Colormatching aged foam/glass

I just had a board in where someone had repaired some dings with tons of epoxy where the epoxy had yellowed (well, more brown than yellow…) and quite a few other dings was filled with epoxy with grey micro ballons. I figured I would try to hide this a bit and spray over with the same color as the aging foam/glass. But after mixing a number of cups of paint in different tones of yellow I gave up as none where even close. I ended up spraying the bad parts white, figuring that was better than the old mess, but I wish I could have matched it better.

Does anyone have any tips? Colors to start with and ratios? I figured it I could mix up a batch that would match something really yellowed and aged, I could take some of this batch and mix with white to match anything inbetween.

regards,

Håvard

You may remember a guy who used to post here under the name “Doc”? His trick for matching aged foam was by using coffee grounds to stain the resin. I would imagine you’ll want to let it soak for a bit, then strain the grounds out before adding catalyst and using the resin.

when i have to color match aged foam i start with white then in really small amounts i add some yellow and mix then add more and mix ect.ect. depending on the color of the foam i also use brown and orange, you just need to take your time and it will come out eventually

titanium white + raw sienna

You gave away a "bigge" my friend.  Never-the -less  I totally respect your abilities and talent.  I might add;   burnt umber if necessary..

i used boat resin once and the board looked like it was 30 years old in a month, i actually really liked it 

…put color on the resin never equal the foam…

airbrushing with acrylics on the resin (PU/PolyS), I do not know, but I never had good bonds, due to the water; I use polys tints airbrushed, that work on the resin but you should use a clear over them and do not work properly if you use a gloss coat over them.

 

I know I am going to get “it” for this…

I had a couple beat up boards  for some kids. They were pretty yellowed the kids had no money, I mixed some “Fixall” up and patchd the boards. Not huge dings. Than put resin and cloth on top. Best match I ever saw. Boards lasted no problems.

Not the “proper” way but it worked.

 

It would be tough to ding Fixall. Probably will hold up longer than the rest of the board.

I believe it!   I know what color "Fixall" is .   OR  How about Durhams'  "Rock Hard".

Sammy/guys, i have heard of coffee being used to give an amber/brown colour with poly resin. If so, what kind of coffee, and how much?. Not to match a ding, but to lam a whole board

I have seen coffee used by an expert to duplicate "old" Balsa.  I don't know beerfan;  maybe Foldgers, Hills Bros. or Yuban?

Not trying to be a snob, but I prefer a dark Italian roast.   Mike

Haha comedians!, i mean instant, ground beans ( got plenty of beans and a grinder, wont be real fine so might have to strain them, though i probably will anyway ), cat poo coffee etc.

trpl

trpl

Ha! Ha!     The coffe stain was used to make new balsa look like old.   Fooled Rennie.    If cat poo worked it wouldn't matter.  I can't get past the smell.   Reminds me of Skynard's song "That Smell'.

Someone mentioned Docs tip and here it is from one of his posts, hope he doesn't mind me copying it here: Couple of other restoration/repair tricks for older boards- They are always at least faintly brown...so, when making your filler, a few grains of instant coffee in the resin will give you that off-white color you're looking for. Whenever possible, save as much as you can of the original glassing and, taping it so it comes Real Close to your final shape, fill behind it, then glass over it. Closest you are gonna come to a color match is...the original color. So, go with the original glass. Hope that's of use doc..............

I've used this with pretty good results, so now I keep a small jar of instant coffee on my workbench.  The coffee really slows the cure, so you'll need to bump up the catalyst a bit.

BTW, does anyone know what happened to Doc?  He posted some great info.

Hope this helps,

Ray