How do you get metallic paint?
Discussion
Not strictly a kit car questions, but I figure if you can build a kit car you might know something about paint...
My BMW has colour-coded plastic caps on the back of the wing mirrors, one of them took a knock and came loose so I bought an unpainted replacement. I think I must have been trying for 2 years to paint the damn thing! I got the plastic primer, metallic silver paint made according to the paint code, and the top laquer. The paint colour is a very good match but it always comes out flat even after laquering and polishing. I thought I had it when I read you have to flat the last coat of paint before applying laquer, I used wet&dry under running water and while wet it looked like a metallic finish. But as soon as it was dry and laquered it was dull again.
If you need to repaint part of a panel, how do you blend the new paint in? I gues the existing paintwork needs to be rubbed down, but that would ruin the finish and you would end up having to repaint everything?
This is mostly just out of curiosity because I got a bodyshop to do the spraying in the end. I now have a mark on the wing which needs painting but based on my lack of success so far I'm sure that will have to be a professional job as well...time to start saving!
Thanks for any answers you can offer.
My BMW has colour-coded plastic caps on the back of the wing mirrors, one of them took a knock and came loose so I bought an unpainted replacement. I think I must have been trying for 2 years to paint the damn thing! I got the plastic primer, metallic silver paint made according to the paint code, and the top laquer. The paint colour is a very good match but it always comes out flat even after laquering and polishing. I thought I had it when I read you have to flat the last coat of paint before applying laquer, I used wet&dry under running water and while wet it looked like a metallic finish. But as soon as it was dry and laquered it was dull again.
If you need to repaint part of a panel, how do you blend the new paint in? I gues the existing paintwork needs to be rubbed down, but that would ruin the finish and you would end up having to repaint everything?
This is mostly just out of curiosity because I got a bodyshop to do the spraying in the end. I now have a mark on the wing which needs painting but based on my lack of success so far I'm sure that will have to be a professional job as well...time to start saving!
Thanks for any answers you can offer.
I believe that metallic paint has lots of little "metallic" flakelets in it, which is what gives the metallic or shimmer effect. Depending on how the paint is sprayed can affect the finished look .... for example, if you paint a very thin layer of paint, lots of the flakelets will be lying flat, so this makes the finished article appear "lighter". If you paint a fairly thick layer of paint, this allows more of the flakelets to be vertical, or near vertical, in the thicker paint layer, meaning that less light is reflected on the whole, and the same paint appears "darker". It requires a good painter to get the match just right (better than me anyway 
)
)The secret you are looking for is 'wet on wet'.
Flat paints can be flatted between coats, however if you do this on metalic you can effect the layering of the metal flakes.
Therefore the best way is to paint the base coats and apply the lacquer before it has fully curred (as if you leave it too long you will need to give it that damaging key). This process is known as 'wet on wet'.
The other more skilled part of matching metalic paint (once the colour, flake content etc is sorted) is getting the flakes to lay the same as they are on the car.
This is very hard and many variables are present like how far away the gun is held, how quickly you move the gun, what pressure you set the gun at, how the fan on the gun is set...... you get the picture.
Not a black art, but it does take practice.
As an example, when I sprayed my cossie (funnily enough in a BMW colour) I had an aerosol made with the same paint. I recently tried to blow in a patch on the bonnet, and god does it stick out. like yours the flakes are miles out. I'll have to get the gun out to get a decent finish.
Flat paints can be flatted between coats, however if you do this on metalic you can effect the layering of the metal flakes.
Therefore the best way is to paint the base coats and apply the lacquer before it has fully curred (as if you leave it too long you will need to give it that damaging key). This process is known as 'wet on wet'.
The other more skilled part of matching metalic paint (once the colour, flake content etc is sorted) is getting the flakes to lay the same as they are on the car.
This is very hard and many variables are present like how far away the gun is held, how quickly you move the gun, what pressure you set the gun at, how the fan on the gun is set...... you get the picture.
Not a black art, but it does take practice.
As an example, when I sprayed my cossie (funnily enough in a BMW colour) I had an aerosol made with the same paint. I recently tried to blow in a patch on the bonnet, and god does it stick out. like yours the flakes are miles out. I'll have to get the gun out to get a decent finish.
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