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Paint- BMW Singapore Grey

J

John Courte

Well Known Member
I know nothing about paint. but I've finally decided to think about painting my -7. Unfortunately, I seem to have latched on to the most unobtainable (as far as I know) color in the known universe.

I really like BMW Singapore Grey Metallic, internal code B41. It's only available on M Sport models, and google returns mostly online ordering of touch-up paint.

Is it even possible to buy enough of this stuff to paint a -7 or do you need "a guy" who can buy it for you through a dealer? Will an aircraft paint shop be able to use it?

Should I have the paint shop try to match it using proper aerospace coatings?

thanks,
-John
 
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That looks promising, but I wonder if it's the same paint and not a matched color. Might be worth ordering a sample to check out.
 
John, any automotive body/paint supply store will mix the color for you based on formula. And, you can choose what type and brand of paint (single stage, 2 stage, etc).

Virtually all automotive paint is custom-mixed from a few base colors in the individual stores. Just like Home Depot does for house paint.

Here in the South Bay, I use Finish Master at 4823 W Rosecrans Ave, Hawthorne.

But, before you buy anything, educate yourself on what's out there. Since you want a metallic, I'd go with base/clear polyurethane like PPG Deltron. Within the Deltron family, I used DBU Basecoat and DCU2002 Clear 10 years ago on my -6 and it still looks like new.
Heinrich
 
John Courte said:
Your 6 looks fantastic. You shot that yourself, if I recall, right?
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Yes; thanks. My hangar neighbor and I built a paint booth in his hangar using a 240V axial fan he got on ebay.

Also, find the model year and paint code (google) of the car you're thinking of. Not sure about BMW, but GM often used the same color name over several model years but the color and code changed slightly.

In my case, I used 2003 Acura Agean Blue and 2005 Mercedes Iridium Silver and 2003 GM Truck Olympic White.

Also, check out this old post: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=722011&postcount=27
 
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BMW Singapore Gray, as used on their 5 and 6 series, is a 2-stage Glasurit system - distributed through BASF in the States.
 
Not that it will ad any value here, but when recently visiting an automotive paint supply house another customer came in looking for paint for his car to match his repaired area to the factory finish. He was asked to supply a VIN number in order to produce an exact match. I thought this was hocus-pocus until I saw the computer screen where it became obvious there were breaks in the paint colors and those breaks were delineated using VIN numbers.

As the old saying goes, it's a poor day when you can't learn something!
 
I'm also planning on using a BMW color as my primary. In my case A35 Monaco Bleu. I got the BMW paint code from a friends car VIN. My PPG paint dealer mixed me a couple ounce sample (free) to try out. Then I bought a quart to do baffling, fairings, etc. Like another poster I'm using 2-stage DBU/DCU. Just be sure your paint shop is willing to use automotive paint.
 
I love this forum! Thanks so much for the info.

I won't shoot this myself. I don't have the skills, the time, or the facilities. But this will help me work with a paint shop to get the color I need.

Thanks again!
 
Can anyone help with the grey that most use internally?

If I can get a code or shade I may be able to buy a touch up rattle can from my local KMart (Walmart):confused:
 
This is what it looks like painted

It turned out nice! I have to reattach the gear fairings and wheel pants. I bought a set of RV Bits fairings and had them paint those, which means I have to do some installation work. But I'm happy with it.

PlanePainted1.jpg


PlanePainted4.jpg


PlanePainted2.jpg
 
Looks awesome, John! Reminds me of our F-20 Tigersharks which were painted BMW code 151, Ascot Gray, which happened to be the color of the F-20 program VP's BMW at the time. I used the Ascot Gray, mixed with flattening agent to paint my RV-6 panel.

7b68da83c6ff8cada62ab400386da024.jpg
 
Bernie Knight said:
Can anyone help with the grey that most use internally?
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Don't know about most of us, but I found a very nice flat charcoal rattle can in my local hardware store that I'm planning to use. It's called Rustoleum Chalked Charcoal, ultra matte paint. I don't know how durable it is yet. It's their 302590 charcoal. Very dark, very flat, not black. Cost me about $8 a can, and their data sheet says it covers about 12 square feet per can.

I tried Rustoleum's Dark Machine Gray rattle can and decided that it was too light and too glossy.

Dave
 
Long-time lurker as the son of a former-builder-turned-flyer and thought I'd chime in since this is right up my alley. I've worked in collision centers my whole working life with the last 6 years being in a certified BMW shop.

You obviously figured out how to get the paint you were looking for (the plane looks beautiful by the way). As others mentioned, any major paint supplier has formulas for nearly every color out there but just know that this formula is generally just a starting point in terms of matching a color. If you are painting something from scratch this won't matter as it'll be close enough that any variance won't be noticeable to the naked eye when compared to the original swatch.

The problem you may run into down the road is if/when you ever need to repaint a part or replace something and you have someone remix the formula. It'll likely show a shade off (light or dark) compared to surrounding panels because even an extra drop of any one of the toners can throw off the color just enough. Metallic grey colors are notorious for these differences. This is the primary reason for blending adjacent panels when performing repairs.

My suggestion is to keep a spray-out panel from the original batch of paint used to paint the plane that future mixers can use to create a proper match. If you are getting paint mixed at a later date ask to get a spray-out that you can compare either to your previous sample or to the plane itself in various lighting conditions. They can always go back and tweak the mixture to get the desired color you need.

Sorry for the long reply but feel free to reach out with any questions!
 
hgerhardt said:
John, any automotive body/paint supply store will mix the color for you based on formula. And, you can choose what type and brand of paint (single stage, 2 stage, etc).

Virtually all automotive paint is custom-mixed from a few base colors in the individual stores. Just like Home Depot does for house paint.

Here in the South Bay, I use Finish Master at 4823 W Rosecrans Ave, Hawthorne.

But, before you buy anything, educate yourself on what's out there. Since you want a metallic, I'd go with base/clear polyurethane like PPG Deltron. Within the Deltron family, I used DBU Basecoat and DCU2002 Clear 10 years ago on my -6 and it still looks like new.
Heinrich
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While this is correct, please note that if you need the same paint it would not be simply to go back to another paint shop and ask for the same color code. I used BWM paint which I got it from an automotive paint store. A year later I went to get more of the same code and it was significantly different since. They had to color match it for me which was an additional charge and still wasn't at exact match.
 
I have a test plate that they painted for me and a can containing the remaining paint. I fully anticipate the need for matching if I have to do something else down the road.
 
hgerhardt said:
Looks awesome, John! Reminds me of our F-20 Tigersharks which were painted BMW code 151, Ascot Gray, which happened to be the color of the F-20 program VP's BMW at the time. I used the Ascot Gray, mixed with flattening agent to paint my RV-6 panel.

It's really too bad we don't have a "Like" button on this site. The F20 Tigershark and the X-29 were always my two favorite F5 variants, followed closely by the T38.
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