color matching

[gride300]

so spectrum sent some grey color for the gell repair im having done and it's about 5 shades too light, they tried to say it's b/c my hull is faded, but if so it would be the other way around. its an 05. anybody know the order # for that grey?

[DavidF]

RE: color matching

Well, another solution is to purchase the gelcoat directly from CC. You will get the correct color, but you will have to purchase One gallon at a cost of near $100.00

[DanielC]

Color matching can be a very difficult task. Fading refers to a color change, not necessarly lighter or darker.
When your boat was made, the gelcoat probably came to Correct Craft in a 55 gallon drum. My guess is that when they make a particular boat, they try to use gelcoat from the same drum for each boat, because gelcoat colors will vary slightly from batch to batch. Your boat might of been made from a very slightly lighter shade of grey.
I have repaired the Silvercloud (white), the Violet, and the Charcoal (grey) gelcoat on my boat. The Silvercloud, and Violet matched right out of the can.
Making sure you buff the repaired area well to get down to "new" gelcoat is one way of helping the color match.
Another option is to tint the grey you have. This is what I did to get a better match on my boat. If you have some of the Silvercloud gelcoat, use that to tint the gelcoat lighter. I usually do a small batch, starting with with about 3 or 5 CC of the grey, and literally adding a small drop of white with the point of a toothpick to the mix, stirring it very well, and then testing it on the boat to see if the match is ok. Try to do this under a very good light, ideally early morning or evening sunlight to compare the colors. Take careful notes of everything you do to tint the gelcoat.
Applying new tinted gelcoat on old gelcoat may cause a problem later when the gelcoat you tinted fades, and it changes color and what was a perfect match when you did the repair is no longer perfect after the new gelcoat fades after a year or more, from the color of the old gelcoat
Most gelcoats do not change color when you catalyze them or when they cure, so once you have the match close to perfect it is good.

[gride300]

well im not personally doing any of the work. that is the info i got from my dealer. they told me spectrum is who cc gets it from or something along those lines. i wish i had a ton of money in the bank so i could sue the pants off the shop that drilled the holes.

[8122pbrainard]

gride,
I would really question a dealer who has a problem with matching gel coat. Do they really have a competent fiberglass employee or is this the guy they have that just changes oil? Everything Daniel has stated is true. It's not just opening up a can and expecting the gel to match.