Our Story
Colour Tubes was started by Gary McDonald, who has been matching car paint for 45 years. Every kit is mixed to your car's factory paint code in Brisbane.
45 years of car paint
Gary started his automotive painting apprenticeship in 1981. After finishing it, he ran the paint shop for Mercedes-Benz in Brisbane for 6 years.
He then moved to the paint makers themselves: 6 years with DuPont, and just over a year with BASF. In 2002 he started a SMART repair business, fixing small paint damage on site at car dealerships, and at its peak ran up to 10 repair teams at once.
Small touch-ups and colour matching are what we've done for decades. Through our sister business, Carbon Steed, which repairs and paints carbon fibre bicycles, we also match custom colours by eye every day.
Where the tube idea came from
For a number of years we were the Australian distributor for a US stone chip repair brand. The exchange rate, freight costs and royalty payments made it impossible to keep going, so we started thinking about what to do next.
In that work, we always repaired stone chips and scratches with a pipette. The paint came in large bottles, so it had to be transferred into a pipette for every job, and the bottles were awkward to store. We wanted a way to keep the paint in the applicator itself.
The answer came in a coffee shop, from picking up a stick of sugar. That long, thin shape stores a small amount neatly, and it lets you put the paint exactly where you want it. Problem solved: no pipette, no transfer, no big bottle.
Why we use water-based paint
- It doesn't separate. Solvent paint settles and separates in storage. Water-based paint stays ready to use.
- It's not a dangerous good. That makes it safer to store at home and simpler to ship Australia-wide.
- It's easy to work with. Beginners find our no-mess tubes super easy to get a good result from, and the excess wipes away with Finishing Solution.
Mixed in Brisbane
Every kit is mixed to order in Brisbane from your car's factory paint code, and delivered Australia-wide. Not sure of your code? Find your car's paint code, or email info@colourtubes.com.au or call (07) 3062 2570.
