How close is the colour match when buying same paint again?

[RIP]

I'll be spraying the main cabin of my jeep this spring. After that I plan to fit the cabin back onto the rolling chassis and reassemble the car before moving onto stripping and respraying the doors and bonnet later in the year. I'm inexperienced and don't know how much paint I need. If I re-order the same paint in the same colour code from the same supplier will the colour be a good match?

 

[brightspark]

yes as long as you didnt paint stuff and leave it out for a few years and get bleached and weathered

 

[norsa]

Yes it should be. The paint manufacturer has a very accurate ingredient list which is given to the agent. These ingredients are weighed to the gramme and possibly via a computer program so consistency is maintained.
Nick

 

[Tom O]

Use the same colour primer. Just saying!

 

[MattF]

If I re-order the same paint in the same colour code from the same supplier will the colour be a good match?

Judging from past experience, don't bank on it matching.

 

[Turbo]

If it's a non metallic colour buy all your paint in one go, better chance of getting it all the same. The place I use still relies on the guy pouring in the correct weight of the tinter from one tin into the other. Have you ever tried pouring exactly 10 grams of paint out? It's not easy, so variations will occur, especially if more than one guy mixes the paint.

If it's metallic its even harder to match but the problem with mixed metallic paint is it doesn't like sitting in storage, the metallic flakes settle out & when you go to use it you might discover it won't mix properly. So if you use some now & then the project stalls, they normally do, you go to use the paint a year later & its unusable.

 

[MetalMonkey]

If you are doing separate panels, then it doesn't really need to be a perfect match, as the eye won't really pick up a subtle difference.
If you order the same paint code from the same manufacturer, and it is decent stuff, then it should be close enough for you not to notice.

The difficulty mainly comes if you are blending something that has already been painted.

It also depends on what colour you are using, some are more forgiving than others. Cheap paints are more of a lottery

 

[Adam Marshall]

I remember years ago I did abit of painting professionally I painted out the hangers at a local aerodrome, the company was changing there corporate colours which were Pantone (mega money paint), got 3/4 of the job done finished on a corner so it wouldn't be obvious new batch turned up (definitely the same paint ral code) and it was a different shade. Project manager pulled me up on it but how do you explain when they are the same colours but different shade? Paint company didn't want to know as there was a disclaimer on the tin stating shade my vary batch to batch. It wasnt they big of a deal but still made my wages a grand lighter. So yes shade can change slightly its if you can get away with it or not, darker colours are more noticeable if the shade is slightly off.

 

[steveo3002]

id buy all the paint at once and mix between tins if its in seperate tins , well known that factory batches can be out and if its from a motor factors then down to the guy mixing it who probably doesnt care one bit

 

[Longhorn6120]

I was in the same boat as you. Never spray painted before so didn’t know how much paint I needed for a ‘57 Chevy. I bought 5 litres and figured if it was too much then a) at least it would all be one shade, and b) I’d have some left over for any repair work it may need. On the other hand, if it were too little I’d know before the end and make sure I did the final coat all from one batch.

 

[bert]

Buy all your paint at the same time, even subtle shade differences are obvious to the eye.

 

[500e]

How long between the 2 painting sessions even single colors will settle in tin however much you think you have mixed it, would be better to do it all in one go.
If we were using factor paint that required more than one tin we poured it all after mixing into a clean thinners tin then mixed again
Even slight shade differences will show Look at a bunch of paint swatches, BMC Tartan red I think there were 5/6 variations but only one in the mixing scheme, ford Diamond white then metallic Ford silver fox, another problem as well as the color the technique also changed perceived color as with any metallic. Fiat moss green never got it quite right was quicker to do repair & paint whole car

 

[bert]

I was in the same boat as you. Never spray painted before so didn’t know how much paint I needed for a ‘57 Chevy. I bought 5 litres and figured if it was too much then a) at least it would all be one shade, and b) I’d have some left over for any repair work it may need. On the other hand, if it were too little I’d know before the end and make sure I did the final coat all from one batch.

5 litres just about does a classic mini, inside, outside and underneath. A 57 Chevy I'd be looking at 10 to do all of it.

 

[colnerov]

Hi, At our local factors they had two staff members that took it in turns to go on the scheme, one of them had the nickname 'Blind Pugh', several of the regular customers would ask who's turn it was before asking for paint. As said buy all you paint up front.

Colin

 

[Longhorn6120]

I may have under-bought then, although I’ll not be doing inside (at least not in that colour,) nor the roof or underside so I might be ok.

 

[steveo3002]

if its a keeper then why not buy too much , will come in handy for touch ins at later date

just mix it all together before starting so its all from the same pot

 

[norsa]

Seems my supplier is unique and im the lucky one then. Colin is the only one who mixes the paint and I have total faith in his repeat prescriptions