Mazda develops latest hue through Takuminuri painting tech

Mazda Motor Corporation has launched its latest body color offering made from its “Takuminuri” painting technology.

The newest hue — called Rhodium White Premium — will be offered soon in Europe and Japan, starting with the Mazda CX-60. To note, the new color option is the third from Takuminuri — the other two are Soul Red Crystal and Machine Gray Premium.

“Mazda believes color is a crucial part of what gives shape to a vehicle, and thus we are focusing efforts on developing colors that accentuate a dynamic and delicate expression via the Kodo-Soul of Motion design theme. Rhodium White Premium is a pure white inspired by Japanese aesthetics finding beauty in simplicity and the absence of superfluous elements. Furthermore, the paint's fine grain accentuates the shadows on the surface of the vehicle complimenting the metallic texture of Rhodium White Premium,” Mazda said in a statement.

The Japanese automaker noted that the Rhodium White Premium was developed using three coatings: clear, reflective, and color layers.

“The color layer provides a newly-developed white pigment that delivers a silky smooth, fine-grain white. As standard practice with white-colored paints, the undercoat tends to show through, and the clear coat is generally thicker than for other colors. However, Rhodium White Premium uses a newly-developed pigment thanks to which we were able to reduce the thickness of the color layer by up to 30 percent (compared to Snowflake White Pearl Mica). This also contributes to more efficient use of resources and a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions during the production process,” Mazda explained.

For the reflective layer, Mazda used a paint that contains ultra-thin and high luminance aluminum flakes to achieve a uniform texture, which then shrinks to approximately 0.5 microns in volume (around seven percent of the usual thickness of a typical reflective layer) during the drying process.

Further, the hand-painted-like finish was achieved with the aluminum flakes smoothly aligned at regular intervals in the reflective layer — the same technique used to create the Machine Gray Premium color. When exposed to light, the entire surface gleams and displays a realistic metallic texture.

Moreover, Mazda said that individual aluminum flakes are distributed evenly and “parallel to the undulations of the body surface” to produce a glossy and shaded appearance when hit by light despite the bright white color of Rhodium White Premium.

“As we believe color to be a key component of any vehicle, Mazda will continue to pursue new color expressions and painting technologies to enhance the attractiveness of our products, aiming to become a brand that shares a special bond with its customers,” Mazda assured.

Photos from Mazda

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