How to Blend Paint
Please note, you cannot blend with the paint pen or touch up brush. Brushed on paint will normally dry darker then the surrounding paint. The clearcoat makes it even darker. Only very small areas (less than the size of a pencil eraser are suitable for the paint pen or touch up brush (unless you are very skilled).Metallic paints should be blended into the existing paint. There are many factors which influence the color of metallic paint. It is impossible to apply the new spray paint exactly like the original finish, even with professional equipment. Several factors influence the color:
- The angle of metallic flakes
- the pressure of the spray equipment
- the temperature
- the humidity
- and the distance between the spray equipment and the surface.
Each time a vehicle is sprayed, one or all of the conditions will be different, resulting in a slightly different color. So, how can you ever exactly match metallic paint? You can't and that is why you must blend the paint. Professional body shops have been doing this for years and so can you.
First, make sure you have covered the repaired area thoroughly. Make sure you have scuffed the paint up to two feet around the repaired area. Now, starting from the edge of the repaired area, gradually spray less and less paint until you are just applying a mist coat approximately one foot all around the repaired area. The idea here is to gradually apply less and less paint so as your eye moves from the original paint to the repaired area you can't really tell where the original paint stops and the repaired area begins. This will take some practice, but when done properly, you will have an excellent repair.
Let the paint dry thoroughly before applying clearcoat. Apply the clearcoat over the entire area going out about a foot past the edge of the mist coat. Apply full coats of the clearcoat (don't mist it at the edges). For best results, take the clearcoat right to the edge of the panel you are repairing.
Some metallic colors, such as gold, can be quite frustrating and in my collision shop, we often ended up painting the entire SIDE of the vehicle, hood area, etc. Gold fades rapidly and is a very difficult color to match even by trained professionals.
Blender Directions
(Please note these instructions only apply when you are spraying paint and are NOT for the paint pen or brush cap bottle.)
Our clearcoat blender is used to blend the freshly applied clearcoat and melt it into the existing finish. This will give your paint repair a professional look and remove the clearcoat paint edge.
After you have applied the clearcoat and the clearcoat is still wet, spray the blender around the edge of the repair. You are spraying either side of the clearcoat edge right into the existing paint. The blender will start to "melt" the paint edges into the surrounding paint. Once it is dry, you can polish with the rubbing compound (cutting creme).
