There’s a well-told story of how a sure NASCAR racing workforce named Petty got here up with its signature “Petty Blue” hue. The colour, created solely by chance in 1959, has graced many years value of inventory automobiles carrying the quantity 43. Basically they scrounged up no matter leftover paint was laying round to get their automotive prepared in time for the following race. It turned out to be a reasonably distinctive mixture of darkish blue and white, and the remainder is historical past.
Recreating their secret recipe has vexed Mopar fans for years. Right this moment, regardless that it’s now trademarked and out there to buy beneath license, it’s pretty frequent data {that a} 1:5 mix of the precise blue and white paints will get you within the neighborhood. However what if you happen to have been to try to mix this distinctive colour for powder coating utilizing the identical methodology? Likelihood is you wouldn’t even come shut.
That’s as a result of powder paints don’t mix the identical means liquid paints do. Powder coatings are sometimes composed of a combination of finely floor particles of pigment and resin. The absence of solvents signifies that there is no such thing as a liquid provider to facilitate the mixing of colours. As a result of powders lack the fluidity of liquid paints, the melted powder tends to stream lower than liquid paint. This leads to sharper colour boundaries and even stratified coloration the place some colours bond nearer to the bottom materials than different.
To exhibit the unpredictable results of mixing powder paints, we made just like the Petty household. That’s, we scrounged up some open containers of powder colours we had across the storage and sprayed them out. The outcomes, as you may see under, have been shocking in so some ways. We’re not suggesting you may’t mix powders by yourself, we’re simply saying you’ll want to take a look at first and put together to dismiss your expectations.
![Blended powder paints sprayed on test panels after curing in an oven](https://i0.wp.com/garage.eastwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Mixed-Powders-After-Cure.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1)
Pattern 1 – Satin Black + Chrome
Portray positive metallics over a black base typically leads to attention-grabbing and sophisticated darkish/smoky/shiny finishes that may actually set off a undertaking. On this case, we blended roughly two components Excessive Chrome Bonded powder with one half Satin Black powder. The end result was nearer to a satin nickel end, with barely much less shimmer than conventional chrome. The satin black powder additionally appeared so as to add a little bit of texture to the floor. Total, a really cool impact that might really look cool on underhood elements like brackets.
![Black and chrome powder paints blended](https://i0.wp.com/garage.eastwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Mixed-Powders-Chrome-Black-2.jpg?resize=800%2C500&ssl=1)
Pattern 2 – Atomic Orange + Metallic Blue
For those who’ve ever watched youngsters with watercolors mix blue with purple and yellow, they sometimes find yourself with a really primary brown colour, which is nice for portray bushes and canines. We have been anticipating one thing in that vary after we combined equal components Atomic Orange and Metallic Blue. What we obtained was this deep, translucent jade inexperienced metallic colour as an alternative. This pairing was a complete shock to us.
![Blue and orange powder paints after curing](https://i0.wp.com/garage.eastwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Mixed-Powders-Blue-Orange-2.jpg?resize=800%2C500&ssl=1)
Pattern 3 – Storm Silver + Atomic Orange
We anticipated getting a rusty colour from mixing the identical Atomic Orange with Shimmering Metallic Storm Silver in equal measures. The end result was a really deep metallic copper impact that appears prefer it belongs on the physique of a avenue rod. We may see utilizing this mix to powder coat one thing like a motorcycle or bike body, or maybe equipment like brake calipers.
![Test panels before and after curing](https://i0.wp.com/garage.eastwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Mixed-Powders-Silver-Orange-2.jpg?resize=800%2C500&ssl=1)
Pattern 4 – Satin Black + Metallic Blue
It’s actually troublesome to explain how the addition of Metallic Blue to Satin Black modified the general impact on this sprayout. We anticipated black with blue speckles. Nevertheless, the blue powder appeared to bond extra immediately with the work, leaving the black powder uncovered on the floor. However there’s simply sufficient blue tint within the ultimate end to separate this mix from a normal black. Cool however refined, and perhaps not well worth the effort if you happen to’re going for a particular impact.
![Powder coating before and after curing](https://i0.wp.com/garage.eastwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Mixed-Powders-Blue-Black-2.jpg?resize=800%2C500&ssl=1)
Pattern 5 – Metallic Blue + Vivid Yellow
Yellow and blue make inexperienced. Each first-grader is aware of this. However powder coating doesn’t care, as you may see right here. Once more we blended our Metallic Blue powder with Vivid Yellow in related proportions, anticipated maybe a freckled impact. And we obtained a few of that, with blue specks poking via the largely yellow floor. However as with the black and blue take a look at above, the blue bonded extra tightly with the naked steel. We suspect that as a result of the blue is a metallic colour, it’s extra closely drawn to the electrostatically charged half.
![Powder coating test panel before and after curing](https://i0.wp.com/garage.eastwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Mixed-Powders-Blue-Yellow-2.jpg?resize=800%2C500&ssl=1)