Finishes

Yes - most Metal Composite Material (MCM) manufacturers offer a coil coated “paint print” finish that replicates the rusted, weathered look of true Corten Steel — applied as a painted pattern on aluminum coil, not actual weathering steel. Alfrex offers this as its Tile Corten finish, part of the Metal Series line. It is stocked in painted coil, 4mm FR MCM panels, and matching 0.040" flat sheet, with no minimum order quantity required.

Yes. Most MCM manufacturers offer a coil-coated "paint print" finish — a textured, engraved-roller paint pattern — that replicates the look of real wood grain without the maintenance costs of natural wood cladding. Alfrex's Wood Series features three standard finishes — Teak, Golden Oak, and Dark Walnut — stocked in painted coil, 4mm FR MCM sheets, and matching 0.040" flat sheet, and backed by a 20-year finish warranty.

Domestic MCM manufacturers utilize a combination of PVDF (Kynar), FEVE, and HDP (Highly Durable Polyester) resin coating systems, depending on the product application, desired color space, and performance warranty requirements. Alfrex utilizes a 2605 compliant, 70% PVDF resin paint system for stocking colors, with FEVE and HDP (Highly Durable Polyester) finishes used for custom colors that require expanded color spaces.

No – depending on the specific MCM manufacturer, only certain colors are stocked and available at standard color pricing. Some finishes may come with significant setup charges, while others are not available in matching 0.040” flat sheet. Alfrex stocks all 46 standard color paint finishes shown on its color chart in 4mm FR MCM sheets and matching 0.040” single skin flat sheet, as well as painted coil for made-to-order MCM. Alfrex Plate 3mm is stocked in 6 finishes, which are coordinated with identical MCM and Flat Sheet standard colors. All Alfrex stocked  finishes have standard color pricing, and Alfrex devotes an entire page of its standard color guide to a stocking inventory applicability matrix, organized by color.

Many MCM manufacturers avoid true anodized finishes for two technical reasons:
1) Class II coil-anodized coatings crack and craze under the heat and pressure of MCM lamination, making the finish visually unacceptable.
2) Class I anodized coatings, produced via a batch process defined under AAMA 611, are more durable but can't guarantee consistent panel-to-panel color and finish as a result of the process and inherent natural metal variation.
Neither option matches the uniform, repeatable appearance of a painted (PVDF) finish. Alfrex previously offered Class I anodized finishes on its MCM panels through its Anodized Series but has since discontinued its true anodized options in favor of its painted PVDF finish line, which delivers the consistent, repeatable color and appearance architects expect across a project.

Some Metal Composite Material (MCM) manufacturers offer skinned Zinc Composite Material, known as ZCM, made from pre-weathered natural zinc coil. Alfrex offers Zinc Composite Material on a project specific basis, made-to-order only, in various pre-weathered natural zinc options, but stocks neither ZCM panels nor coil due to Zinc’s natural patination process. Many domestic MCM manufactures offer coil coated print pattern finishes that resemble natural Zinc.
Alfrex’s Metal Series of paint finishes features three realistic Faux Zinc finishes. All three faux zinc finishes are stocked in Buford, GA in painted coil, 4mm FR MCM sheets, and matching 0.040” flat sheet with no minimum quantities for purchase of finished product.

MCM manufacturers generally do not offer touch-up paint since manufacturing paint is neither their core business nor within their capabilities. Rather, they refer customers to trusted touch-up paint manufacturers. Alfrex does not sell touch-up paint but does highly recommend Crosslink Paints for all touch-up paint needs. Crosslink Paints has Alfrex standard color samples on file for quick turnaround of touch-up pens, aerosol, or liquid paint. All inquiries for touch-up paint should be sent to Crosslink Paints directly through their website at https://www.crosslinkpaints.com

Compared to coil coated aluminum for manufacturing MCM or Plate, steel substrates often require heavier primers and barrier coats for additional corrosion protection. This can create confusion when coil coated aluminum product specifications are erroneously assigned a target DFT more typical of coil coated steel or spray coatings for aluminum extrusions. With coil coated aluminum, barrier coats are not required. However, an excessively thick overall DFT can create application and quality issues. For this reason, DFT recommendations from the coating manufacturer specific to the substrate type should always be referenced in the specification.

MCM and Plate are coil coated in two and three coat systems, which may or may not need protective clear coats. Clear coats are a necessity for metallic finishes to protect metallic flakes in the color coat. They are also needed with colors containing more exotic pigments, like blues and reds, to achieve the desired color, gloss level, and performance warranty. Clear coats may also be recommended for additional protection for project locations subject to heavier levels of environmental stress, such as industrial environments with pollutants, acid rain, corrosive chemicals, and severe marine environments close to bodies of saltwater.

Yes. All domestic MCM manufacturers regularly produce custom colors to meet a project's design intent or match other façade materials, like curtain wall. Because a custom color run requires a dedicated production/coating changeover, pricing is heavily dependent on order quantity — smaller orders cost more per square foot — and both minimums and pricing vary by manufacturer, paint resin system, and color type. Alfrex produces MCM and Plate in custom  colors with minimums as low as 1,000 square feet per color/width combination depending on project specifics. To start a color match, a physical color sample, paint code, or PMS/Pantone number is required.

When specifications for MCM and Plate call out the addition of a clear coat to a standard two-coat solid or mica finish, the color will have to be reformulated as a 3-coat custom match. This is because PVDF resin clear coats are not perfectly transparent — simply applying one on top of the original finish will most likely make it appear dull or hazy. The color match reformulation compensates for the clear coat so that the 3-coat version appears as closely as possible to the 2-coat original.

The color matching process for Metal Composite Material (MCM) and Plate starts with a physical control sample — always more accurate than a paint code or printed swatch — submitted along with key specifications such as substrate metal type, desired resin system, gloss level, warranty expectations, clear coat requirements, and marine or industrial exposure considerations. In a lab, the paint manufacturer measures the sample with a spectrophotometer, formulates a match to those specifications, and produces drawdown color samples on an aluminum strip typically capped at 3"×4" in size. Custom color matches typically take 10–21 days to turn around, with material production lead times beginning upon formal approval of the color match.

Lines on a custom color match sample for Metal Composite Material (MCM) or Plate come from how the lab sample is made — not the finished panel. The paint manufacturer applies a small amount of coating to an aluminum strip with a drawdown rod (Mayer bar) to control dry film thickness, leaving a ridged pattern called drawbar lines. These are rarely visible on solid colors but consistently visible on mica and metallic matches, since reflective flakes settle into the grooves and reflect light differently than the surrounding coating.

No. Drawbar lines are unavoidable on coil-coated custom paint samples industry-wide, since the drawdown application process is necessary to achieve a consistent, measurable dry film thickness in the lab.

No. Production coil coating is applied by reverse roll coating rather than a drawdown rod, orienting the coating and any mica/metallic flakes in a consistent direction across the finished Metal Composite Material (MCM) or Plate panel.

No. While a drawdown color match strip can show the formulated color itself, it cannot be bonded into an actual MCM panel sample that represents the finished product. Attempts to lab-bond MCM from custom color matches still carry visible drawbar lines and are not representative of true production coil coating or overall product quality, so this is not offered as a sample option.

The maximum size of a custom color match sample for MCM and Plate is approximately 3” x 4” due to size limitations of both drawdown bars and the curing ovens used in coating manufacturers’ labs. Even though specifications frequently call for 12"×12" sized color match samples, or even a full MCM panel sample, neither is achievable with custom color matches produced using coil coating formulations.

Color matches and control samples should be viewed side by side, using a combination of different viewing angles and distances, to find the vantage point where differences in light reflectivity are minimized. For best results, evaluations should be conducted under both direct and indirect sunlight.

MCM and Plate color matches in mica-metallic finishes are frequently rejected because the visible concentration of metallic flake and the "pop" associated with light reflectivity are not as pronounced as they are in the control sample for curtain wall extrusions. With spray coating samples, mica/metallic flakes are oriented randomly via spray gun application, while with coil coating samples, flakes are laid down in a uniform direction with a drawdown bar — with drawdown lines creating even more contrast. This is a result of how flake orientation differs by application method, distinct from the angle-dependent color shift known as "flop". Additionally, spray coatings can be 50% to 100% thicker than coil coatings, with more space for pigment and flake agglomeration (laydown).

Paint codes are not interchangeable between different product types or  manufacturers; rather, they are specific to a coating manufacturer, substrate type, application method, and even coater location. All color matches for Alfrex FR MCM are formulated for coil coating and will have different paint codes than control samples regardless of all other factors.

Paint coatings manufacturers, coil coaters, and MCM manufacturers — including Alfrex — recommend ordering all mica or metallic finish material for MCM panels or matching flat sheet in a single order at the outset of a project, so the material can be coil-coated in one continuous production run. Mica and metallic finishes get their appearance from reflective flakes suspended in the paint, and flake orientation is sensitive to the specific application conditions of each coating run — even when using the same paint formulation. As a result, material coated on different days, or drawn from separate paint batches, can exhibit visible tone variation once installed and viewed in natural light. Ordering all mica or metallic finish material together in a single production event is the most reliable way to ensure consistent color and tone across a project. This practice is standard guidance across the architectural coatings industry, from paint manufacturers to coil coaters to panel fabricators.