Re: when did metallic paint start

Posted by Leeedy On 2015/9/1 15:20:37

It is important to remember that names/terms used to describe automotive paints over the years were not always what the paints actually were. Nor did such terms accurately describe the appearance in a way that could be understood in 21st-century thinking of today.

The confusion of terminologies and what the paints actually were goes on today-largely because the terms used were just plain inaccurate.

In the late 1930s there was a widely used term "pearlescent." There was another term widely used called "opalescent." But what these terms were really describing were what we today would call metallic paints.

Also in the 1930s and even back to the 1800s there was a translucent dark red that was described variously as "ruby"..."rubescent" and other names. Decades later this same color and paint type was described as "flamboyant red"... and then "candy apple red" (people who don't remember-or never saw-real candy apples have run wild calling jillions of different reds "candy apple" today). And worse, people in the 1960s thought "candy apple red" was new. In reality, the only thing new was the name and the different colors being used under it. But it was all translucent red... and while the appearance may have altered depending on what was under the layer of paint, it was basically the same stuff.

Also in the 1960s came "metalflake" paint... never to be confused with mere metallic. Metalflake indeed used huge flakes of metal (usually aluminum) and resulted in a sometimes blinding, almost garish finish. It still turns up on occasion at hot-rod shows today. Aftermarket fiberglass car components, boats and motorcycle pieces came for a while with this finish under the gelcoat.

The fish scales mix paint that created a mother-of-pearl true iridescent pearlescent look really only came to vogue in the 1950s. And this was largely because of Rinshed-Mason and a company called Creative Industries of Detroit that used this specially-mixed paint on numerous dream cars it built for the Big-3 and some for Packard...like one of the Panthers, the Packard Request and... (via their recommendation) the Packard Predictor.

Creative Industries of Detroit also helped to develop what they called "chameleon" paint that changed color and tone depending on lighting and angle of view. This was in the 1960s, but those who don't remember or never saw it then think it is "new" today.

By the 1980s, people were fudging the terms again and calling yet another paint "pearl." This paint looked metallic and some people today are further confusing the issue by calling it that too. But this paint was not metallic at all... nor was it iridescent pearl. It was mica.

The appearance of the finish was-and is-metallic, but the particles in it are made of mica.

As for Packard using real metallic finishes... indeed they did...and were one of the first to use and promote it. And for sure by the early 1930s. Ed Macauley's ever-morphing car was painted his favorite color: root beer metallic brown...and as such, acquired the name "Brown Bomber."

And as a closing note... the very last finished scale model built at the Packard plant was finished in metallic black. It was a 1957 Four Hundred coupe that disappeared when the plant closed. The whereabouts of this model to this day are still unknown. The color was similar to what GM years later would call "Firemist"...