Panel beaters are the extension artists of auto body repair. They are the skilled tradespeople who restore your vehicle to its original factory state after a smash.
Vehicles cop all kinds of dents, scratches, and structural damage during mishaps. It’s these professionals who skin them back into shape, preserving the integrity of the specific make, year, and model – and preserving your safety.
While they’re at it, professional panel beaters also keep your car or bike looking smart and modern with their detailing/paint-matching skills. They mix new paint to match and blend with the factory color. Try as they might to inflict their own style on your vehicle, their code is to uphold value. This, too, is a niche discipline worth its weight in gold
Tools and Technology for Accurate Color Matching
Panel beaters use cutting-edge tools like spectrophotometers and color matching software to guarantee an exact color match during panel work. Spectrophotometers work by shining a light on the surface of your vehicle's paint finish, capturing the reflection of that light on various different wavelength bands, and sending that data to color matching software to match the new paint mixture with the old exactly.
This software uses complex algorithms to calculate the spectral data and can connect to vast databases full of decades of paint formulations from different manufacturers. It takes all these variables into account when formulating the new paint mixture. Without it, we would not be able to make such an exact color match with your old paint finish, and you may see the odd mixture presented in sunlight. That would destroy any potential illusion of a seamless new finish.
Understanding the Role of a Panel Beater
A panel beater is a name for someone whose job it is to repair and restore the bodywork of vehicles. The idea is that the metal is removed of any dings or dents, any panels that need to be replaced get replaced, and when the work is complete, you would never know anything had happened. The panel beater has to have a good eye and understand the materials and designs used in automotive manufacture.
But second to the actual work of getting the car's body back into shape is the ability to match paint. Paint matching skills are just as important because, at the end of the day, if you can see where a particular type of work and paint have taken place, then the eye is not going to see the smooth lines of the car; it's going to see the flaw. Good paint matching requires a knowledge of colour spectrums and light, a good eye to get an accurate colour match.