mary

Bronze liquid metal paint – on latex

Bronze liquid metal paint finish created on latex.

Bronze liquid metal paint was used to create this sumptuous finish on a piece of latex. To make sure that the latex was properly coated our Water-based Flexible Binder was used.

Flexible binder

Metalier’s Flexible Binder was designed mainly for the film, theatre and larp industries. This piece of latex was given to us so that the binder could be put through its paces. Even though we say it ourselves, we think the bronze liquid metal paint looks spectacular. The pattern underlying the metal is in the substrate. It is not, on this occasion, created using our textured techniques. In fact, it is not possible to create textures using the Flexible Binder – they must always be in the substrate. Metalier’s polishing techniques, however, allow the full beauty of the metal to be exposed.

Bronze

Bronze is one of the favourite alloys – and Metalier has bronze in many varieties. We have bronze, smoky bronze, chocolate bronze, dusky bronze and gunmetal bronze. Bronze is, in fact, so versatile that it doesn’t always even have the brown look associated with the metal. Dusky bronze is a greenish grey and gunmetal bronze, as you would expect, is a deep grey – well gunmetal – colour.

To find out more about Metalier bronzes or our flexible binder or our bronze contact us.

Or complete the form below;

by mary

Nebula Liquid Metal Finish

Nebula Liquid Metal is a new finish combining metal, artistry and exclusive patinas.

Nebula Liquid Metal Finish was created in the workshop at HQ in Auckland, New Zealand, for a very lucky client’s front door.

If it’s not mixing our metaphors we are over the moon about the finish. It truly is very beautiful and conjures up images of the heavens and interstellar dust clouds. A nebular in the sky, just like this Metalier finish, is a truly wondrous thing to behold. They are named after the Latin word for cloud. For humanity nebulae are objects of endless intrigue and discovery.

We’re fond of a bit of actual star-gazing ourselves. When this door finish was created, we were looking down at it – but we felt like we were looking upwards. The designer and the client are thrilled.

We’ve shared the formula for this magic finish with our international hubs so that, no matter where you are, you can have this finish for your door or cupboards or reception desk – whatever. And the beauty of this finish is that it is organic. Although we’ll use the same metals and processes again and again, each iteration of the finish will look slightly different and will be unique. This is because there will be different humidity and temperatures and no two people will apply the patina in the same way each time.

Nebula Liquid Metal finish is a fantastic example of the artistic creations possible using Metalier metals and our fabulous range of patinas.

If you are in the UK and fancy nebula for yourself then contact our UK hub and distribution centre,
Granlyn Specialist Coatings. All their contact details are here.

If you are in North America then there contact details are here – or you could go to their own Metalier website ……

For India and the Middle East our representatives’ contact details are here

And for anyone else contact HQ here.

Or complete the form below.

by mary

Metalier University – become an expert

Metalier University  - an idea from North America.

Metalier University is a term coined by the Metalier Team at our North American Hub. M2, our exclusive distributor in North America has a vast area to service. So they’re doing it by holding 3 day training courses in Elkhart, Indiana and they have produced a comprehensive video course as an alternative.

While not actually a university – really – Metalier training courses are comprehensive and every one leaves saying they’ve learned heaps.

One of the attendees at the first session at Elkhart, Ron Opatril of Phoenix Arizona, had this to say:

"The days spent with all of you was well worth it! We are working on a couple of ideas that should prove to be positive for all of us. I have shown the images to several high end designers in the Arizona market and heads are spinning."

Not only do you learn heaps, you also come out with a great certificate for your office wall which confirms that you are an authorised Metalier Applicator. Sort of like getting a degree, don’t you think? “I’ve got an MA from Metalier University” sounds pretty good to me.

And above all – the courses are “hands-on” and they’re heaps of fun. The guys in the picture all look like they’ve had a good time, don’t they. And our team has a great time too. We love the initial looks of wonder as they start to “get” what Metalier is all about. We love too the look of pride on the faces of the attendees as they start to create their own finishes and try out their ideas.

Metalier North America is spreading its wings across the USA. We have trained people from 8 states now.

1 in Arizona, 3 from California, 1 from Colorado, 1 from Texas, 1 from Georgia, 2 from Wisconsin, 2 from Michigan, 1 from Indiana and 1 from New York.

To join the next course at Metalier University or complete their on-line training please contact Tim. Metalier University has branches too, you know: in the UK contact Alison; and at HQ contact Mary.

Or complete the form below:

by mary

Paper Airplanes | Flexible Binder

Paper Airplanes – Metalier Flexible Binder

Paper Airplanes made with Metalier iron in our flexible binder have been used as a marketing teaser by our UK distributors, Granlyn Specialist Coatings since they first joined the team. That was 5 years ago now so that’s a lot of architects and designers who have a paper airplane on their desks!

Paper Airplanes made with Metalier iron are magnetic

A really clever part of the teaser is that if you add a little magnet to the surface you’ve told the person who opens the envelope that they’re holding something made or real metal. And you’ve told them that it is metal that will bend and can be folded.

Metal Monkey Design has made a video

Metal Monkey Design are a certified Metalier applicator in the UK. They’ve made this cute little video about how to make a paper airplane. Watch it here. It demonstrates beautifully how we have fun with Metalier and it also demonstrates the unique qualities of our flexible liquid metal coating.

You can apply metal to paper.

The coating bends and folds.

It’s light so it can fly.

Metalier flexible liquid metal was formulated primarily for the film and larp industries at the behest of world-renown studios, Weta Workshop. It was designed particularly to be a durable coating to adhere to latex armour. Weta needed the coating to be especially durable so that it wouldn’t get damaged when actors fall off horses. Finally it needed to be a “clean” coating too. There’s nothing worse than the hero snuggling up to a heroine for a wee kiss and getting dirt all over her white robes, negligee or whatever. It’s been used by the Royal Shakespeare Company too – we’re very proud of these feathers in the Metalier cap.

To outfit your army or create your very own fleet of planes contact HQ here, USA here, and Granlyn here.

by mary

Creative metal coating | Natalie Guy

Creative metal coating by Metalier – Zen reading on the Rocks

Creative metal by Metalier has been used on a number of occasions by Auckland artist, Natalie Guy.  She used Metalier’s Flexible Brass on a lamp-fitting shown by the Wallace Collection at Pah Homestead.  She has also used it on a wide variety of substrates including bamboo, polystyrene and wood.

Because Metalier is “metal as art”, we were pleased to be able to support Natalie’s creative metal work when she was chosen as an artist for the recent sculpture trail at Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland, New Zealand.  It is an honour to be chosen to exhibit at Sculpture on the Gulf.  34 artists were chosen from over 250 initial proposals.  Natalie also sold the work so that’s fantastic too.

Reading Zen in the Rocks – About the work

Natalie entitled the work Reading Zen in the Rocks.  It merges the myth of the Zen Garden and mid-century modernism.  The work references the modernist sculptor Isamu Noguchi and combines two of his works.  One is the 1962 Lessons of Musokokushi a bronze garden of flat-bottomed rocks.  The second is the iconic Akari paper lampshades which has been replicated widely and is available very cheaply.

The rocks in Reading Zen in the Rocks have been inverted – the flat bottom skyward and the top nestling into the earth.  The rocks appear to be solid bronze, but only the top element, the replica Akari are.  Their shaping alludes to the concentric circles around rocks placed in a traditional raked sand garden.  The lower element is created using a lightweight concrete/plastered hollow mould coated with Metalier Smoky Bronze. The materials are inverted with the lower part lightweight and humble with a creative metal coating and the top is weighty and expensive.  The flattening of the Akari form which negates its practical role and adopts new possibilities would seem, the artist says, to be counter-intuitive to modernists principles.  Natalie concludes that her work might, however, invite a fresh consideration of modernism’s natural lineage.

The setting for the sculpture trail is beautiful Waiheke Island – along a magical headland – in the sun, after a walk of an hour or two round the headland you can relax with a beautiful glass of Waiheke wine.  What’s not to like?

Metalier is science, practice and creativity

Metalier coatings are a mixture of science, practice and creativity.  You have to “feel” it as well as know practically what to do and of course without the Metalier science you don’t have a coating at all.  The most creative Metalier applicators are those who have “got” the feeling and can let their art run wild.  That’s one of the reasons we so like working with artists.

To find out how you can get the “feeling” or to ask questions about other things you can email us or telephone us (Mary on 021 732746 or 09376 7099).

by mary

Metalier Metal Powders | Exclusively protected

Metalier Metal Powders are specially preserved in an exclusive protective coating.

Metal powders are the main topic of this piece.  It is also a bit of an unashamed brag about the quality of Metalier coatings.  If that doesn’t interest you we suggest you read our blog about the Harrods escalator job.  We’re still amazed at the size of that job and the sheer logistics of it.

To the point - metal powders are one of the two most important ingredients in Metalier liquid metal coatings.  The other vital component is our specially formulated range of binders.  Our solvent binder is only available in Aotearoa New Zealand, from us at HQ and from our authorised distributors throughout the world.  This is because at the heart of its formulation is a recipe only manufactured right here in the Antipodes.

But, I digressed again, and this is a story about metal powders.  The source of our powders is a highly-guarded secret, as you might imagine.  They are such an important part of our process.
What actually makes our powders so special is threefold:
first is the skill with which they are produced,
second is the care with which they are packed in vacuum-sealed bags,
third is that each tiny grain of metal powder is encapsulated in a protective coating.  This protective coating means that oxidization is almost totally prevented.  It’s an enormous bonus for applicators and the end enjoyers of Metalier. Metal gets to be applied to a surface in almost the same colour as when it was mined from the earth. Metalier is the only company to utilize this exclusive process.

At Metalier we’re keen to retain our position at the top of the league table of decorative liquid metal coating companies.  You know the saying – if you can’t be first, be the best.  Well we weren’t the first and we didn’t invent the concept as so many decorative metals companies now claim (“Yawn”). But we reckon we’re right up there on the league table for a number of reasons.  And one of the most important ones is simply the quality of our metal powders.

If you would like to know who invented the liquid metal concept email me and I’ll tell you.  If you would like to know the source of our metal powders you could also email me and I won’t tell you. Sorry.

If you would like Metalier metal powders (along with the other ingredients) to transform something ordinary into magnificent metal then email HQ or UK or USA or India or Russia or Australia or Vietnam or fill out the form below.

by mary

Copper brilliance | Experimentarium Denmark

Copper brilliance on magnificent staircase

Copper brilliance is seen in all its magnificence in what I can only describe as a phenomenal staircase in Denmark’s Experimentarium Science Centre in Hellerup.  The Hellerup science centre is about a 15 minute drive north of Copenhagen, so is very accessible. It’s definitely added to my “must see’ list.

Designed by Danish CEBRA architecture the staircase is touted as one of the finest modern examples of a helical staircase.  I have to admit that “helical” is a new word for me.  It is different from a regular old spiral staircase because it doesn’t have a newel (another new word) which is a central post.  This staircase happens to have rails on both sides of the staircase.  That isn’t what makes it helical, however.  Helical simply means spiral.

The engineering behind this copper brilliance is impressive.  The staircase is built of 160 tons of steel and is clad with 10 tons of copper.  Now, if only the architects had known about the lightness of Metalier’s liquid metal copper they could probably have saved at about three-quarter’s of the copper weight.

The architects were inspired partly by the science and technology focus of the Experimentarium. They were also inspired by the original building where the staircase is built.  It was once o soft-drinks bottling facility for Tuborg one of Denmark’s iconic beer brewers.

While I like to use this blog mainly to tell you about things that Metalier has done and can do, sometimes you come across something that is just too good not to share.  And this is one of those times.  This staircase is mind-blowing and marries the exotic copper brilliance with a simple white minimalist path – the contrast is compelling.

In my book, this staircase is one of the architectural wonders of the world.

To learn more about it or more about Metalier, contact us.

by mary

Metalier liquid metal | Champagne Gold in Harrods of London

Champagne gold is the colour of the liquid metal in Harrods

Metalier champagne gold liquid metal was chosen as part of a massive refurbishment of Harrods of London.  Harrods is arguably one of the most prestigious department stores in the world.  It’s certainly one of the most famous.

Champagne gold was created by Granlyn

Congratulations are due to our Metalier distributors and best mates in the UK – Craig and Alison McDonald of Granlyn Specialist Coatings.  Alison worked with the contractors to come up with a special blended finish that she called Champagne Gold.  We thought that was a splendid name  - just right for a store that covers 90,000 sq m of space and sells luxury collections across 330 departments.

The Metalier liquid metal coating was applied to the sides of the escalators and in the bulkheads underneath – if that is the correct terminology.  That was a lot of Metalier and it looked absolutely magnificent.

The company undertaking the contract was based in Hong Kong and the hard work was done in China.  All the components of the escalator to seven floors were all shipped back for installation in situ.  The installation was completed in October 2016 and I was lucky enough to be able to visit the store in the following week.  I’m rather proud of the pictures I took.  I also took a video of the escalator moving which cracked up my son – the Metalier part wasn’t moving, he said, so there was no point in a video.

I’m not taking any notice of him.  Here is my video   What do you think?

Did you know that there are 4 main banks of escalators in Harrods.  The store attracts 15 million shoppers a year.  Chances are that they’ll all go up at least one set of escalators so we reckon that about 3.75 million people per annum get to see real live actual Metalier.  We think that’s amazing.  What’s even more satisfying, in a way, is that they won’t know it’s Metalier. It looks like solid metal!

For more information about champagne gold or even just straight champagne contact:
Alison at Granlyn, Tim at M2 Supply in North America, or Mary at HQ or you could complete the form below:

by mary

Cool main door designs

Cool main door designs have been on my mind

This week a new client visited us at Metalier in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand - the country having the earthquakes right now. She was looking for an exceptional, classy and cool main door design for the house she is building on the other side of the city. It was freaky how she found us and how by chance it all was. She happened to stumble across another amazing door we'd done in the same suburb.  It was in a street she wouldn't normally go down.  But for some reason, she felt compelled to go that way, she saw a door that inspired her, she knocked on the door and the nice people sent her to us.  And isn't she pleased and excited by the options there are.

So how do we reach all the people looking for cool main door designs?

That's a question that intrigues me.  At Metalier we rank with google for main key words such as "real metal  coatings" and "decorative metal coatings" but that doesn't help much if you don't know that real metal or decorative coatings exist.  Our US partners, M2 Supply LLC recently attended the Arc Conference at Dana Point, CA. While there they met with 30 architects from the top firms across the US and Canada.  Only one of them had even heard of the concept of real metal coatings - which all just goes to show that the marketing department has got work to do. If you find us in a search we'd love to know what terms you were searching for.

One of the finishes our new client loves is our aged smoky bronze. Isn't it glorious - the patina adds a blue tinge to the metal.  I didn't know that metal could turn blue - did you? I can hardly wait until I can see it in door form.

If you want to know what else metal can do you could fill in the form below or contact us at HQ here, or in the USA here.  Happy Thanksgiving USA.

by mary