Colour matching paint

Ross D

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 Jul 2010
Messages
268
Location
Cornwall
Visit site
Hi does anyone know where I can get paint mixed to a specific colour. I need Awlgrip Sea Foam colour, but not their unbeliveable prices:mad:.

I could repaint the whole boat for less than the price of one tin of Awlgrip. Alternatively does anyone know of a cheap supplier of Alwgrip?

I need to paint the transom and a few touch ups so only need a little. International Toplac or Epifanes Bootlak are reasonably priced and apply with a brush.

Ross
 
Hi does anyone know where I can get paint mixed to a specific colour. I need Awlgrip Sea Foam colour, but not their unbeliveable prices:mad:.

I could repaint the whole boat for less than the price of one tin of Awlgrip. Alternatively does anyone know of a cheap supplier of Alwgrip?

I need to paint the transom and a few touch ups so only need a little. International Toplac or Epifanes Bootlak are reasonably priced and apply with a brush.

Ross
If you can find a good colour match in the Dulux mixer swatches you could persuade one of the shop operators to mix it in their machine using a different make tin of quality white base paint. A small shop owner may be more persuadable than a B&Q employee. I'd make the mixed colour slightly deeper, as you could always add some white.

I have many years ago painted several boat hulls with Dulux gloss, but that was before the paint formulation got mucked up by environmental concerns. Current gloss paints are not nearly as good as they used to be, even for household use. I certainly would not now put domestic gloss on a yacht hull.

Really, you need the Awlgrip though. I had a tired dark blue yacht hull spray-Awlgripped once and the result was fabulous.
 
As a colour matcher in a previous life, I suggest that what you are hoping to do is just about impossible. Obtaining a perfect match to a weathered paint system will be a miracle. I had a repair done to a gouge in my gelcoat, mixed by a professional using exactly the same methods I would have used. Once cured and weathered it is quite a long way from the original. There is a good reason why automotive resparayers will only paint a whole panel - matching part of one just can't be done.

I think you need to bite the bullet and repaint all of it, or accept imperfect patches.
 
Thanks for the replies, I am intending to repaint the whole of the transom so slight differences won't really matter. What I am after is someone who can mix paint to the right colour.

Can I simply buy a tin of white Toplac and take it to a paint shop and get them to add in the correct pigments to make it the right colour? or do they need to be marine pigments? If they do does anyone know any chandlers which do paint mixing.

The alternative is painting the transom a completely different colour.
 
I'm not sure that they would agree to that. The pigments will be in the form of pastes with the same solvent and resin base as the Dulux. Adding them to Toplac runs the risk of incompatibility, which could cause all sorts of strange things to happen. It might be worth contacting International for suggestions.
 
In the past I have used B & Q to mix a specific colour. Not only can they match any BS standard colour, they can us their hand scanner to tell you the exact BS colour.
Suspect though that you might not be able to convince them to use ANother's base paint as a starter.

Got wise to this a few years ago someone in my yard started using Dulux
(mixed to colour) after a well known paint company stopped making a particular shade of green. On the basis that it was a wooden boat that got painted just about every year his attitude was that the "quality" issue did not matter that much AND the saving in price was dramatic.
Outcome was that the boat looked as good as ever and the Dulux was fine for the job too.
 
Thanks for the replies, I am intending to repaint the whole of the transom so slight differences won't really matter. What I am after is someone who can mix paint to the right colour.

Can I simply buy a tin of white Toplac and take it to a paint shop and get them to add in the correct pigments to make it the right colour? or do they need to be marine pigments? If they do does anyone know any chandlers which do paint mixing.

The alternative is painting the transom a completely different colour.

Chat up your local trade paint centre where they mix to order. My local ones does it for me (adds colour mix to white toplac for use on cabin top sides) and does not charge, but then I had spent quite a bit of money on paint for the flat. The other option is dulux trade gloss mixed. I have also used this on the underside of the bridgedeck quite a few years ago and the sea has not removed it yet but it is shelterd from knocks and sun.
 
Last edited:
Many thanks for the replies. Boathook, did you simply get the trade centre to add standard colour mix to the Toplac or did you buy in International colour mix, if so where can I buy it?

Ross
 
PAINT

Try Halfords, the paint they do is not water based. If you get a RAL chart or a BS chart, Pick your colour and they should be able to match it fairly closely.
 
If you can find a Berger dealer who has their mixing system I have found their gloss paint to be extremely tough, much more so than Blakes.
 
""I have many years ago painted several boat hulls with Dulux gloss, but that was before the paint formulation got mucked up by environmental concerns. Current gloss paints are not nearly as good as they used to be, even for household use. I certainly would not now put domestic gloss on a yacht hull. ""

As a vehicle refinisher years ago, I routinely used synthetic one pack for cars and commercials.

The supplier mix any colour (including metalics) from manufacturer's specs or your chip.

If spraying, thin 10% with white spirit or apply hot (hot potting using a bain-marie)

Softish for two weeks but instant lustrous no polish shine with 1.5/2 coats, One respray I did in 'difficult' black stayed glossy for the 18 years I owned the Austin A30

http://www.jawel.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=53_54

(no connection, just a customer)

Last used some Triumph Spitfire white leftover to spray my Yanmar YSM

Nick (Rivendell)
 
Matching

Any tips for how to get the color matched from only a small sample?

The best I can do is small flakes of the current paint on my boat, these were too small for B&Q to scan with their hand scanner!

c
 
The Dulux stand at our local B&Q give out a booklet, the centre pages of which are a clever colour matching system. It has an array of grey scales and colour patches and a hole in the centre. You put it on the colour to be matched (in my case the cabin side of a Skipper 17) so it shows through the hole, and take a pic with a digital camera. You upload the pic to the Dulux website and it works out the matching mixture to order back at the shop.

It worked a treat!!
 
The Dulux stand at our local B&Q give out a booklet, the centre pages of which are a clever colour matching system. It has an array of grey scales and colour patches and a hole in the centre. You put it on the colour to be matched (in my case the cabin side of a Skipper 17) so it shows through the hole, and take a pic with a digital camera. You upload the pic to the Dulux website and it works out the matching mixture to order back at the shop.

It worked a treat!!

Great tip thanks!
 
Top