How to color match Honda Pearl Fadeless White
 

Let me preface this by saying that I've been trying for weeks to paint my seat cowl to match my tail cowl. I tried ColorRite aka ColorWrong (see my other threads) and it's no good. The best match I've been able to get, and I'm pretty OCD about this kind of thing, was using the process that follows. All of these paints can be purchased at pretty much any hardware store (primer) and auto parts store (color, pearl, and clear).

Coat 1: Gray Rustoleum Filler Primer (believe it or not, the color of the primer makes a big difference in the finished product). Not the easiest primer to apply, but you can sand the hell out of it once it's dry to get a nice smooth surface without going through it.

Coat 2: WET coat(s) of Duplicolor Nissan Cloud White aerosol acrylic lacquer. If you don't know what wet coat means, look it up before tryig this. Just spray enough coats to get a consistent color over the primer - no more than three. Spray too many and it will be too light. Best to do this with a heat lamp, or in direct sunlight so you can warm up whatever you're painting before spraying and help it cure faster between coats to avoid runs or sags.

Coat 3: DRY/TACK coat(s) of Duplicolor Hyundai Powder White Pearl aerosol acrylic lacquer. Spray consistently and methodically for even coverage but DO NOT give in to the temptation to spray this coat wet - it will streak if you do. Because this particular paint has some off-white pigment in it (very little), it will yellow and darken whatever you end up with after step 2. Compare your work piece to whatever you're trying to match between each pearl coat to avoid going too dark/yellow.

Coat 4: WET coats of Duplicolor Clear acrylic lacquer. For a non-catalyzed clear, this stuff is pretty amazing. It goes on smooth with very little tendency to sag or run, and it's CRYSTAL clear (little to no color shift after application). HOWEVER, it doesn't give the smoothest finish in the world so some wet sanding and polishing will be required for a nice gloss finish. The good news is, it's so easy to put on a ton of coats, that pretty much any ham-fisted oaf can wet sand it without going through.

This may all sound tedious and difficult, but if you're careful and patient, it's really pretty simple; especially considering the alternative frustrations of trying to match it yourself, or paying a body shop $hundreds to paint it for you.

I will post pics after I wet sand the cowl

Hi romoses

How'd the colour match turn out?

I'm in the (very slow!) process of sorting out an '88 CBR600 and need to refinish the front fairing, mudguard, rear seat cowl and a rather natty single seat cowl I picked up on eBay a while ago? I'm interested to see how yours came out as trying to get oem style pearl crystal white is like trying to nail jelly to the ceiling. :-)

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Nice job! Very nice!!

Looks like I'll be trying the Hyundai pearl then. Hopefully it'll save me having to sell an organ to get a pint of the OEM stuff mixed up! :-D

Make sure you spray a base coat BEFORE the hyundai pearl (I used Duplicolor Nissan Cloud White aerosol acrylic lacquer). The hyundai pearl does have pigment but it's very faint and you'd have to spray about 10 coats to get decent coverage. Also, the pearl effect in the paint is created by tiny little flakes of mica. The random orientation of theses tiny flakes is what gives the pearl a consistent finish. If you try to spray a heavy coat of the pearl, the finished pearl will contain streaks because the weight of the paint actually causes the flakes of mica to lay down so their orientation is no longer random.

Thanks for the tip, fella!

I'm lucky (possibly) in that I'm trying to match OEM main fairings and side panels that have spent the last 20 years wrapped up in a basement (apparently the guy I bought them off took the plastics off his '88 to service it and it got stolen while half-nekkid, so he just put the panels away and forgot about them. Result for me! Virtually pristine panels, so I don't have to try to match with 20 years of patina! :-) ).

I'm unlucky as I live in the North of England, so spraying outside in sunshine is a rare thing.

Never mind though - patience is a virtue! :-D