Question Regarding Paint Match
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I had a question for you experienced painters. I recently had my rear bumper resprayed due to parking dings and minor scratches at a local body shop who used Spies Hecker base but not sure of the clear they used, seems slightly yellow when looked at it from an angle.
Anyways, the color matches really well in natural sunlight but when the car is in a low light condition such as dusk when the natural light is low. You can see that the rear bumper is slightly darker than the rest of the car. BTW, the color is quartz grey from a 07 Audi A4, which is known to be a hard color to match. Otherwise, the workmanship is top notch, no runs, nibs, fisheyes, clean edges and no mottling.
Any advice and is this something that can be fixed or is it common for difficult metallic colors to show this? Maybe a drop coat was needed and it wasn’t done? What do you guys do for difficult metallic colors?
Thanks,
Denbumpers very seldom match the body color on vehicles from factory … how well does the front bumper match? …. when ever butt matching a painted part, a good eye is gonna see a difference. If it’s more then you can live with then by all means repaint it or consider a blend. :unsure:
I know from my line of work that a value of a color (darkness and lightness) is more important in getting a good match (as far as the human eye goes) than actually getting the hue (actual color) correct 100%. I was thinking maybe a dropcoat which will make the metallics stand up and reflect more light will make it look less dark and give it a better match during day light and low light conditions. Because the match looks 95% during the day and it goes to like 85% match at night.
drop coat or not so wet will raise the metallic, but the flip is controlled by a flop control(bc 101 fortifier in diamont) which you can add or subtract. some colors just darn well need to be blended :unsure:
I remember mixing that color. It’s been a few years and only done a few
Audi’s… Yes, it was tricky (but nice).show some pics in various angles and lighting conditions. Anyhow, Stone is right
bumpers are slightly off in color from the factory. If you get a chance, check
out other Audi’s…You say the colour is slightly yellow?
The paint itself may be a decent match. Sometimes the colour becomes a little darker/yellower once you clear it. The reason is that many clear coats are actually slightly yellow due to additives such as UV protection, and with the high solids clear coats (and a painter who is generous with the product) you can get a lot of clear on there. With any clear, the more you have on the darker it will get since the light has to pass through more clear, reflect off the base pass through the clear again before it is seen by the eye.
Good point Ben. Was gonna mention that too!
If you want it perfect is to have blended the 1/4’s. Even then there is a chance for a very very slight difference in color. There are so many variables when it comes to color matching it’s unreal. Just dropcoating it will not fix it. It will make the color darker.
When matching a silver the most important thing is to make sure your flip is good. If the flip goes darker or lighter than the car it will stand out like a sore thumb. The estimator should have discussed color match with you when you were getting the estimate. If they promised perfect color match panel painting I feel sorry for their painter. The rate at which solvent base flashes on plastic compared to metal can change the color. That is a variable there is no answer for. Also the difference in static charge between the car and plastic bumper can effect color.
If the color match is 95% that is pretty damn good. If it bugs you, take it back and talk to them about repainting it and blending the 1/4’s. They will have to repaint the bumper along with the 1/4’s though.
I agree with others though almost no bumpers match from the factory. If the factory can’t get it right it is even harder for the painter in a shop.
Yep, they all pretty much hit the nail on the head.
I guess the question is just how far off is it?
I’m guessing it’s not too far off since only the flip is off.You may want to go look at the brand new audi’s.
If you look closely, with metallics the plastic bumpers rarely match perfectly, there’s just far too many variables on painting over the plastics in comparison to the metals.If you feel yours is just way worse than the typical car, then I’d suggest you get it blended into the quarters.
Even the best painters with the best matching equipment can’t get a perfect butt match all the time.In this industry blends are your friends. But quite a few insurance companies straight up will not pay for a blend panel, so it puts a lot of painters between a rock and a hard place…
Go look at your front bumper,I bet it doesn’t match either :rofl
Front bumper factory painted, matches pretty good!
[IMG]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e155/sined240/IMG_6239.jpg[/IMG]Rear bumper repainted recently, slightly darker!
[IMG]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e155/sined240/IMG_6242.jpg[/IMG]Both images taken at the same time in the same condition.
Back bumper’s a little dark (of course your back bumper picture is blurry)
Front bumper is pretty close but still not a butt match.
what about those rocker and door molding though. they are pretty far off are you conserned about those :pcorn:The darker rear bumper is slightly more noticeable than the front bumper and moldings from the body sections of the car. I am just wondering if I am being picky or if this is something that is fairly common in the refinish industry. I spent $370 to have it painted and just expected a better match given that I wanted it repainted since those minor dings and scratches were bothering me enough to get it done.
Pics don’t show much,front bumper picture is better than the rear picture.You really need to take a better pic in better lighting.Your front bumper and ,moldings and door handles don’t match either.If it bugs you take it back.Go look at other new cars on the lot,same deal with bumpers and moldings not matching.
That’s entirely up to you.
We can’t judge for you, like all the painters already pointed out to you the front Bumper, Rockers, and handles don’t match either.
But we also tend to “Notice more” than the general consumer.
Hell we’ve seen stuff come out of other shops that looked absolutely butchered, (Yes Bondo, talking about you.) But the owner was tickled pink over the job.Is it more off then I would be willing to except? Judging by the poor picture. Yes.
Is it more off than the butt match a typical shop would do? Nope. (I’ve seen way way WAY worse pass their standards.)$370 is about what a butt match Bumper is worth.
Do you deserve a Blend up the quarters for $370? Nope.They probably could have got it closer if they spent a little more time and attention on their spray outs.
Butt matching isn’t exactly a science, it’s an art. There are just too many factors. (Color, Mix, age, Fade, Substrate Material, film build, Static, and even Shooting technique, Just to name a few.) Like I said a Computer can’t even perfectly butt match paint.
There just plain and simple is no guarantee on butt matches. There isn’t a painter here that wouldn’t prefer to blend onto the next panel.
But Insurance companies don’t like paying for it. And nor do customers.Hell to do a proper blend and clear on the quarters of that car you would have to do the whole quarters and all the way up the roof and down the other side. You’d end up doing just as much work as basically painting a 1/4 of the car simply for a perfect match. and that is if you can get away with not doing the trunk lid. (So you can see why nobody likes paying for it.)
So basically even if you do demand they redo it. There is no way you’re guaranteed any better of a result.
You want it done right, get it blended onto the quarters. That is your only guarantee of a virtually identical match.
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