paint colour matching machines

[aheyn]

Hey all..

I`ve been going to this detailer for a while - he`s finish is excellent & he knows what he`s doing.

Anyway, I`m yet to have him repaint anything (he`s knocked out dings & polished it).... he touched up some chips on my brothers WRX bonnet in a few small places, and its immaculate (colour match = perfect).

THING IS, he doesnt match the paint by color code...I was asking him and he said he takes the fuel cap to this local paint place (he lives out in the boonies). They match it and make the paint.

This is fine as the colour should be pretty good, BUT, how can this machine work out whether the paint is pearl or metallic? or even flat for that matter? How could it duplicate the amount of metallic flecks in the paint so it looks identical - or more importantly have the same looking pearl flakes as the case with my car?

Should I not have my front bumper painted this way? I was going to get him to do the front bumper and the two mirrors (way stone chipped...)

Love to hear peoples opinions/advice...thx, Andrew

[usdm]

The paint shop probably has a spectrometer.
The sample (gascap) is placed under scope
and analyzes the paint content. With that
information, the shop may be able to
cross reference the mix to the pre-existing
paint color, or simply mixes a batch based
on the content the machine reads.

[aheyn]

Does this mean it`d be an exact copy of the paint?

Like, my colour is red .. but the red colour in bright sunlight is a fair bit different to that during say a shady, afternoon. Would the flecks be the same and everything?

I worry in sunlight the whole bumper will shine a different colour.

[usdm]

Well the idea is to make an exact reproduction
of the color based on the content the machine is
able to pick up. I ould not say there is a 100%
acurracy rate since there are variables that can
change the mix. But once again, if what the machine
reads is a close or direct match to a pre-exisiting
paint color, then al that needs to be done is
to pull the code and use that paint. Everything
should be fine.

[Bob]

This also all depends on whether you have a easy basic color or one of those wild changing paint deals.

When I mixed paint while working for a boat trailer manufacturer we would get request to match colors of cars and boats. If the color was a custom color we did not have a machine and had to spend a long time trying to match it. Pain in the butt!