My buddy just painted my car silver. He painted the panels separate and then put together, was over today to look at it. Some of the panels look slightly different shade than others. now that they are on car. He says it's the lighting, says wont notice once its outside. Does this sound likely? I am very picky, maybe it's not as big a deal as I think. Gonna go over tomorrow and pull it outside to see if it looks better. Thanks

 

Can you post some pictures?

 

Not sure if its lighting or what, but the deck lid looks darker to me
Door looks slightly darker, from the right of the photo is a window with natural light comin in.

 

The panels need to be assembled when spraying metallics. It will probably be less noticeable outside though.

 

Looks great to me!

 

Yeah, I'm very happy with quality of work and straightness. I wanted a nice driver quality car not a show car. I'll get it out In the light tomorrow and see. Thanks

 

Yeah, it looks pretty good under the fluorescents. But get it out in the sunlight if you want to see if there are any flaws. Always works when I'm polishing mine -- looks great in the garage but it's a mess once I get it outdoors.

 

Also, ask your buddy if he is going to buff the paint. Even a professional painter can't lay down the paint perfectly. Buffing it will remove all the little imperfections.

 

He already buffed,that parts looks good to me. He said one final buff before I take it.

 

^^^THIS! Metallic paint shades can vary with application technique and even direction. Back when we were all spraying lacquer, it was easy. You simply over-thinned the final coat by 50% and sprayed at 90 degrees to the prior passes. This fog coat "melted" the previous layer and helped flow the metallic. Modern BC/CC paints don't work that way, so your technique needs to be perfect.

 

I was actually wondering, did your buddy paint it with BC/CC or did he use a SS paint?

 

Single stage catalyzed enamel has the same problem as BC/CC. You still can't flow out the final coat. That only works with lacquer.

 

I've seen various colored panel painted cars come out great when done by a professional. Silver not so much. It's a tough color to even panel blend. I worked at a premier So Ca body shop with some painters that were true artists.
Your car looks really good. Get it outside and re inspect.

 

I think it looks much better outside

 

Looks very nice -- but the panel you were most concerned about was the trunk lid, no? Got a shot of that?

 

It may be the way the light is hitting the decklid. The sun is shining in from the right. You can see how the different angle surfaces looks different than the flats.

 

Did you pay your buddy to paint your car?

 

This is the true question!

 

Well, it does look a little different. As you say, from the picture it could just be the light. Regardless, tell the painter about your concern (ask him if he can see it) before the final rub-out and maybe he can address the problem.

 

Silver is a pain to panel paint. Did he spray the deck lid hanging or laying flat? That will make the flake lay different and Change the color, so does air pressure, temp, mix ratio ...