Jim O'C posted:my NAPA store sells Martin-Senour (Sherwin Williams) and they can match an original color with their light analyzer and come up with a formula to match, but the sample that is needed has to be large enough to get an accurate reading. They suggest auto gas door-sized but have matched smaller samples with decreasing accuracy. Once they establish the formula, they can mix in basecoat/clearcoat or one stage enamel, I believe a 1/2 pint is the smallest they can accurately mix. Some stores can also cram it into an aerosol can, but not many.
I attempted to do that at an auto paint store, wanted to match colors on an MTH Milwaukee State car in standard gauge. Was not a large enough area to get either the orange or maroon colors, so a color swatch book came out. Each swatch had a hole in the middle that you could put on top of the color in question. I am amazed at how many orange shades there are, probably went through 300 to find one close enough. But in the end it worked pretty well, they will make up a spray can that you actuate when you are ready with a plunger in the bottom of the can. Not cheap, but matched, and I had 10 standard gauge cars to paint.
Jim
