Metallic paints

Can anyone point me to a source that will tell me for sure when metallic paints were first used? A local source insists the date is app. 1909 but I need to be sure.

i checked with my paint company for you. they say that metallic paints were not developed tell the early 50s. the chemistry to keep the flakes in suspension had not been developed untill then. someone may have dumped stuff in the paint before then, but it would have sunk to the bottom of the film. thats what they tell me for what its worth jim

I remember reading something about Packard being the first to use metalic paint on a show car around 1928-29. It was discovered by mistake when some metal dust somehow fell into the paint.

I know Studebaker had "Metallic" finishes in 1937 but they were formulated with ground fish scales I'm told. The suppliers were DuPont & Ditzler. You might inquire at http://autocolorlibrary.com/scripts/depot.exe?pgm=aclgate.bbx

the Ditzler early formula library. Stude8

My Father swears that Packard had metallic paints back in the late 20's and early 30's. He however says they looked a bit different than todays 'metal flake' paints. He had a '28 Packard Super 8 Dual Cowl Phaeton and a '34 Auburn 1250 Cabriolet. He was a member of the ACD Club all the way back to the early 50's, maybe the late 40's, not certain on that. Usually he is right, though for this it is of course hearsay at best. I double checked with him just before posting this, and he confirms that there was a metallic paint used on the Packards, but clarifies it again by saying it was not the same as the modern metal flake paints.

Rich

Look at the reference pages on PAC's website. Packard started listing metallic (not metalflake) paints in 1935. So did Lionel trains - must have been common.

YFAM, Randy Berger

My source (who is a nationally recognized authority) insists that metallic paint was first used in the very early 1900's and that it consisted of fish scales. He is quoting from his memory and can not credit a source.

I think it would be doubtful that a metallic paint was available in the brass-era. Afterall, the paint process was done mostly by hand in the very early part of the century....plus the quality of paints etc. How anyone would have been able to apply an evenly spaced metallic is a mystery to me....I have also heard that Packard was the first.

This looks like an item that will require authoritative documentation. Section VIII of the AACA Official Judging Manual states: "First use of metallic paint- November 1,1927." In bold type it states: "Exceptions are subject to documentation."

If you're asking the question for purposes of qualifying a metallic finish for an AACA show vehicle; you have your work cut out for you.

Good Luck, Tom

Metallic paints were fairly common in the mid thirties. They were referred to as "poly" on the old paint chips. I assume this meant "polychromatic" and the finish was actually very similar to that used today, maybe a bit less "metallic" in the mix. I doubt they were made from fish scales.

So many great inventions came about by error. Ivory Soap, Lifesaver Candy, Slinkys, tool hardened steel, and metallic paint are examples. The first instance of the use of metallic paint was by General Motors, in 1927. If AACA says it was November 1st, that date is good for me. A Cadillac or LaSalle was painted for an Auto Show, and the chrome rollers that ground the paint flaked apart in the paint. The error was not caught until the car was painted. There was either not enough time to repaint the car, or the designers liked the look and presented the car with the "flawed" metallic paint. The rest is history.

The Packard Story, by Robert E Turnquist (out of print) lists November 1927, as the introductorary date for a fish scale based iridescent paint. Synthetic lacquers commenced in 1925 (same source.) However, true metalic paint was first produced by E. I. Dupont in November 1928 and the details are per the story I have already posted. Metalic paint "did not come into general use until 1932 because of cost, and difficulty in applying it." (Turnquist)

Thanks for the answers. That is the info I was looking for.

Reasearched the 38 Cadillac colors. They called the paint "Luminescence"

that had a fine metallic look to it. Not the first, but the name is

interesting. Listed 4 colors, Cloudmist green, Fairhaven Blue, Cruiser grey,

edgewood green. Nice.

just some additional notes

[color:"red"]

Chemists working on improved nitrocellulose film discovered DuPont?s most successful coating. In 1920 they produced a durable lacquer that dried quickly?a boon to the emerging mass production industries. Marketed as Duco in 1922, it was the standard finish on all General Motors cars within four years. That achievement was followed up at mid-decade by Dulux alkyd resin, which had a glossier finish than Duco and proved popular in appliance manufacture.

YFAM, Randy Berger