishes that say on the tin 'wash brushes in water after use' like the plague. I find that the finish attained is very poor and most certainly does leave brush strokes. I've tried them on our front and back mahogany doors and doorsteps, then sanded them down and use oil based varnish to much better effect.

I don't know whether makers of these products think that ease of clean-up of brushes is more important to users than the finish obtained, or whether it's part of the inexorable drive to make products 'safer'. That's how we ended up not being able to buy creosote any more, and instead, are offered inferior substitutes at far higher prices. Decorative perhaps, but not as preservative as creosote.

Although paint and chocolate are two quite different products, I'd have thought they were on dodgy ground for infringement of a trade mark name using the term 'Black Magic' for the paint. That said, there are examples I can bring to mind where the same name is used for diverse products - for example, Polo Mints, Polo Tee Shirts, Polo Cars...no connection between them.

Is it only available in black, like the 'Model T' Ford? If not, it's an odd title for other colours. (The paint used in video of the guy who painted the interior of his car [while still under warranty!] looked like grey to me).