Visibility of aluminum flakes in Black Widow mixes.

[Harpmaker]

I took some photos of my Black Widow screens that show the relative amount of aluminum flakes for comparison.

The photos were taken about 8 feet from the screens using the maximum optical telephoto on my camera (8x), and the flash. A yardstick was included for size comparisons and as something to focus on.

I've chosen to use thumbnails because the photos are so large. To really zoom into the photos, once you click on the thumbnails and are at imageshack, click on the photo twice more, slowly, and you will be viewing the BIG picture.

From most visible flakes to least visible.

BW Luminous White/HE558 4:1


BW Winter Mist/HE558 5:1


BW Bermuda Beige/AAA 4:1


The HE558 mixes have very visible aluminum flakes, even from a foot or so away. The AAA mix looks like just a gray paint until you get within inches of the screen and look hard.

If you know what to look for, you can see some flakes in the top portion of the above AAA photo, otherwise you will have to zoom in further to see them using your browser (if it has that ability) or save the photo to your computer and open it in a photo editor or viewer and use it to zoom.

The aluminum flakes in the HE558 are larger and more reflective than the flakes in the AAA, but the AAA mix is more reflective than a flat paint and seems to hold it's own against the HE558 if a bit more is added (the AAA 4:1 mix seems to behave much like the HE558 5:1). All the BW screens pictured above have been compared to a Sherwin-Williams Gray Screen panel, and all have better black performance while retaining whites except the HE558 4:1 mix, which has slightly less white performance than the Gray Screen.

I also need to state that all of these panels were sprayed with an HVLP system and not rolled.

[mechman]

Good stuff Harp!

mech

[muzz]

I had a feeling the flakes in the BW were larger than the AAA.

You stated "slightly less white performance" than the Grey, how much darker is the BW-558@4:1 than the Grey Screen?

Thanks for the pics Harp

[Harpmaker]

Mech's readings (L*a*b* then RGB) are:
Gray Screen: 81.3, -1.42, -0.45 / 199 203 203
BW LW/HE558 4:1: 77.6, -1.13, 0.99 / 189 192 193

My mix of LW/HE558 4:1 came out a bit darker at L* 75.65. As I'm sure you know, but others might not, the L* value is equivalent to the Munsell N (neutral gray) value when we talk about a mix being a N8 or N9 etc. N10 = pure white, N0 = pure black.

[muzz]

Kinda suprised in regards to the white levels there, considering Bill and Mech both have similar screens in the background(Bill actually HAS the Grey Screen, but not the 558 mix), show a decided difference between them in regards to white levels.
I had a screen that was very close to "Grey Screen" myself, although I did 2x Poly Top coat.
The White levels were not even close, the BW(LW) @ 4.5:1 destroyed them..
That screen was about a year old, so maybe the PTC was "yellowing" as it has been noted to do.

[Harpmaker]

muzz wrote:

Kinda suprised in regards to the white levels there, considering Bill and Mech both have similar screens in the background(Bill actually HAS the Grey Screen, but not the 558 mix), show a decided difference between them in regards to white levels.
I had a screen that was very close to "Grey Screen" myself, although I did 2x Poly Top coat.
The White levels were not even close, the BW(LW) @ 4.5:1 destroyed them..
That screen was about a year old, so maybe the PTC was "yellowing" as it has been noted to do.

There are a lot of things to consider here. Please note again that I am spraying and not rolling the paint, I think this may be making a difference in screen performance. Those that have rolled have not had a problem with the HE558 mixes smudging or significantly changing color after 12-24 hours drying; I have. I just tried a mix of True Value Winter Mountain (not Mist)/HE558 5:1, and the spectro readings immediately after drying were incredible! Almost bang-on neutral! After 24 hours the b* value had changed from 0.26 to 1.27! Although the paint was dabbed on the sample chit and not sprayed; hummm...

For those new here, any a* or b* value under 1.0 in a L*a*b* reading is considered as being neutral, but the closer to 0.0 the better.

I have some photos that tell the story better. I'll try to post them in a thread soon.

I, personally, will take a hit in whites to get an inky black. That's why I'm testing the darker unsanctioned mix above. And I want to go even darker!