Paint matching and parts respray - Leak TL12+

[yestertech]

I've acquired a nice pair of these, with the early "champagne" finish
Although the chassis condition is good, unfortunately, the paint on the transformer covers will need re-spraying. One is OK ish, one is peeling off badly and two are the wrong colour ( charcoal grey ! )
I imagine these were originally primed and then sprayed ( or maybe not ? )
Has anyone paint matched the colour on these, or used one of the colour matching specialists to make some ?

Andy

[David G4EBT]

Most towns have firms who will match colours and fill aerosols - evn Halfords do it, but as it's mostly for cars, they need the orginal paint code, which is no use in your situation. However, some more specialist firms will colour match from a sample. I don't know how far you are from Brighton AutoPaints, but they will do that for you. The do basecoats and primers too.

A google search will find them, or you might find someone closer to you if you search 'colour matched aerosols'.

Hope that helps Andy.

[GrimJosef]

Matching the colour is one thing, but if you want to match the new paint to the old in every respect then the paint type may matter too. This is where things can get tricky.

The first variable is the glossiness of the surface. The default setting for modern (non-metallic) car paints seems to be 'just about as glossy as possible'. You can see your face in it. The original paint, however, may have been something like cellulose which may well have aged to the point where it's now quite matt. If you do go to a specialist paint mixer then they can add a 'matting agent' to bring down the level of glossiness. But getting the right degree of matting can be a bit hit-and-miss I'm afraid.

The other issue which can make a surprising difference to the finished look is paint layer thickness. Some modern water-based paints, and in particular modern primers (the 'high build' ones) seem to end up quite thick. This has the advantage that any blemishes in the metalwork are hidden. But the downside is that any sharp edges tend to be rounded off. When I first saw this effect I was surprised at how visible it was.

Life is easier, of course, if you respray everything since at least then the resprayed parts won't stick out.

Cheers,

GJ

[Radio Wrangler]

Spraying old type metallic paints was hellish (possibly even worse)
The aluminium flake was aluminium coloured!
The lacquer it was mixed into was dyed for the final colour

You had to lay the paint on so that it was thick enough for the flake to sink in and to allow the lacquer to close over the top - else it was water permeable and the steel underneath would rust. Primers and undercoats are designed to be abraded smoothly, they aren't water-tight.

The problem then is that you needed the closed lacquer layer to be of the right thickness, else you got the wrong opacity and the flake was dimmed. Too thin and the colour was too silvery.

You couldn't win!

The modern idea is to spray coloured flake and let it dry. Matte, not watertight, but uniform incolour, uniform in flake. (That's two boxes ticked)

THEN you spray on a transparent lacquer to seal the whole thing. This gives the high gloss. If you want a less glossy finish, choose an appropriate lacquer.

We-mix-it-for-you paints are old-school. Flake in dyed lacquer and have all the old problems, but are intended for DIY. The Leak finishers were pretty certainly one-coat stuff, but done under controlled conditions.

I suggest you try to match the flake and colour while studiously ignoring gloss, then apply a satin or whatever you choose clear top coat.

Trying to do it all at once is very very difficult.

David

[yestertech]

Thanks chaps for the useful background
And there was me thinking it may be relatively simple to do.... ah well.
Alas, a complete respray is not practical given the decals/print applied to the Leak chassis.
I'll do as suggested and get the colour as close as possible, then try and trim the exact finish with the lacquer.
Fingers crossed...


Andy

[AC/HL]

Several posts moved to a new thread: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=119056

[AC/HL]

One post moved to a new thread: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=119511

[McMurdo]

I had to respray a new capacitor on a Stereo 20 once, as the new one was silver and had been replaced before I got it. I'm not sure if that's the same gold as yours but I used a can of Holts 'Datsun Autumn Gold Metallic' and was very pleased with the result; this sort of obsolete car colour is typical car-boot fare.