Painting a trailer

[mako]

Anyone know how much paint i will need to paint (top coat only) a 6x4 tradesmans trailer with a spray gun? I also need to find the paint called 'Pantone reflex blue'. Any ideas?. I cant seem to find it. cheers guys.

[echnidna]

1 litre

[journeyman Mick]

Mako,
"Pantone" refers to a colour matching system, not a brand of paint. Reflex blue is basically a "pure" mid blue (ie, no red or yellow mixed in). I guess some might call it a "royal blue". I know that across a few different manufacturers in screen printing inks its best match is "Blue B". A good pint store should be able to match it.

Mick

[Master Splinter]

Pantone Reflex Blue is a dark, very saturated blue. (a cobalt blue sort of colour - but not going purple or violet)

I can't think of any off the shelf car colours that will match it closely (Ford Tractor Blue is too light); however if you go to the trouble of getting it mixed, its probably worth getting a sample of the actual colour the client wants you to match.

I'm presuming that it is to match business cards or something - if it has been printed as a spot colour, then it should be Reflex Blue, but if they have spent a bit extra and printed it as 4-colour process (so it looks like a photo), the blue they are saying is "Reflex Blue" could be out by a few shades. And clients get sooooo posessive about their colours!!

You could nip into your local quickprint place and ask to see their PMS swatch book for a moment, but getting a sample from the client of what they think is "Reflex Blue" is your best bet (unless your client is a grapic designer or printer - they should know what they are talking about).

Just in case they are the type of client who gets thingy about colour, also explain to them that the match won't be exact. Then tell them again that the match won't be exact. Then explain that ink on paper and enamel on metal are totally different colour environments, and the colour match won't be exact. Then wait for the complaints when the colour match isnt exact.

[mako]

Thanks guys. A specialist paint shop got just the right thing for, whith a little trouble, but i was determined to get it. (Geelong colourworld i would reccomend ) Anyway i want to paint over hammertone paint. Will it be enough to sand the trailer back to a dull finish or will i have to take it right back? Cheers guys.

[Big Shed]

Hammertone has a fair bit of a silicone oil in it, that's how they get the hammertone effect.

This silicone will affect the intercoat adhesion and you should sand it back as far as you can, then put a coat of good quality primer on, then your enamel.

With all the knocks that a trailer gets, if you don't have proper intercoat adhesion it is not going to look its' best very quickly