When you ding a section of your car, the paint fades or you inherit a car with patchy paint work, it can really ruin the whole look of your beautiful, precious Figaro.
At The Figaro Shop we pride ourselves in our paint work. While it may seem simple, it can be quite complex, so we thought it would be interesting to share our methods and how we attain precise colour match, showing the obstacles we come across along the way.
So, here’s the scoop. We have these nifty paint codes that are supposed to help us identify the precise colours of a car. As it turns out, there are other elements that havoc the colour of a Figaro. We’ve got the mischievous sun, the unpredictable weather, and the relentless force known as time. They all affect the colour, resulting in different shades on each Figaro.
There are several paint brands we work with at The Figaro Shop. Take Baslac, for example. It’s a water-based paint that offers up to 8 variations of a single shade of grey. It’s like having an endless spectrum of colours! We then have Roberlo Dicron, a solvent-based paint that brings its own set of varieties within each shade.
Nissan, the ultimate colour specialists, have created around twenty shades of grey, that vary in tint, depth, and warmth. We’ve got our secret weapon though: our trusty paint scanner, also known as a spectrometer. The spectrometer helps save the day by matching the paint with an accuracy rating of more than 95%.
The process begins by polishing the closest panel to the damaged area that needs the repaint. For example, when painting the doors of a Figaro, the colour of the side panels is used as a reference for the most accurate match.
The polished area is then scanned to capture the colour. The scanner is then connected to the computer, which searches the database for the best matching shades. The system generates around 10 shades based on the closest percentage match.
Our technician then mixes the formula of the shade and sprays it on spray cards first. These cards are placed next to the panels in various places, such as in the paint oven, indoor lighting, and under natural sunlight to visually compare and check if the colour matches the car.
If the colour doesn’t match satisfactorily, the whole process again repeats to find again the closest match. The chosen shade is sprayed on the car only when confirmed by our technicians. However, for metallic colours, the process becomes more complicated due to the presence of a double layer and variations in colour matching with and without the clear layer.
Sometimes the result can be found quickly and accurately, on other occasions we can run through this process five, six times before we get a result that we are satisfied with.
So, the next time someone tells you that matching colours was a difficult task, remember that there are 50 shades of grey! We put our hearts and souls into it and really want to make your Figaro better than new! Colour matching has its quirks, but we’re relentless in our search of the perfect colour for your Figaro. Our goal is always to make you happy!
