All you paint experts, I could use some advice. I've done some paint work in the past, but I don't have extensive experience and it was quite a while ago. I've got plenty of air volume here on my setup (80 gal two stage compressor) so that's not an issue. I have a gravity fed gun, so I believe equipment wise I'm good to go. The issue in one word is "pearl". My car (see avatar) is painted GM Butternut Yellow with pearl. That's all I know about it as I bought it already built and the previous owner has passed away. I dinged up the radiator surround and while I can pay someone to do the job I'd really like to give it a go myself. If it comes out terrible I'll just have a pro re-do it. Laying down the primer and the yellow is easy. I can handle that no problem. The issue is the pearl, as I've never done it before. In searching the net, it seems the pearl goes on after the yellow base coat is laid down, with the pearl powder mixed into some clear, and then once that's done then 2-3 coats of clear go over that. I have some powdered gold colored pearl coming. When you look into the paint on my car in the sun, there appears to be microfine gold flake in it, I'm told by multiple people that this is the pearl giving that effect. My question is, does the above sound correct as far as how to apply it, in a mid stage coat? How do I determine how much of this pearl I mix into the clear coat to lay it on? What's a good tip size and pressure to start with? How many pearl coats do I put down? I know the chances of this matching are slim given my lack of experience with the material, but I figure you learn my trying and making mistakes. This will be fun to try if nothing else. Any information you guys might have would be appreciated. Thanks!
Just a general suggestion, do your experimenting on something besides the car parts...then when you figure it out, shoot the car.
@JimSibley already gave you the best advice on repairing it https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/any-painting-experts-on-here.1340614/
I am moving this to the main board where you will get more views. Go to the paint store and get some test cards. they are used for doing sprayouts to test for color matches. Also know that there are both powder and paste pearls and several different manufacturers . Man it is going to be tough to match. I would start by mixing the pearl real light and trying to sneak up on the color with multiple coats. When I shoot pearls I use blending clear because it is easier to spray and dries faster. good luck, this is not going to be easy. the only saving grace is the grill shell is not right up against anything that is that color so maybe it can be off a little?
I'm kind of in the same boat you are. I decided to paint my Model A because I have painted a few cars back in the day. It turns out that the last car I painted was my race car and I quit racing at the end of 1986; that's not that long ago, right? Built a paint booth out of PVC pipe with decent air flow and good lighting. I was using a Sherwin Williams single stage metalic paint. The first small piece I painted looked real good. Unfortunately, on large panels I got very blotchy results and my attempt to fix the blotchy look resulted in runs. Found a paint guy that painted my buddies 34 about 15 years ago (really great paint job). Paid him to repaint it with some 2 stage Sherwin Williams metalic paint. It looks great and was well worth the money. Before Some parts are still in sealer because I gave up trying to make the metalic look good. After
We are taught to do a let down test panel for pearls. Lay down the base color on a panel then a coat of pearl, tape off a section, another coat of pearl, tape off another section, another coat of pearl …… then clear coat it This will tell ya how many coats of pearl to match the existing color. we don’t guess on how much pearl to add to the midcoat in the collision industry We have a 3 stage formula. A mixed base followed buy the pearl midcoat stated by the paint code. Lays down like a base coat. The number of pearl coats is determined by the test panel. if no paint formula, one way to get close is to have it scanned by an automotive paint store. there’s a lot of different flakes and pearl toners.
Not to be a downer but without knowing exactly what colour pearl was used originally this is going to be next to impossible for someone who doesn't know how to colour match. Even for someone who does it will be a huge undertaking without knowing the pearl that was used. If this is a custom colour with a pearl added over top of a regular colour the camera isn't going to be of much use. It may by some miracle find a match but that is another long shot.
My bad, the title of this thread sounded so much like the other one that I didn't read it and assumed it was another thread trying to get an answer that you liked better, it has happened enough in the past on other topics by other people.
Anthony is dead on with the "let down" panels, and so is Moriarty with the parts store test panels. The panels are black and white squares, when you can't see the contrasting black and white squares thru the paint you know you have adequate paint coverage. And again as said above trying to match pearl without a reference or starting point is going to be really tough. Many different colors etc to choose from with pearls along with the amount used... Play with it, use let down panels etc and have fun. The only negative is you can spend quite a bit of money on supplies and still not get it right. Your fortunate enough that at least it's not up against another panel... ....
The other thing you don't know which will add to the challange is whether or not it was even painted as a tri coat or if the pearl was added to the base coat.
There is so much going on her what was the air pressure , ho many coats, was the pearl in the base paint or clear. THE one good thing is its way up front and not close to another panel you have find out how the pearl was mixed than play around with every thing I mentioned. You could go to a pro and bring a small peace of the car that can be removed and have them come up with the correct formula.
Something else I haven't seen mentioned, is use the same color primer under the base as was used on the original paint job. A friend of mine painted a car yellow over grey primer, had one part he forgot to paint and used black primer then yellow. The difference was very noticeable.
all of these reasons are why you need to be extremely careful with cars that have custom paint.... @ALLDONE had a good suggestion, just get the grill shell chromed
With all the issues of matching a pearl paint especially when you don't know what it is, at least you have distance from any mating parts on your side. That is unless you have a hood...
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