Your father is a wise man. He's given you some very valid and important information to think about. I immediately thought about the "no buffing" limitation of a satin (really, anything that isn't gloss) when you said you were going black. I didn't want to deter you from your goals, so I kept my mouth (keyboard) shut. I'm glad he talked to you about all of that. I'm sure you'll be happy with it either way, but ultimately I think your father is right. You've always come back to red, you'll probably want it red at some point if you don't do it now.
One other thing to consider when choosing a color, if you haven't heard it already... The darker the color, the more flaws it will show (and harder to keep looking clean). White will hide a lot, and black hides nothing. Red is somewhere in the middle, but torch red in the sun is closer to white than black.
Keep at it. You'll get there. Your father is right, you've done a great job so far, especially for a first timer.
