I would like to paint my Zilch X with a metallic color, I am using Randolph paints. I contacted Consolidated Aircraft Products the manufacturer for Randolph and they advised me we can no longer purchase a dry metallic powder additive for the base paint due to it's flammability. They offer an aluminum paste part number 701 that can be mixed with clear Butyrate to get the metallic look. Anyone with any experience with this?

I also looked into House of Kolor but I'm unable to find what I'm looking for there. I stopped by an auto paint store, they offer a liquid metallic additive they put in their urethane but it would not according to them be compatible with Butyrate.

Any thoughts? The same would go for using a pearl additive, I'm sure I'm not breaking ground here.

Steve

Hi Steve,

From my experience with the Sikkens paint mixing system in my shop (color matching system with polyurethanes) to get a real metallic effect by adding silver metallic material you have to have a translucent color to begin with.  Adding metallic silver to solid (non-metallic) color results in kind of a flat metallic appearance - that is with little appearance of depth in the color. 

I don't know if you are committed to using a dope finish (which is my personal choice) but you might look into the automotive basecoat/clearcoat system which gives you a practically infinite choice of metallic colors and the clearcoat finish (clear polyurethane) is really fuel *proof* and not just fuel resistant.  If you stay with butyrate dope then you can request a Randolph color chart (free) from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co. and they have a moderate selection of metallic butyrate dope colors, which when coated with a final clear butyrate dope gives a pretty good metallic depth.

Steve,
Check TCP Global and look at their custom shop .  You can purchase dry flakes in their micro mini size which works well with colored dope.  A 2oz bottle of flakes will mix up  gallon of color dope.  The flakes are available in numerous colors.  I used silver in the metallic dark purple I mixed this past winter on the Rare Bear I built.  Do not put too  much flakes in .  About a quarter to a half gram of Flakes per ounce of paint will give good results.  You also have to keep the flakes suspended in the dope while applying by continueously agitating while spraying.

Painted my Zilch X today using TCP Globals .002 Silver Micro flake dust, I wanted a metallic look in a navy blue.  Mixed Randolph butyrate with their thinner and retarder and added a measured portion of silver powder according the what I read on TCP's site. After spraying it came out leaving a rough finish, don't think it was the paint mix because I had applied a base color coat before with great results it laid like glass. Once the silver powder went in it must have changed the paint consistency. I did check it before spraying and noted the paint was thin as it was previously before adding the powder.  Any thoughts? I did have a couple of nuts in the paint cup and made sure I was shaking it continuously.

Hopefully tomorrow I can rub it down with 600 and several clear coats will smooth things out? Hopefully, if not I have a problem and after the last silver rub out the ship was flawless. Bummed.

Steve

Painted my Zilch X today using TCP Globals .002 Silver Micro flake dust, I wanted a metallic look in a navy blue.  Mixed Randolph butyrate with their thinner and retarder and added a measured portion of silver powder according the what I read on TCP's site. After spraying it came out leaving a rough finish, don't think it was the paint mix because I had applied a base color coat before with great results it laid like glass. Once the silver powder went in it must have changed the paint consistency. I did check it before spraying and noted the paint was thin as it was previously before adding the powder.  Any thoughts? I did have a couple of nuts in the paint cup and made sure I was shaking it continuously.

Hopefully tomorrow I can rub it down with 600 and several clear coats will smooth things out? Hopefully, if not I have a problem and after the last silver rub out the ship was flawless. Bummed.

Steve

Hi Steve,

Did you put the clear butyrate over the metallic blue prior to sanding with the 600?  Sanding the metallic color will usually destroy the metallic effect.  Also, did you use the Randolph navy blue?  If so that is a solid color & is not translucent so the metallic effect that you want will likely not be there.

In metallic flakes used in paint there are two types: leafing type which is used in the silver butyrate to protect the substrate from UV rays, and the non-leafing type used in metallic paints to give the "sparkling" metallic effect.  To get the roughness problem it may be that you overloaded the dope with the metallic flakes.  Sorry I can't be more helpful, I just have not run across this problem in the years I have been painting.

Bill is right about the possibility of overloading the paint with flakes.  Also that you shouldn't sand the paint prior to clearcoating.  I think that the recommended amount of flakes is about a quarter to a half gram per ounce of paint.  I lean toward the lesser amount.  I think I used 1/3 gram on the metallic purple paint  and 1/4 gram on the orange that my Rare Bear sports.