The Art of Blending: Getting Started On Your Car Paint Job

Art of Blending When painting panels, one will find it is almost impossible to make a newly painted panel match the rest of the car’s paint exactly even with the correct paint code in hand.  Luckily, blending paint on a car allows one to achieve about as close to a perfect match as possible. 

Blending paint on a car has become something of an art as of late, and with a little patience can be learned by even the most inexperienced DIY auto painter.  While one can achieve a good paint blend using single stage paint products, a novice to the world of DIY auto painting would be better suited using base coat/clear coat.

Unfortunately, the actual color of the newly painted panel will not match the original paint job on the surrounding areas exactly. There will, however, be an illusion created that will cause the newly finished area to look brand new. This of course would be preferable to the alternative of a damaged panel.

The exact color for blending paint on a car can be found by allowing an auto body paint store to examine your car’s VIN number.  Sometimes there is errors in these numbers so be sure to inform the auto body store reviewing the VIN number of your vehicle’s base color. Should this happen, request that the auto body store clerk confirm that this is the actual color you are looking for. Alternatively, you can employ a color spectrometer to determine the necessary shade.

This machine will not be available at all paint retailers and is somewhat costly. While painting panels, color blending and uniform paint feathering are an integral part of your refinishing project. The ideal aim of the DIY car painter is to apply the paint carefully and evenly, ensuring no definite edges are visible. The illusion created here will make the area appear visually flawless, as if it had just left the showroom floor.

Either side that is adjacent to the newly repainted panel may require a light spraying of feather coats of paint to ensure they appear similar in color.  While the blending process may seem time consuming and costly, it is well worth it to ensure your repaired and repainted panel matches the area in its immediate vicinity.

Remember that you are attempting to create an illusion, and that any blend will not be 100% perfect. Nevertheless, you can achieve results that are as close as possible to the original.

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