#29 - Why We Must Blend - Part 2
This article is part 2 of a 2 part series. You can read part 1 here.
Why We Must BLEND
What can we do to help create an invisible blend?
- Never blend into a flat panel with a straight vertical line, as the human eye will easily pick up a colour difference if the blend edge ends in a vertical straight line (instead, blend across the panel on an angle).
- Use the contours of the panel, curves, swages, styling lines to help lose the colour.
- If required to do a small blend within a single panel, use a “Reverse Blend” technique (blending from the outside of the blend edge back into the center of the repair, this creates an invisible blend while keeping the size of the blend very small).
- Use a Blend-Set Coat over the repair and blend area to provide a “soft” surface for your blend and blend edge pigments to lay on.
- With colours with a high metallic content (silvers) select the “blending option” on ICRIS (just above the formulation itself), this adds binder to the colour to help reduce the colour strength for easier blending.
- Solid Pastel colours (no metallic or pearl content) can still cause a “halo” effect around the blend edge due to the high concentration/strength of the toners with in colour. To stop this, add up to one equal part of basecoat binder to the colour mix then blend as normal.
- Always bring your “Drop or Technique coat” application across and over the repair, over the blend, and just over and into the original panel colour. This provides not only colour accuracy but also acts as the last layer of camouflage between the repair colour and the original colour to create the invisible transition.
Trigger control, gun setup and differing application techniques are key for successful blending.
If you would like to know more about how to achieve invisible automotive colour blends and transitions then contact your local DeBeer Representative to enquire about attending the next Colour & Application Training Course (2-day course) at the DBNZ Training Center, Hamilton.
This tip was originally written for DBNZ Coatings and has been re-posted with permission.
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