Painters are trained professionals who apply paint and finishing to exterior panels without leaving imperfections like runs or sags and to the micron thickness specified. Sounds easy? Not so. Some repairs are cosmetic. Most, however, require detailed preparatory work before painting.

Painters need to prepare the surface for painting. This means cleaning the surface and where necessary sanding the panel to remove any imperfections before painting. They also must tape and mask up areas of the car that are not being painted to prevent over spray damage.

An important task is to mix the paint and adjust the colour to match the sometimes-faded existing paint. This takes a lot of experience and while we have spectrometers to assist, it the painter who decides. A key tool of the trade is the spray gun. Spray guns are expensive. They are a complex tool that must be maintained and cared for.

We recently installed PPG's Moonwalk designed to make paint mixing rooms cleaner and more efficient. It is an automated system that replaces manual paint mixing. It minimises human error and improves quality, consistency, and accuracy. At the heart of the system is a sophisticated computer system that connects to the integrated automated mixing system and colour management software.

It is an example of how Gateway Collision is using technology to transform operations in our collision repair facility.  Want to know more?