Axalta has expanded its ValueShade technology across its premium refinish portfolio, making the undercoat system available for Standox and Spies Hecker alongside the Cromax brand where it was originally introduced.
Designed to improve colour accuracy, coverage and refinishing efficiency, ValueShade uses seven shades, ranging from VS1 through to VS7, to provide an appropriate undercoat for individual topcoat colours.
Rather than relying on traditional coloured primers, the system is designed around the way different colours reflect light.
Pure white reflects 100 per cent of light while pure black reflects none, with automotive colours sitting at different points between the two. By matching the undercoat more closely with the topcoat, Axalta says refinishers can achieve faster hiding, improved colour accuracy and a more consistent final appearance.
Despite offering seven ValueShade options, bodyshops only need to stock three undercoat colours – VS1 white, VS4 grey and VS7 black.
The three can be intermixed to produce the remaining shades, with the required mixing ratios supplied through Axalta’s colour retrieval system. This allows repairers to create the recommended undercoat for a particular topcoat without carrying seven individual products.
For bodyshops, the potential advantage comes from reducing the amount of topcoat required to achieve full coverage.
According to Axalta, selecting the correct ValueShade can allow full hiding to be achieved in as little as 1.5 to two coats, including with colours that have traditionally proved difficult to cover.
Reducing the number of coats can lower paint consumption and material costs while also reducing booth and technician time. Axalta says the system can also result in fewer colour-match corrections and shorter overall repair times, contributing to improved workflow and bodyshop productivity.
The concept is not new. ValueShade has been used within the Cromax refinish system for more than 25 years, but its expansion across Axalta’s other premium brands gives Standox and Spies Hecker users access to the same approach.
With bodyshops facing continuing pressure to control material costs while increasing throughput, reducing unnecessary paint use can provide benefits extending beyond the paint department itself.
Faster coverage can potentially help reduce time spent in the spray booth, while achieving the required colour with fewer coats can contribute to more predictable repair processes.
Axalta says ValueShade is now available across its Cromax, Standox and Spies Hecker refinish systems, with further information available through the company’s local distributors.