Anyone with US-based experience and the RAL paint color system?

[4xdog]

Does anyone have any experience getting paint in the US color-matched to the RAL color library?

The RAL color standard, managed by a German nonprofit organization, is commonly used in Europe. It's similar to the Pantone system many here in the US will be familiar with, but simpler. There's a library of a little over 200 standard colors organized by hue, each with a unique four-digit number (and a name too, in the most common European languages).

I have some shop furniture and a scaffold I'd like to paint in RAL 7006, beige gray.

Most of the paint counters and computer formularies here either (1) haven't heard of RAL, or (2) don't have it in an oil-based enamel (in the case of one of the European paint and coatings companies well-represented in the US).

Yes, I can get a swatch card of the color and have it custom matched to the physical sample. That's what I'm planning to do now, with the help of one of our European forum friends.

But it surprises me that I've struck out so far. Given that America sells and specifies stuff all over the world, it seems like the RAL colors would have been at least an option, if not common.

There are some online resources that claim to offer color options to approximate RAL colors. Some of these aren't bad, but they're not quite close enough for my eyes.

Anyone here have any advice for RAL colors here in the US?

 

[Dustball]

Our company buys RAL color touch-up paint from these guys.

https://www.lvppaints.com/RAL-7006-Beige-Grey-Touch-Up-Paint.html

Don't rely on color samples shown on websites/monitors. Colors will vary depending on the user's monitor and the graphics quality of the images.

To know what you're expecting to get- buy a RAL color fan book from Amazon so you can see the colors with your own eyes before deciding on a color.

 

[Chim]

I’ve got two Land Rovers that are conveniently painted in RAL colors. This makes it very easy for me to take parts to my local powder coater and get them coated to match my vehicles. Perfect for hinges, brackets, etc.

So you may be able to visit a powder coater with a large selection of chips and get a real sample - or even get some pieces done in your choice of color. I would advise strongly against matching anything based on the color that appears in the specifier/fan deck of RAL colors, this can be off substantially from the actual final appearance.

 

[4xdog]

Our company buys RAL color touch-up paint from these guys.

https://www.lvppaints.com/RAL-7006-Beige-Grey-Touch-Up-Paint.html

Don't rely on color samples shown on websites/monitors. Colors will vary depending on the user's monitor and the graphics quality of the images.

To know what you're expecting to get- buy a RAL color fan book from Amazon so you can see the colors with your own eyes before deciding on a color.

Thx for the link -- I like the idea that LVP offers color plate samples (powdercoated, it appears) for notalot.

I've selected RAL 7006 from seeing actual parts in the color. (Data towers are being installed in an upmarket residential neighborhood of older homes near mine, with the stuff painted in RAL 7006.) The color is just about invisible it's so earthy and neutral -- exactly what I want.

And yes, a real RAL color book is already in my Amazon cart...

 

[4xdog]

I’ve got two Land Rovers that are conveniently painted in RAL colors. This makes it very easy for me to take parts to my local powder coater and get them coated to match my vehicles. Perfect for hinges, brackets, etc.

So you may be able to visit a powder coater with a large selection of chips and get a real sample - or even get some pieces done in your choice of color. I would advise strongly against matching anything based on the color that appears in the specifier/fan deck of RAL colors, this can be off substantially from the actual final appearance.

Yeah, I spent my professional career in the paper industry, where color matching is a big deal. My first job in a mill, as a summer student in the late 1970s, involved QC around batch-to-batch variations in color. We could go down the path of all the complexity around color matching for a LONG time...

The idea around powder coating is a good one -- thanks for the reminder. I see RAL 7006 powders online, and I have a few pieces on another project getting ready to go to the powder coater over the next week or two.

I like the use of RAL colors for a restoration -- good thinking on your LRs. When I had my TR3 painted in "British Racing Green" (which isn't a color at all -- just a broad concept) the color ended up Ford PX / Highland Green from the 2008 Bullitt special-edition Mustang, in a nonmetallic base. Not quite as simple as RAL, but it's along the same idea of having a reference to use for later work.

 

[cvairwerks]

Might try these guys: https://www.finepaintsofeurope.com/
or these guys:
https://www.stationaryengineparts.com/

 

[MennoR.]

Fine paints of Europe is from Dutch manufacturer Ralston. Or, here in Holland, better known as Van Wijhe. I used to live a NE town called Zwolle, home of Van Wijhe's Paint. A fine product. The first house that I bought was painted with Ralston/Van Wijhe.

But there's always a better option: Sikkens. Known in the US as the PPG brand. Sikkens/PPG comes in varieties: 'homeowner edition' (so to speak), here available in our type of Home Depot stores and there's the professionals' edition. Not so easy available for me, simple guy. But with some searching, I can buy it.

Why Sikkens? First, it's eye-watering expensive. But then, when you use it, you'll notice that you don't need as much paint. It flows evenly under the brush and it covers very, very well without layering too thick. It's as if there's more 'color' in that paint!

Paint comes in different levels of 'shine': ultra-high gloss. The strongest version. You can comb your hair in dark green colours on the front doors of houses in Amsterdam. Followed by 'high gloss', then: 'egg shell' and finally 'matt'.

RAL is always the starting point. Everything starts with RAL. Even in daily speak, like: "What's on your wall?" Then we answered "1011".

But manufacturers produce 'spin-offs' from the RAL colours: like a little more white or a little more black. That's why there are so much colour samples to choose from in our hardware stores.

 

[CudaChick1968]

I'm not far from you (northwest Tennessee). My main powder supplier has over 6,500 colors in stock including RALs. I can order as much as you need or as little as a pound. If I can help just hit me up.

 

[e36jon]

There is always some risk doing translations, but, there are enough other sorts of work-flow where RAL won't work (Computer graphics, for instance) that there are ways to get from one to another: https://rgb.to/ral/page/1

Not my world, so someone may veto this as a viable way to get from RAL to a color system that your paint supplier does use.

 

[rburke65]

MennoR. Very interesting. Thanks.

 

[harley jim]

My neighbor owns a powder coat shop and the powders are listed by RAL numbers when I need paint to match I go to Sherwin Williams they mix by RAL number.

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[SpeedwayRyan]

I work for a Formula 1 team — I’m based in the US, but most of our logistics stuff runs out of the UK. We spec a lot of stuff in RAL, which is what the paint shops we use in Europe prefer. If you can find a shop that uses a paint system — say PPG for example — that is also widely used in Europe, your shop should be able to contact the paint manufacturer and get a formula to mix paint to match a RAL color from a European office. US shops might not have the info readily available, but it shouldn’t be too hard for them to get a formula sent to them, then it’s as easy to mix up as any other color.


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[4xdog]

Thanks for the help, guys and gals.

If one digs a little, it turns out RAL is accessible here in the US. My powder coater doesn't stock it, but it's available within a day. My local Sherwin Williams store has it in their computer (with a little digging) and it's mixable in a range of bases and finishes.

I have a quart of RAL 7006 Beige gray high gloss latex enamel here now that I'm using to refinish a small commercial scaffolding given to me by my late nonagenarian neighbor as a topcoat to the POR-15 rust treatment and the original yellow powder coat.

Here's a swatch (with the cutout) painted from my quart against the official RAL color card. Decent color match. The white balance on this shot isn't quite right, despite trying to use a multicolor background to help the camera. The shot below of the scaffolding in progress is truer to the color one sees.

The commercial S-W outlet here in Saint Louis can custom mix a rattlecan of RAL 7006 for about $20/can and the purchase of a $25-ish quart of the appropriate oil-based enamel.

RAL 7006 is my new favorite color. It blends so well into the background it's just about invisible around the house.

 

[harley jim]

Looks great, glad you found it.
I like RAL6005 Moss green

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[manwithtools]

RAL is commonly used in industrial paint colors, I can't remember the last time I encountered Pantone in a specification for equipment. Any decent industrial paint store should be able to help you out.

Edit: I see you found it, I didn't read far enough.