Flop Control

Guys, I'm not trying to be a jerk so please don't be offended. Just to be the contrarian on the forum, in all my years of collision repair, I almost never did a drop coat nor did I do any technique other than standard blending techniques. Almost never did I have any flop issues. Then only times that I did, was trying to blend a color to a low grade basecoat, or using a low grade basecoat (not all the time by any means though). The techniques that AAE is talking about are about metallic control rather than flop control. Not the same thing. There is a difference. All you can do with technique is metallic control. You can't change how it lays down flop wise. Sorry.
Metallic control in blend areas is for sure a separate issue than the actual flop/sidetone of a sprayout panel. We have to make sure that we're all speaking the same language! Now I am not sure what @jcclark is talking about, since in the OP there is just a reference to "flop" without indication of whether it's light, or dark.

When I switched to Standox, I had to bump my spray pressure up a bit to become more consistent with the Standox color chips (not much to go by, btw) because many of my metallic colors were simply too dark, especially on the flop. If you do choose to spray with a bit higher pressure, you may also find yourself needing a slower reducer, If there is lots of crunchy dry spray out in your blend zones, your reducer is too fast!
 
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Omni is one of those that has given me headaches, it seemed to be more on the blotchy side too, for me anyhow. That and Matrix, Matrix is total crap.
 
In those cheap systems, I try to find whatever clear binder they use for pearl colors and such and put a coat of that on the blend panel. Sometimes it helps. I've done that with Axalta's and Sherwin's cheap bases, not PPG's, though.
 
I was more concerned with the dark flop on the entire panel, my blend was fine.
The entire door has a really dark flop.
 
There are a few things to do if the sprayout indicates a dark flop:

1: Ask the paint store for a different variant, if one exists

2: Add flattener as needed, up to the maximum amount allowed by the system. Large amounts will make the face look lighter/grayer also.

3. Raise air pressure, within reason

4. Substitute some smaller metallic with a lighter flop instead of what is called for. This won't impact the flake appearance too much if you don't go crazy. The eye usually picks up the largest flakes in the mix as long as there is enough of them. Smaller metallics tend to have more hiding and will effectively reduce the strength of the other toners in the formula, so more of those may be needed.

5. Add weak white. This can go sideways quickly, so start off small, like about a tenth of a percent of the total formula, until you know the system.
 
it very well may be just a dark silver they said is the correct mix. Flop might not have anything to do with it.
 
it very well may be just a dark silver they said is the correct mix. Flop might not have anything to do with it.

All I know is it matches pretty good looking directly at it, but looking at it from an angle it looks totally darker.
 
Upfront i'll say i know nothing about these issues, great as always here suggestions.
Does flake effect face much from 10' back?
 
I like to use my Sun Gun in the booth to see if I'm gonna have a problem with the blend, or with coverage. It's saved my butt a few times.
 
My only not so good experience was when i based rear quarters & tail light/bumper filler at same time.
Bumper piece was sanded uvc cause i filled a few screwups after clearing, sanded it all nice, then base/cleared it with quarter.
Bumper filler piece is darker then quarter from all angles. Quarter was sanded o.e base & primer.
Not bad, but it's there. Did a few month old clear absorb more base?
Guessing #6 only applies if you prime entire side.
 
We have daylight LED's in the booth and lighting is very good but after it's painted the real truth is outside when you are on the fence as to whether it will fly or we take a replaced part from that vehicle outside and use that for color match and blend on it to have an idea if the tinted color is close enough.
 
I have seen a difference of color on the bumper even though the qtr and bumper were prepped the same way and sprayed
the same time. Why is that? For some reason plastics sometimes will turn out differently.
Also,
I was told if I do everything with epoxy primer first that the bumper will hold out.
Not true, on my car they did match originally but as time went on the bumper became different.
And it was anb original bumper on an older car, so it was completely cured for sure.
Plastics do something differently to paint.
 
I have seen a difference of color on the bumper even though the qtr and bumper were prepped the same way and sprayed
the same time. Why is that? For some reason plastics sometimes will turn out differently.
Also,
I was told if I do everything with epoxy primer first that the bumper will hold out.
Not true, on my car they did match originally but as time went on the bumper became different.
And it was anb original bumper on an older car, so it was completely cured for sure.
Plastics do something differently to paint.

Plastics are more prone to static.
 
We have daylight LED's in the booth and lighting is very good but after it's painted the real truth is outside when you are on the fence as to whether it will fly or we take a replaced part from that vehicle outside and use that for color match and blend on it to have an idea if the tinted color is close enough.
Something interesting I have noticed is that, for me, it's best to turn off the booth light altogether and use the Sun Gun (or whatever you use for a color matching light source) on panels and blends in a booth that is otherwise dark. I have found that this somehow lets me see things that might otherwise go unnoticed. My theory is that the dark helps open up the pupils of the eye more and that makes them more sensitive to color.
 
Something interesting I have noticed is that, for me, it's best to turn off the booth light altogether and use the Sun Gun (or whatever you use for a color matching light source) on panels and blends in a booth that is otherwise dark. I have found that this somehow lets me see things that might otherwise go unnoticed. My theory is that the dark helps open up the pupils of the eye more and that makes them more sensitive to color.

True, that is done also. There are many different ways to make sure what you are doing and have done will make the job go out the door. You have to cover all aspects of the way the car will be seen by the customer when parked in the driveway to walking up on it in a parking lot.
 
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