Paint Finishes

Metallic vs. Metal Flake paint
It seems the standard for sparkly paint here, is to call it Metalflake. I always call it metallic. Personally I dont care what we call it. The reason im writing this is because Fclass has changed my entry from metallic to metalflake. So lets compare as these are actually 2 different things

Metallic Paint, Is a single stage paint, that has a very small particle sparkle right out of the can, It is ready to spray.

Metal Flake is a little more complex. It looks more like the Gel coat on a bass boat. Other then the low rider community use of Metal Flake is pretty rare. Metal flake is applied in stages, requiring a base coat and then adding the Large metal flakes (glitter) by hand to a clear or candy paint.

In conclusion all sparkly Hot Wheels are metallic paint finishes. With the exception of the glitter cars. If you have any glitter cars, you will know that you can actually feel the metal flakes in the paint. Sinnin 21:37, October 12, 2009 (UTC)


 * from vista69,

David, I'm glad you brought this back to the surface. Kenny, (HaarFager), and I have been debating "Metallic" vs. "Metalflake" almost since I started contributing. He likes to change my color desciption too, and we still don't agree.


 * Here's my opinion about the difference...


 * Metallic is like an early Spectraflame paint...."translucent colored lacquer applied to the polished bare metal"


 * Metalflake is a paint with a micro glitterery finish


 * Glitter is a paint with larger pieces of glitter.

I think it will always be one of those details about the way we see the paint color(s) differently. Maybe it's an "agree to disagree" type of situation. I think rather than debating our opinions about color descriptions, it's time to make a new page about color desciptions. Too much for me. Any takers? Vista69 00:52, October 13, 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree with Mike here. Let make a page to be clear. I obviously don't know enough about the paint stages because I go back and forth with "Metallic" & "Metalflake" ...I tend to use the latter more often. Make a page and then we can enforce this more...include visual samples of paint as well. That should help. BigBadBrad01 01:17, October 13, 2009 (UTC)
 * I was just basing the descriptions on automotive finishes. In the automotive world a spectraflame paint is known as a candy, or transparent color. Its all so confusing =P Sinnin 01:30, October 13, 2009 (UTC)