Re: Metal flake paints
hopefully i wont start any wars with this one, but just some observations from someone who painted 20 cars a week for 4 years in a highend bodyshop and worked in a restoration shop prior to that.. probably 3000 to 4000 cars painted in one form or another, including 100's of gallons of Imron on fleet cement mixers and boats.. <br /><br />Lubedudes asessment earlier of how to do this repair is correct. although i am not a proponent of Dupont products other than Imron... amazing how a 25 yr old paint can maintain that long... although i still use Imron, i can no longer support Dupont after there whole Chromabase garbage they pulled years ago.. and as of late i've heard of some questionable things concerning the Nason line from friends in the industry, tho i can't vouche for that personally... i stick strictly to Glasurit and PPG products these days..<br /><br />just some sidenotes of interest, this thought that metallics can only be added to paint is incorrect. car colors are mixed from base tints according to weight.. there are various "silvers" that are defined as fine, medium, course, extra course, etc that are the basis for all standard metallics in auto finish. showcars and customs may have flake added, but no production car does.<br /><br />as far as pearls go.. there seems to be a misconception here that a "pearl" paint job is always the flip flop type look that you see with white Lexus's, etc.. a 3 stage paint system. this is incorrect. many colors have pearl directly in the base color as one of the tints. as a matter of fact, my chevelle below is a custom blue done like that. 3qrts blue pearl, 1 qrt 548 blue, 1 qt 427 blue.. then cleared. it turns purple under sodium lights at night, an unforeseen side effect of all that pearl.
<br /><br />most of the large metalflake, custom jobs, as seen in showcars, bassboats, etc are done by what was mentioned in previous posts. in a 3 stage system, color, flaked clear, clear... this can be achieved thru needle and cap sizing... whether gel or paint... this can and is often done with urethane. <br /><br />i would not recommend anyone put lacquer of any type on any marine application. matter of fact, i don't recommend lacquer for any project anymore. it's a misconception that you can only achieve a killer show paint job with lacquer. yes, some classes of show cars, etc are better done in laquer because that is the look you are trying to achieve. but alot of oldschoolers have a misconception that a urethane cannot achieve the "depth" or "luster" of a lacquer job. and that just isn't the case. let alone the fact that urethane is 1000 times more durable... also urethane can be worked just as effectively as lacquer when it comes to runs, drips, buffing, etc... the only advantage to lacquer is its rediculous ease of use as opposed to a urethane.<br /><br />
