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Duplicate colours?


dromia

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Whilst rummaging through an omnium-gatherum of old reference material I came across a hand written chart listing colours that were cross matched across nations and paint ranges, for example RAF Dark Green could also be used for French Gris Vert Fonce and US Forest Green. At least close enough for crofting work.

 

I cannot verify the colour accuracy of the list which was mainly Humbrol paints but it does seem that in some cases the same colour does get branded differently when appropriate.

 

So is there there such a thing as an up to date version of such a chart with the current brands? Or the similarity of original colours?

 

I am only interested in enamels and lacquers.

 

I know perhaps another inscrutably arcane paint colour discussion but if it saves buying two of the same with different labels 'twould seem like a good thing.

Edited by dromia
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IPMS Stockholm has just about the most recent version

EG. https://www.ipmsstockholm.se/home/urbans-colour-reference-charts-part-ii/urbans-colour-reference-charts-humbrol/

 

I've seen other charts on other websites but when the owner stops paying for the site the chart is lost

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I doubt that a brand would release such a list, as it would mean admitting that they are using the same formulation for what were different paints...

Modellers sometime make such lists, but in any case they can at best be approximations and their validity depends on how much or little the author cares about getting the closest match.

In a sense there is a similar source for many colours and is the "Hobby Color Converter" app that can be downloaded for free on a smartphone. This will allow comparison between paints from different manufacturers and some real paint standards. It's not really a list but you can choose the colour you need and then see which ones are closer and by how much.

The problem is that I don't know which matches are used by the app to compare colours ! If they are the ones stated by the manufacturers, then I'd not trust them completely as some paint companies tend to be quite imaginative in their stated matches...

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Thank you for that suggestion but I will not own a smart phone so not applicable to my situation. I suppose in these sad times it is now too much to expect such things to be done on pen and paper if at all.

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  • 4 weeks later...
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If you refer to the FS numbers (IPMS stockholm do a good job here) you'll often find some crossover especially if you ignore the first letter (the "shine level" for want of a better term ) e.g. I didn't check and ordered ADC Grey (in fact 2 different versions from AK and MMP) only to find that according to FS its actually RLM76 with gloss rather than matt finish and I've already got that from a couple of sources.

 

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On 8/24/2020 at 5:19 PM, Jamiec360 said:

If you refer to the FS numbers (IPMS stockholm do a good job here) you'll often find some crossover especially if you ignore the first letter (the "shine level" for want of a better term ) e.g. I didn't check and ordered ADC Grey (in fact 2 different versions from AK and MMP) only to find that according to FS its actually RLM76 with gloss rather than matt finish and I've already got that from a couple of sources.

 

 

FS 16473 (that was the grey used on ADC interceptors and many other USAF types) however is not RLM 76 ! The two colours may be similar, modellers may use one for the other and kit instructions may suggest one for the other, but they are not the same colour. Even if model paint manufacturers sometime stick an "FS 36473" label on a bottle of RLM 76 (both Vallejo and Lifecolor love to put an FS number on their colours...), this does not mean that one is the same as the other. Correspondances of this type are just the result of someone checking one colour with an FS fandeck in their hands and deciding that the colour is similar to a certain colour in the FS range. Some of these are decently accurate matches, some are only vague matches.

This doesn't mean that a modeller can not use a paint labelled with an FS colour for a German or British aircraft, even when they did not use FS colours (there was no FS standard before the '50s anyway) as some colours can be close enough that it doesn't matter. However some often published matches are not really that good

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On 8/25/2020 at 3:19 AM, Jamiec360 said:

ordered ADC Grey (in fact 2 different versions from AK and MMP)

How do they compare with one another? I've got Model Master 16473 & Sovereignhobbies Colourcoats ADC Gray (26473) & to me the MM shade is far to greenish, imagine someone mixing Sky & Medium Sea Grey about 4/1. I'd be far happier with the Sovereign shade. Just because paint ranges include their version of a given shade, there is seldom consistant agreement across all ranges.

Steve.

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On 8/24/2020 at 1:59 AM, Scott Hemsley said:

You didn't make it up.  Back in the latter part of the 1900's (1988 to be specific),  IPMS/USA released the "IPMS Color Cross-Reference Guide", compiled by David Klaus (IPMS/USA #4764).

 

Scott

Thank you for that as age advances fact and fiction sometimes becomes the same thing.

 

I don't suppose you happen to have a copy?

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