Does anyone know of a company that does gelcoat colour matching? I'd like to improve/repair a few areas on my car, but it's not a standard RAL colour... I've tried East Coast Fibreglass and they don't offer a colour matching service, so are there any other places to try?

I don't really need that much, but would happily by a few Kg of it to 'future proof' myself, should the need for it arise...

[Edited on 25/1/14 by OliilO]

Try looking at the marine side of things, as this sort of request is a lot more popular with boat hulls and decks that have sustained damage.

This is a real can of worms. With gelcoats it is not as simple as paint matching. The problem is that the colour will change when the gel is catalysed so you cannot just scan a sample with a photospectrometer and make up a mix as analysed.

I have spent many happy and fruitless hours mixing pigments into clear gelcoat, catalysing, curing, flatting and polishing and comparing the finished product only to have to start all over again.

The only totally reliable answer is to find the original pigment. The largest manufacturer in this country is Llewellyn Ryland (LR). If you know what you are trying to match and who the original moulder was then they may have records of the pigment used.

I've also spent lots of time going round in circles on home made pigment blends. The exact number of dropletts of catalyst affected how much of a green twinge my orange contained. Could be worth a shot though, and at least it's fairly cheap - in terms of money if not time!

Another issue is that gel coat has a shelf life, so you can't store it indefinitely

Cheers

Fred W B

It won't work. Take it from someone who has wasted a lot of money in the past trying.

Yes you can get it looking close but bit like patching up a wall you painted white ten years ago with bright white.

Paint it all if you want to improve the look or wrap it.

[Edited on 26/1/14 by jossey]

West and Senior offer such a service but IME there will always be some discrepancy as your gelcoat will have changed colour over time due to oxidisation / sun...

[Edited on 26/1/14 by stevebubs]

[Edited on 26/1/14 by stevebubs]

Thanks all. I'll try and contact the original moulder and see if they've got a record. Hopefully it may well be a 'standard' non-RAL colour, if that makes sense.

If not, I'll contact West and Senior and see what they can offer.