Thoughts on metallic paint

[NotarPilot]

I plan to repaint my plane in the future and decided on getting some quotes. I have a paint scheme picked out but what I want to do is go with all metallic paint. Ideally the white base would be a pearl type color. Toyota has a nice looking color called "Blizzard Pearl" on their new Prius which is perfect and very popular.

I called a paint shop in Arizona and spoke with a guy who actually said he would recommend against going with a white metallic base because it's difficult to touch up. He's fine with the secondary colors being metallic though. I think I remember him saying a metallic base would also be difficult to paint because of the overlying clear coat needed. This is the only paint shop that's recommended against a metallic base.

So what do you guys think? I keep the plane hangared so I think that would help keep it looking new longer We all know Cirrus has done all metallic paint jobs for years. So if it really that bad to go with all metallic?

[TWinter]

Don't know about your questions, but that sure is pretty.

 

 

 

-Tom

[Hank]

Some of my colors are metallic, some are not. Never heard of avoiding base coat metallics, though.

[carusoam]

I have a color shifting dark blue metallic. No issues yet.

Best regards,

-a-

[Sabremech]

Metallic paint is awesome until touch up is required. That may not be needed much on a Mooney, so it might be just fine. 

David

[NotarPilot]

Those are some beautiful examples.

[carqwik]

The Blizzard Pearl paint is more than just a metallic paint.   From a web source:

Metallic: Usually uses very small flakes of aluminum to give the car an obvious sparkle. These aluminum flakes are relatively uniform in size and are evenly mixed with the paint itself.

Pearl: This paint type uses small flakes of mica, a synthetic material that resembles the sheen of a natural pearl. The mica particles are also the same in size and mixed with the base paint.

Pearlescent paints are used by many auto manufacturers, mostly higher end lux brands, and is an extra cost paint finish.  Typically it's only found with shades of white for factory finishes.   

While I wouldn't rule it out for your plane, I'd suggest doing more research to see how well a pearlescent paint can be applied in a typical aircraft paint shop versus a modern auto factory paint booth (which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars to install).

[Little Runaway]

There's nothing magic about pearl or metallic colors--only that they really need to be a two-stage (base coat + clear coat) for durability and longevity. You can paint metallic/pearl colors in single-stage (no clear coat)  but you won't get the same gloss and paint oxidation will be more of an issue. You can't wet sand and buff single-stage metallics/pearls because you end up removing the flakes and it will look uneven. With clear-coats, you can wet sand the clear and buff it back to shine without affecting the base coat.  Virtually all automobiles use multi-stage paints now. They really are that much better. 

I suspect that the shop you visited paints a single-stage white base and then uses single or multi-stage accent colors. Paint's cheaper and it's less labor that way and this is still a fairly common way to paint airplanes and industrial equipment. If I were in your shoes I would paint the entire plane with two-stage paint. It will cost a little more but will be worth it, IMO. I've seen some really nice paint jobs in these forums and it's really easy to tell an aircraft that is painted with a base coat/clear coat.

And then there's 3-stage paint, but that's another story. Basically, it's a base coat, clear coat with pearl mixed in or a translucent coat, and then a clear coat on top. 3-Stage colors are used on some high-end cars, especially the white pearl Cadillacs and the rasberry pearl colors on several models. Unnecessarily expensive and can be a real bear to color match if you need future repairs.

Good luck!

-Aaron

Edited March 6, 2016 by aaronsn

[NotarPilot]

7 hours ago, Sabremech said:

Metallic paint is awesome until touch up is required. That may not be needed much on a Mooney, so it might be just fine. 

David

Just curious why you think touch up wouldn't be needed much on a Mooney.

And thanks Carqwik and Aaron for your insightful comments.

[Guest]

If the weight of a second layer (the clear coat) is not a concern go for overall metallic. 

Clarence

[Sabremech]

1 hour ago, NotarPilot said:

Just curious why you think touch up wouldn't be needed much on a Mooney.

And thanks Carqwik and Aaron for your insightful comments.

I've seem metallic paints used on corporate jets and then fly through hail, damaging the nose etc. When  the radome is repaired, the metallics never match. I can't think of too many big items on a Mooney that would require a respray such as might be needed on a larger airplane. 

Unless you damage your airplane, touch ups might be limited to touching up screws with a brush. 

[NotarPilot]

All the more reason to stay away from hail. 

[MB65E]

I would stick to Matterhorn white on the leading edges, cowlings, doors etc. I have seen entire 1ftx1ft sheets of paint come off on late model sr22s. Having metal on your airplane that can be etched and primed will have better results.  We had a pearl white on a Lancair, every spot that was touched up you could see. The metallic blues tend to be harder to match than the whites. I guess I'm just sensitive to it. I think I see every repainted door while driving in LA. The problem is it can be a perfect match, but the fact that the paint won't mix/flow with the old paint you will always see it. The metallics just make te imperfections stand out due to the way the sun angles hit it. Say you wanted to add a modification to your cowling and then needed to repainted it, you will always see the area that was repainted. 

-Matt

[carl]

That looks a lot like my paint scheme idea. I might like yours better, with a stylized E on the tail.

Flake is just more work for paint shops. A base,  a clear with the flake, and a top clear coat. 

Flake is measured in thousandths of an inch (in us), small is 0.004 ,  0.008 medium , 0.015 large  and 0.025 extra large are the most common for custom painters. 

car makers will use smaller flake which you can't see unless you stop and get real close.  Bass boat makers use extra large and bigger to really catch your eye. The bigger the flake the deeper the clear must be to bury the flake , therefore the smaller the flake the less materials , and work.

the question is how much pop do you want ,what size of flake. 

I love flake. Do the whole thing in it. I am thinking of large  0.015 flake, so i bought some 0.015 silver.I think it is still small , but I am not going any larger because of the depth of the clear ,and i don't want to look like a bass boat. Get some flake  in different sizes and shoot some samples . 

The worst thing is to spend money and then not like it. Either, I can't see the flake  or, wow it's way too much pop. 

 

[NotarPilot]

Matt, you bring up some good points. I doubt I would even go for a cowl mod but I have to think of anything else that could be mod'd or replaced in the future... Like maybe a smooth belly. 

Carl, I didn't know that about flake size. The Blizzard Pearl I see on the new Prius really stands out but I'd have no idea what the flake size is in order to give off the color effect it has.

[carusoam]

Flying in IMC chips off the paint on leading edges.  The stall strips are the first to show the damage.  But, realistically, nobody is looking that closely at the stall strips.  Repaint as needed.  But it will show.

Best regards,

-a-

[carl]

just for the sake of discussion 

pearls are extremely small particles in the sizes of 10 -100 microns. 10 microns is about  0.0004 thousands , 100 microns the becomes .004 inches.

I think they are so small you can just see the glimmer effect.

Metal flake is now made from polyester, coated with different colors , polyester does not dissolve in solvents, glitter is usually made from plastic and it does dissolve.  

[Geoff]

I am having my plane painted now in metallic base coat single stage paint. The weight penalty for the entire plane with 2 stage paint is approx 20 lbs. if you are not too picky on colors your painter should be able to suggest alternative colors that are available in single stage to avoid the weight penalty. 

Pearl paints are generally 2 stage.  Some metallics are available single stage.

[Geoff]

Teflon tape the leading edges to help with erosion from IMC. 

[aviatoreb]

13 minutes ago, Geoff said:

Teflon tape the leading edges to help with erosion from IMC. 

An unsung benefit of TKS is that leading edges are titanium, so no paint chipping.  Of course teflon tape is SLIGHTLY cheaper.

[NotarPilot]

You know, a lot of airlines have all metallic paints. I wonder how much more durable their paint processes are.