Metallic black: Avery's not as black as 3M 1080?

[GP20]

I recently wrapped my car's roof with Avery's gloss black metallic film about 2 weeks ago. The roll was in a brand new packaging and I confirmed it's metallic "black". But something has really looked off to me. It simply doesn't look very "black" and more gray-ish; the film also has some weird patterns. My car's color is gray, and under overcast lighting, the film blends with the body color and one can hardly tell my roof's wrapped in black.

Then yesterday, I got a 3M 1080 metallic black sample, and was surprised how much more black it is compared to Avery's. Is there something wrong with the film used on my car? Or is that just how Avery's film differ from 3M's? I'm not happy with the roof wrap at all and will re-wrap it, but will need to decide which direction (3M or Avery) to go with this time.

Assuming that the film is damaged, judging from the weird patterns, would a normal Avery metallic black film still be so gray compared to 3M 1080?

Overcast:



Under direct sun-light. The film closer to the front of the car is 3M 1080 metallic black, the other is 3M 1080 gloss black (non-metallic)

 

[worthy1]

Hi GP20,

I wouldnt be suprised if it is a bad batch. I would get onto whoever you purchased it off and let them know, it definitely looks dark with the sample swatches i have.

Here in Australia we ran into a bad batch of Gloss black where under light it was not a deep black at all and almost had a Cheetah print through it. We had it replaced by our supplier and it was found they had a fair few bad batches and had to wait for new stock from the states.

The new black i also found didnt look that nice deep black colour that you would expect from a gloss black. Once applied it did look nice and black.

I have also found the Avery carbon fibre black to not have a nice deep black colour to it and weird lines around the place.

 

[GP20]

Hi worthy1,

Thank you for the reply. Sounds like I got the same bad batch as you did as my film also has that cheetah pattern all over. I didn't notice it at first until bright sun light hit the roof.

In the evening, the film actually looks quite black, but as soon as sun hits it, it turns into bronze.

 

[GP20]

I'll go with the 3M metallic black this time.

My apologies if I'm not posting the photos correctly. Still figuring out how to post photos correctly on my iPhone.

 

[worthy1]

No worries.

Same issue with ours where until intense light was put agains it i didnt notice it, but it was incredibly bad with the light on it.

I would notify who you got it off, even if you cant get a credit or a new lot sent to you free of charge then it is atleast worth notifying them so they can check out their batches.

Credit to the Avery distributors here, it was replaced ASAP without a fuss. This is one of the reasons i try to use only avery as not only have i found it easier to work with but i had heard that with warranty claims they are really good and this issue proved it to me....mind you i guess the other argument is they shouldnt have issues with their products but i guess all companies would every now and then...

 

[johnnysigns]

I found the 3M to be more brown than black personally. My chip chain swatch of the Avery looks richer than the older roll of 3M I used on my roof. The sun +1yr of horizontal exposure has made it even more brown.