Paint colour difference between plastic and metal

[Felonious Crud]

Hi,

I've just had the nose cone on my Grigio Alfieri GTS resprayed. The colour seems just slightly darker than the colour of the adjacent panels. I've been told in the past that due to the different refractive properties of plastic and metal there will always be a colour difference unless a slightly different colour is used. The work was done by a very good paint shop which deals with Ferrari, Bentley, Maserati and so on.

I really can't remember if there was a colour difference before. To be honest I only really gave it a detailed look after the work was done.

Any clues from the collective experience on here?

Cheers,
Adam

 

[safrane]

This was one of the reasons I did not have my 2003 painted, even though it was rather marked, but a 100% match from the factory...the new owner did and you could see it when a few feet away.

 

[Felonious Crud]

Dang. A thick layer of dirt will doubtless mask it. I need to have a proper look when this blooody rain eventually stops. Weirdly I didn't notice when I collected it. It was only after I got home, remembered the old story about paint colour differences between plastic and metal and had another look that I noticed the difference. Given the fact tat the panels are at different angles i suppose some difference is inevitable anyway.

 

[safrane]

Thing that shows up the worse in paint jobs is the Orange Sodium Street lights

 

[MAF260]

Grigio Alfieri is also known to be one of the most difficult Maserati colours to match. I know of at least 2 other cases of fresh paint not matching very well - one of them after 4 attempts!

 

[Brendan]

Nose of my car was painted recently. In normal light it looked ok but in bright sunlight it stood out. I ended up having the bonnet and wings tops painted so it all matches now

 

[beau]

fiat puntos are bad for it, the bumpers and skirts often look a different shade

 

[D2Detail.com]

if if the colour is a 100% match it will still look different! they do from the factory, its to do with the angles that the panels sit at! if they were all level and the same angle it wouldnt be a problem.. its to do with the flip effect in modern paints! ie, looking different colours from different angles..

 

[lofty]

Many cars come out of the factory with different coloured bumpers etc as they are painted in a different place to the car body.The paint batches differ slightly so you end up with mismatched parts.if you get a front end respray, ie bumpers, bonnet and wings then it should be all the same colour if done properly, the doors should be blended to ensure there is no notable difference in colour between new and old paint.

 

[rotorheadcase]

My local paint guy has a big sign advising customers that bumper resprays are never guaranteed to be an exact match, unlike normal panel resprays.

Neil

 

[Felonious Crud]

Helpful and reassuring comments, thanks all. Sounds like it's not worth getting too worked up about but a good professional clean and clay-bar treatment should help bring the old paint back to its original shade to even things out.

Cheers!
Adam