Spectral grey of the primer and its influence on the base colour

In the painting process, it is not only important to choose the right shade of basecoat, but also the colour of the primer underneath.

Nowadays, metallic or pearlescent lacquers are becoming more and more popular, which, through the addition of pearlescent pigments, aluminium particles or xyralics, look very attractive but have a weaker covering power. Using a primer in the right colour will improve opacity, provide better colour reproduction and help reduce the use of a base.

The use of the correct primer colour is also important to best match the paint repair to the original body colour.

The most neutral and most commonly used is the grey primer. However, a standard grey, especially with bright or intense colours, can dull or 'dirty' the colour too much. The white primer makes the colours more vivid and clear, but some can come out too bright. A black primer is ideal for use with dark colours. Using the wrong shade of primer can cause a colour shift, adversely affecting the fit (shade incompatibility). This in turn will require additional adjustments, increasing the cost of repair.

In order to achieve the best possible colour reproduction for paintwork repairs, primers in appropriate shades of spectral grey are used. Spectral grey is the spectrum of colours between white and black. The use of a primer with a properly selected grey significantly improves the opacity of the basecoat, reducing its wear and tear and the time spent applying successive coats, and allows full reproduction of the original coating.

BOLL HS 5:1 filler primer is available in 3 colours: grey, white and black. By combining white and black primer in the right proportions, additional shades of grey are obtained. This enables you to choose the correct primer and obtain desired paint colour with fewer coats.

The table below shows the mixing ratio of white and black BOLL HS 5:1 filler primer to achieve the indicated shade of spectral grey.