airwave
Free Member
Okay guy's , now i'm gonna be honest here , i'm not too bothered about having the correct shade of colour . My bumper has been subjected to some quite major repairs , however , as this is such a hot potato , and a regular thread question , i thought i'd pass my findings on .
Now i'm into day four of my bumper restoration , to be quite honest such was the damage i discovered , i should have scrapped , and replace it . Quite aside from the damage i already knew about , consisting of a couple of cracks of which , i'm responsible for one . I quickly discovered several more , i didn't , including a couple where the repair had completely failed . I also discovered the right hand indicator recess had completely disintegrated , requiring my scratch building modelling skills , to come into play . Something i've not used in a great number of years . I had to cut the damaged section out and replace with new plastic . I've recently learnt to weld plastic , which i used for the remaining repairs , with several required the use of a special stainless mesh to be inserted into the plastic for reinforcement , before being buried with new plastic . Both front spats , were also in a similar condition , though strangely , the offside was salvageable , and is in primer as we speak . It's awaiting final fairing , and paint .
Now onto the subject matter in hand . My paint has failed in a great many areas , which appears to be quite the norm , however yesterday i was removing the material in great sheets , leaving a green tinged plastic behind . I have been also using a power sander in a bid to find a solid base for the primer , however this actually seem to make removal more difficult . As it appears to be a resin base material , and once heated as a power sander will , forms into a glop of plastic . Closer examination revealed this material to be quite transparent , and appears to be some kind of lacquer , or as i suspect , some form of stone chip covering . Something i would expect to find on a German car ! .
So where is the colour you may ask ? , well i wondered the same thing . I had a clue , so i hit the moulding with 150 grade wet and dry , and with a little washing up liquid mixed in the water , attacked the moulding itself . It changed from a green tinge , to a metallic gunmetal colour .
I had hit the internet before i started the job , somehow i ended up on a German camper forum , and using google translate , discovered it just as prominent question over there as it is here . However the answers were shall we say , quite different . Several posters left interesting remarks , one tried to have the colour analyzed , and it came back as no colour match found . Another stated the mouldings were manufactured outside of the Hymer group , actually stating the company , but i can't remember the name now , Floks ! . I'll be honest here , i had discounted much of this , but now evidence clearly points towards another remark , that caught my eye , and the reason i took the action i did .
The colour was moulded into the plastic .
There was no evidence to back this one up at the time , however now i do , and if we put the last two comments together . It actual answers another question , i've noted over here . Why is the front bumper a different shade to the rear ? .
My guess is , both the front , and rear bumpers , are moulded by two separate companies , outside the Hymer group themselves , possible the waist moulding is by a third , but for some reason the plastic colouring used is a different shade at each company to the paint used on the waist rail . I would even go even further , and say this also happens with the the waist rail . Hymer probably have not noticed , or simple choose not to notice , this small error .
Now i'm into day four of my bumper restoration , to be quite honest such was the damage i discovered , i should have scrapped , and replace it . Quite aside from the damage i already knew about , consisting of a couple of cracks of which , i'm responsible for one . I quickly discovered several more , i didn't , including a couple where the repair had completely failed . I also discovered the right hand indicator recess had completely disintegrated , requiring my scratch building modelling skills , to come into play . Something i've not used in a great number of years . I had to cut the damaged section out and replace with new plastic . I've recently learnt to weld plastic , which i used for the remaining repairs , with several required the use of a special stainless mesh to be inserted into the plastic for reinforcement , before being buried with new plastic . Both front spats , were also in a similar condition , though strangely , the offside was salvageable , and is in primer as we speak . It's awaiting final fairing , and paint .
Now onto the subject matter in hand . My paint has failed in a great many areas , which appears to be quite the norm , however yesterday i was removing the material in great sheets , leaving a green tinged plastic behind . I have been also using a power sander in a bid to find a solid base for the primer , however this actually seem to make removal more difficult . As it appears to be a resin base material , and once heated as a power sander will , forms into a glop of plastic . Closer examination revealed this material to be quite transparent , and appears to be some kind of lacquer , or as i suspect , some form of stone chip covering . Something i would expect to find on a German car ! .
So where is the colour you may ask ? , well i wondered the same thing . I had a clue , so i hit the moulding with 150 grade wet and dry , and with a little washing up liquid mixed in the water , attacked the moulding itself . It changed from a green tinge , to a metallic gunmetal colour .
I had hit the internet before i started the job , somehow i ended up on a German camper forum , and using google translate , discovered it just as prominent question over there as it is here . However the answers were shall we say , quite different . Several posters left interesting remarks , one tried to have the colour analyzed , and it came back as no colour match found . Another stated the mouldings were manufactured outside of the Hymer group , actually stating the company , but i can't remember the name now , Floks ! . I'll be honest here , i had discounted much of this , but now evidence clearly points towards another remark , that caught my eye , and the reason i took the action i did .
The colour was moulded into the plastic .
There was no evidence to back this one up at the time , however now i do , and if we put the last two comments together . It actual answers another question , i've noted over here . Why is the front bumper a different shade to the rear ? .
My guess is , both the front , and rear bumpers , are moulded by two separate companies , outside the Hymer group themselves , possible the waist moulding is by a third , but for some reason the plastic colouring used is a different shade at each company to the paint used on the waist rail . I would even go even further , and say this also happens with the the waist rail . Hymer probably have not noticed , or simple choose not to notice , this small error .
