wetsanding single stage touch-up paint...darker

[eddie jr]

en you wetsand single stage touch-up paint, has anyone experieced that it goes a darker colour and even when polished no longer looks the same shade? I have some red acrylic enamel that i put in stone chips and i tried wetsanding (2000) one chip to test. It seemed to go dull (obviously), but darker. Even when i polished it (M80 with terrycloth applicator) it still looks darker and sticks out from the other paint.

It had been drying for at least a week, maybe even two on that particular chip.

Is this typical of the air-dry enamel touch-up paint or is it something i did?

thanks.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: wetsanding single stage touch-up paint...darker

It could very well be that you're not just leveling the chip repair, but cutting just enough into the surrounding paint that you're removing light surface oxidation. That will reveal the true color of the paint, which may well be a bit darker than what you're seeing on the rest of the car. The rest of the paint doesn't need to look dull and faded, but it may well be just a tiny bit faded. Being single stage, even if it's a very modern single stage, it's going to be subject to at least some fading due to UV exposure. And red pigments are often some of the least stable pigments used in paints, inks and other coatings.

If you've ever seen anyone debadge a car after it's a few years old, it's pretty common that the paint under the badges is a darker color than the surrounding paint, even when dealing with a clear coat paint. This is due to the surrounding paint being just that little bit faded, even under the clear.

[eddie jr]

Re: wetsanding single stage touch-up paint...darker

It could very well be that you're not just leveling the chip repair, but cutting just enough into the surrounding paint that you're removing light surface oxidation. That will reveal the true color of the paint, which may well be a bit darker than what you're seeing on the rest of the car.

Thanks for the reply. I don't think i explained it well enough though. I mean the touch-up paint itself seemed to possibly go darker. You are right, i did cut into the surrounding paint with wetsanding and polishing (aind it got darker too), but it didn't come back to the colour of the chip paint. The surrounding paint clearly got redder, but the chip paint is very noticeably a different shade. I even broke through to primer beside the chip when wetsanding and the red next to that (which i assume is as red as it will ever get) is not the same as the chip paint.

Yet, in the door jamb when put a dab, the chip paint seems to be a pretty close match to the original colour.