Do-it-yourself car transition painting: technology, colors

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

Even with experienced drivers, situations sometimes happen when they “didn’t fit in” or “didn’t notice”. Novice car owners face this almost every day - instructors in driving schools devote very few hours to parking techniques. As a result, paint chips, dents, scratches and other damage are formed on the body paintwork and on the surface itself. Every car owner wants his car to always look perfect. And if there is a scratch or chip on the body, it is necessary to remove the defect. But for the sake of one scratch, repainting the entire body is stupid. Therefore, only local painting is used. But here everything is not so simple - it is very difficult to choose the right paint to hit the color exactly. Also, the paint finish fades over time.

Transition painting will eliminate the defect on the body with minimal differences in shades. And the staining technology itself in this way will not require much effort and money and can be performed in garage conditions.

What is the essence of this coloring method?

Transition coloring isone of the technologies of local staining, when the smoothest transition from the old coating and its color to the new paint and, accordingly, the new color is created. To obtain such an effect, not only the defect itself is painted in several stages, but also the areas that are adjacent to the affected area.

After the main repair spot is completely painted over, the composition is sprayed outside the area. Experts recommend being guided by the principle - each next layer should go a little beyond the edge of the past. This is done until the border between the repair area and the factory paintwork of the body visually disappears. Generally speaking, transition painting is a technology that allows you to remove the difference between colors. Even a specialist will not be able to notice this with the naked eye (of course, subject to technology). Sometimes small differences in shades can be seen, but this is only visible on light and silvery colors, and even then on a sunny day.

If painting a car with a transition will not be done in a professional workshop, where craftsmen with extensive experience will do everything efficiently, then you need to remember that the transition is done both in paint and varnish. In this case, the boundaries of each transition should not overlap or somehow coincide. Everything is done as smoothly as possible.

When is this dyeing technology indispensable?

Fade painting is very helpful when neededrepair a kink on car doors or fenders. The doors are painted to the molding with the main color, and then the transition is made. The molding itself can serve as a transition boundary - even on a bright day it is difficult to notice the fact that the car has been tinted. In the grooves, you can make a different pitch of varnish - both with sharp boundaries and with sagging. On vehicles that are lighter in color, the color transition is more noticeable. On dark ones, it may be difficult to create a transition over the varnish. However, you can notice that the part was repainted, and not only by the presence of a transition - in a fresh restored place, the varnish will be glossy, not matte.

This method of painting is also indispensable in the case of the selection of coloring compositions, which can change shade depending on the thickness and pressure in the process. Painting with a smooth transition also allows you to eliminate color differences after unsuccessful attempts to restore color. For work on this technology, little material is needed - this is a serious advantage. Naturally, before starting work on any painting, the surface must be prepared. If this is not done, the result will be terrible. At the first wash, all the paint will simply fall off. Therefore, the coating is thoroughly degreased, and if there are traces of corrosion on it, they are sandblasted and puttied.

Transition coloring and different types of paints

Local transition painting, as practice shows, is best obtained on paints such as metallic, mother-of-pearl, xeralik, as well as on most analog-type auto enamels. First remove the glossdamaged and neighboring areas. In the process of applying the coloring composition to the defective area, it is important to capture neighboring areas as well. In this case, you can go literally to the middle of these parts, but the paint layer should not reach the joints of the two parts. If the defect falls on the edge of a body part, but there is enough space for painting (for example, with metallic paint so as not to reach the borders), then you can do without the transition.

Using nitro enamels

Painting a car with a smooth transition with acrylic enamels can be done according to two instructions. First, the transition is made with plain nitro enamels - always without the content of aluminum powder in them. There are a large number of pigments in nitro paints, and you can choose the right color with the help of computer programs - the result will be much more accurate. The technology for creating a transition with a single-color nitro paint is the same as when working with a metallic one.

Acrylic enamels

The gloss is removed here, then they reach the middle of the part located nearby.

Next, the paint is dispersed with a solvent. The result is an interesting effect of well-blended color. If the texture is noticeable as a result, then after complete drying, the area of \u200b\u200bthe new paint is rubbed with fine-grained sandpaper and polished.

Alkyd paints

This is an endangered species, but they can still be found on the shelves of auto shops. The transition on such paints is performed in the same way as on acrylic ones. But it must be taken into account that thisthe type of coloring compounds dries longer, so it will be possible to polish the painted surface only after a few weeks.

Paint transition

In case the transition painting is based on acrylic, it is applied in several layers from an aerosol can or from a spray bottle. Gradually, the radius of the treated surface must be increased. Acrylic paints are very easy to apply - they lay down as evenly and correctly as possible. After the next pass, the layer is allowed to dry and only then the next one is applied.

If streaks appear during work, then experts recommend removing them immediately with the help of special napkins. Errors are removed with the application of a new layer. This sequence of actions allows you to achieve the most even distribution of paint on the surface.

Creating a transition using a thinner

After the process of applying acrylic paint is finished, then the metallic transition painting will be done using a special solvent. This composition in its consistency resembles ordinary water. To get a really smooth transition, apply this solvent as carefully as possible. If during the application process this substance begins to spread over the surface, the excess is carefully removed, and then the solvent is given time to process the paint layer. When the composition finishes its action and the acrylic enamel becomes soft enough, the surface to be restored should be shaded until the shades on adjacentcoatings will not become uniform.

Transition on polish

This technology is often used when it is necessary to eliminate any paint defects. For example, if there are some areas on the body that are slightly different in shades, then they can be easily smoothed out with a solvent and shading over the varnish. The solvent itself will not affect the paint in any way. So you can significantly change the appearance of the car for the better without significant costs.

Painting a car with a DIY transition at home

The hardest part of all this is color matching. Even modern computer programs cannot give a completely 100% result of accuracy and color compatibility. That is why the transition is used. To work, you need a solvent that can be purchased at any automotive store. You also need to purchase a gun that gives a fairly large torch (its nozzle size is 0.8 mm). First of all, gloss is removed from the workpiece (but not all, but only 70%). For this operation, emery with the number 1500 is used. Experts advise making the transition in the middle part, but if this does not work out, they matte the entire part.

Next, the area is degreased and the staining procedure is started. When the last layer remains, a trace will be noticeable - not spreading paint. To completely remove it, take a solvent. At first, they are applied only at a distance of forty centimeters, they wait thirty seconds, then they are applied again until the coloring composition spreads. When the paintdries out, they again pass emery on the restored surface. Fine-grained sandpaper is used for processing, which will not leave scratches on the surface of the paintwork. The final stage is polishing. It is performed with a not very abrasive polish using a typewriter. Experts recommend not washing the car with high pressure for 2 days. Then the machine can be fully operated as before.

Painting process briefly and step by step

What does transition painting look like step by step? Gloss is removed from the entire work surface. Then nitro enamel is applied by spraying to the middle of the working part or even further so that there is no border. The surfaces are then allowed to dry and then degreased. The transition piece is varnished. If everything was done correctly, then the result will be more than perfect. This is the simplest and most inexpensive way, which allows you to get a good effect in almost garage conditions. Such painting will help to get rid of the difference in tone and makes it possible to significantly reduce the time and effort when searching for the desired color in tables or catalogs. Regardless of which method will be used for painting, it must be remembered that for maximum effect, it is necessary to carefully prepare the defective area. The car must be pre-washed, the old paint must be removed.

So, we figured out how to do local painting ourselves without a significant transition.