Jump to content

I built a paint conversion tool! www.ModelShade.com


Jimmy666

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone, my name's James and I'm relatively new to model making but I've learned so much from this forum that I wanted to give something back to the community. I made this conversion chart out of frustration at trying to convert a paint colour only to find that either an equivalent paint wasn't listed - or that my local model shop was out of stock. www.modelshade.com will fall back to using the CIE94 colour matching algorithm and show you a bunch of other possible matches, based on swatches I scraped from manufacturers websites. Each match is rated out of five stars, matches that are on an actual conversion chart will be first  - try it out and let me know your feedback

It works on mobile too and if you select "add to homescreen" you'll be able to use it offline just like any other app. Email feedback/criticism to the address I set up just for this [email protected] or message me on BritModeller (it's also worth pointing out I don't plan to make any money from this so be kind)

 

www.modelshade.com


Also for you Brit Modellers I added a language switcher in the top left to spell "colour" correctly. That took me hours to code so I hope you appreciate it ;)

  • Like 5
  • Thanks 3
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Jimmy and :welcome: to the forums.  We don't usually allow people to jump right in an pimp their products, but as I can't see any way of you making money off us when we click the link, and a paint conversion chart is a supremely useful tool for modellers.  The fact that you've spent the time to make your code spell colour correctly is just gravy! :lol:

 

I've had a quick scoot round, and it's quite a nice slick tool.  If you could add BS and FS codes, and maybe RAL/RLM codes too, it would be even more useful :yes: For brands, I'd appreciate LifeColor and Xtracrylix, but I realise that's a whole 'nother tonne of work for you :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome cheers! Yeah I really wasn't sure which paints people used most so I just took a punt at the products.  I'll keep improving it though.  Also yes I was worried about pimping a product and I read the Ts & Cs but I'm being straight up with this, it's just to help people out

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This knocks all other conversion charts out of play. My LMS has stopped stocking Humbrol acrylics which means that I spend time looking for he alternatives. This is such a help. Thanks for offering it.

 

By the way welcome to the Forum.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent job.  Couple of things I’d like to see

 

1) more brands, Vallejo Air for example

 

2) not sure if this is possible, but it would be really nice to be able to search on real standards like, RAL, SCC, FS etc.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, nheather said:

Excellent job.  Couple of things I’d like to see

 

1) more brands, Vallejo Air for example

 

2) not sure if this is possible, but it would be really nice to be able to search on real standards like, RAL, SCC, FS etc.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

Yep I'm going to add Model Air a few people have asked for it.  Also what is SCC? The only thing I found on google for it is a link to this forum! 

I will definitely add RAL and FS searching at some point though just need to work out how to add more features whilst still keeping it easy to use

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another suggestion - may even be available now but I haven’t spotted it.

 

Include a sort by Match - so it shows the best matches (most number of stars) first.

 

Plus, and I feel a little bad for this, a little criticism.  Some of the matches I have seen are a little odd.  Like a metallic silver for Vallejo white grey.  Or if you select Mig SCC 2 you get quite a lot of greens in the results.  SCC 2 is described as “a rich dark beown with a hint of khaki”, it is most definitely a brown colour, but a lot of the matches are greens.  However, most of the best matches are brown.

 

Adding soverign colourcoats would be really useful.  They are enamels but have a great range of accurately matched colours - so it would be really helpful to match up to nearest acrylics.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

Edited by nheather
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

To be clear, we have absolutely no wish whatsoever to feature on any colour-matching sites, tools, charts or apps.

 

We do not consent to our brand, logo, company name or IP being used.

Fair enough.  But if you made acrylics or made your enamels more accessible then I would be able to use colourcoats.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, nheather said:

Fair enough.  But if you made acrylics or made your enamels more accessible then I would be able to use colourcoats.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

 

I can't solve world hunger...

 

I'm not so bothered if people prefer to use something else. I'm very bothered about having my research investments devalued though.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

 

I can't solve world hunger...

 

I'm not so bothered if people prefer to use something else. I'm very bothered about having my research investments devalued though.

Never asked you to solve world hunger - that it something from your own imagination.

 

Actually, I would love to use Colourcoats paints, but as you have pointed out yourself, as enamels are restricted goods for postal purposes you have to use expensive couriers which makes your products a lot less accessible.

 

Otherwise I think I would have lots of them in my collection.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think this needs to go down any dark route into arguments, if everyone just respects eachother's wishes and so forth.  Let's not go there.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Earnest said:

And also make it an app.

Then you can make some money.

Just to jump back a bit - it kinda already is an app. It's a Progressive Web App which might not mean very much now but in the next few years we'll start to see more of these pop up. It's like an app you don't need to install through the app store. That's what the "Add To Homescreen" message does, it adds it to your phone as if it were an app.  Also I have no interest in making money from this, I have a job and I get money from that.  You wouldn't pay money to download a PDF conversion chart right? Then I don't expect people to pay money for this thing I made which achieves basically the same goal ☺️

 

And with regards to adding other product lines to compare to - there are a few I intend to do but it's worth pointing out the target audience I have in mind with this.  People who are buying kits with paint codes and are building up a collection with another manufacturer.  So that doesn't really cover a lot of the more "specialist" ranges and paint ranges that are all about finding the exact colour paint.  Conversion charts and apps like these will never find you the exact colour so I'm not even going to tread into those waters.  I'd rather do a simple thing well than do a complicated thing badly!  Also I'm only really looking to add product ranges that publish conversion charts - it means I don't have to rely on the colour matching algorithm entirely which, as nheather pointed out, can be a bit inaccurate sometimes.  Especially when trying to compare, say, a metallic coat to a matt coat.  I have some weighting built in for that but it's not perfect.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Space Ranger said:

What is this "Add to Homescreen" message of which you speak? I'm not seeing it. Is it some sort of Android thing? I'm a Mac user.

Sorry forgot to say - on iPhones you don't get a popup - but since iOS 11.3 you can click share then Add To Homescreen like this
 add_to_homescreen_small.gif?width=300&na
 

I don't believe there is any support for MacOS on desktop (yet) but on Windows Chrome & Firefox you can open the settings menu and choose "Install ModelShade..." which does something similar.  Almost all modern Android devices give you a popup.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, whadda ya know! I never knew about that feature until now. I've just been saving Safari bookmarks. Which is what I do on my desktop Mac. Thanks for pointing it out. I guess old dogs (I'm 72) can learn new tricks after all!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, Space Ranger said:

Well, whadda ya know! I never knew about that feature until now. I've just been saving Safari bookmarks. Which is what I do on my desktop Mac. Thanks for pointing it out. I guess old dogs (I'm 72) can learn new tricks after all!

It's ok it's not you :)It's a very new feature most people aren't aware of this but I think it'll be more common and easier to do in the future as more sites support it

Edited by Jimmy666
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...