I've tinted this animal MANY times, and always tell our clients to...Lightly, & AT AN ANGLE, do the light criss-cross strokes.
* These are mentioned in the newer brochures too.
* A variation on this is applying it using curved/random strokes with the roller.
* Then do light random criss-crosses, in the area just applied.
* For a new "wrinkle" on things...crinkle-up some plastic bags and lightly pounce these on the wet Metallic sections.

Faron

(Just had a contractor finish up a commercial job that they went thru FORTY gallons of RL River-Rock!!! Was a pretty big area I guess!!)

lorraine,
about the only thing you can do at this point is like Samantha(Bewitched), blink your nose and say, "Abra-Cadabra This wall is now SPRAYED."

Sorry, that was a little humor from me. This is one website and instructions that just make me sick. They are so good about filling customers full of this & that "knowing all along this souped up semi-gloss paint" is going to show roller marks. The only way to get a mirror like finish is going to need to be sprayed. Also notice how they show the instructions (which is a joke in itself); there is either a 7' man painting an 8' wall or the opposite a tall female . No ladders around, not even a step ladder- why - because they have the tall giraffes already there. Just for the record I hope no one gets offended by my observations on the Ralph line. I just think customers really should understand some of the mishaps that are going to happen and this is just one of the classics. The candlelight ain't no better .

Sounds like your painter has used the floppy moppy rollers and ideally that is the general purpose of these rollers is to camouflage the visual tracks.

So if your painter is game and wants to give it another go, there are a few things that might help you. Have him/her to get a size 3 or 4" (better 4")soft color wash brush. When your painter has rolled out two sections, take the soft brush and lightly do soft x's to blend out where each roller track ended. Other tools that could be used also are very soft natural wool sea sponges or woolie to tap out the demarcation lines or the use of a very soft badger brush. Another MOA is to use one of the covered ends whizz roller and do soft upward criss/crosses for the technique. Roll and lift the roller and roll in different directions. This is a great roller for dutch rolling at the ceiling line and for baseboards and corners as well. Another good tip is to always try and start with a base color as close to the finish color you have selected.
Keep the paint stirred often because what particles are in there has a tendency to settle. You want your painter to roll in one direction and don't cross the micas with the roller ; this is causing the tracks.

A true metallic paint will have smaller mica particles and when rolled they line up with each other the way the the little particulates should. The only thing I like about the RL metallics are the colors. They are really nice. I much prefer MM metallics or Blue Pearl. They are so much easier to work with. Another thing I would like to point out, excess air or extreme hot temps is going to be the worst enemy to trying to work with metallics. So watch how your air is flowing or excessive heat.
I hope it all turns out great for you. :)
Wow Faron, that was a lot of River Rock.

I'm painting an accent wall for my DD with Benjamin Moore metallic paint (iridescent gold) and I'm hating it. I tried to brush over the roller marks with a dry brush, with just one coat on, and then I had roller marks with brush strokes.

I put a 2nd coat on today (we've got a nice mellow yellow under the gold) but I'm afraid the coating is just going to look splotchy.

I guess I should have used a special roller/brush/technique, but I was uninformed. Is there anything to be done?

My other daughter wants something similar, so maybe I can get it right on her wall the first time.

Thanks.

As someone said earlier, these products are not user-friendly. Spraying is certainly an option. I always apply with a brush (sometimes a rag, too) in multiple coats. And, when done properly, the results are stunning. As with many decorative painting techniques, multiple coats is key.
It's hard to say whether yours can be rectified by doing another coat, but it's worth a shot. Also, make sure you stir the paint constantly, the heavy particles tend to sink and you're left with only glaze at the top.