Color Opinion?

[Bill L.]

Re: Color Opinion?

Paul:

Attached are two photos of my Bowtie 66 Big Block Coupe ....all original lacquer paint....

One is on an overcast day and the other on a sunny day....

Hope this helps...

Regards
Bill

Screen Shot 2021-06-06 at 10.03.26 PM.jpg

Screen Shot 2021-06-06 at 10.03.39 PM.jpg

[Joe R.]

Re: Color Opinion?

It's hard enough to judge a paint color seeing the car in person BUT it's impossible to judge a color photograph on this forum or any other forum.

Save yourself the frustration!

JR

[Paul A.]

Re: Color Opinion?

Bill. Top pic looks totally different. Closer to mine. Thanks for the comparisons.

Joe, Great advise as others have said similar. No frustration here though. Just a friendly request which I’ve received some great feedback. Be well.

[Mark M.]

Re: Color Opinion?

Nassau blue is a beautiful color but can be challenging to replicate with modern paints. We recently painted a 65 nassau blue car and used areas of original paint on the car for comparing spray outs. Years ago I spoke with John Ballard at a regional meet on paint. It was mentioned how different the paint applied at the factory could look different under different conditions. St. Louis plant was said to be cold in the winter and a summer humid day may produce another look. The paints were drawn from 55 gal. barrels with mixers on them and may not have been used consistently, most likely to affect the metallic colors more. The modern version of the old codes have drifted away noticeably. We started with the blue swatch/chip samples of blues of a paint co. and found their closest one to nassau blue. Their mix to the code was off. After 11 or so small changes, a spray out was chosen to be pretty good. A touch of green put it in the right direction and the smallest metallic adjusted shade a lot. Every test was checked in sun and shop light. For a photo, the top one Bill Lucia has here looks awesome. The green hue can be seen. Paul that's a sharp lookin big block. Welcome to NCRS. I also would like to know more about the paint match help from NCRS.

[Paul A.]

Re: Color Opinion?

Mark, Interesting read and a great paint history lesson. Thanks for he car compliment and welcome. Regards

[James G.]

Re: Color Opinion?

I painted a Warbonnet 71 LT1 for judging - which the owner had already had painted at least once if not 2 times - the color was so far off it would have lost every point on paint color as well as application.
From the large samples in one of my DEALER ALBUMS I had the color scanned and the unit set to correct the scan using the formula pigments - had the color mixed with reduced metallic content by 25% & got extra metallic toner -
I did the sprayouts in the same technique as the car would be painted - to appear like an original lacquer job.
which means I sprayed one full coat of base then a 2 coats of 50% base color - 50% catalyzed clear with 20% flattener added - then one final coat of clear with 20% flattener. - which would be color sanded and polished.
Did sprayouts at 15% 20% -25% reduced metal flake - sent the spray outs to John Ballard, he compared them to the standards -
He said still too much metal flake 25% was very close - so reduced to 30% less and sent the 25% and 30% again.
Ended up going with 27% less metalflake -

FWIW - The flattener makes catalyzed clear look less like plastic - really doesn't affect the finish when it is polished and waxed.
I should have sent samples to Tom Ames as well - it was lack of time and not knowing he too, was a paint guru.

After I do a color match I have the local jobber enter the color as an alternate mix in the Axalta - Chromabase - system - they are supposed to be noted with NCRS.

[Jack M.]

Re: Color Opinion?

In 1966, the Corvette 976 color was initially inkorrectly listed as Marina Blue in the ordering info...
Then eventually updated to read Nassau Blue in later documents.

It was difficult to scan the original 'Magic-Mirror' flip charts, as there is a difference in height:
1966 Colors - Nassau Blue -vs- Marina Blue-01.jpg
1966 Colors - Nassau Blue -vs- Marina Blue-02.jpg

Even more accurate colors might be ascertained via the large 'Color Standard' used at the factory (per JohnZ).
Some folkz may have the originals... herez a sample from a later year:

1971 Color Standard GM #13 (Nevada Silver #905).jpg

[Paul A.]

Re: Color Opinion?

The swatch of Nassau Blue shows a bit lighter than the Marina blue. Or is that just the positioning?

[Jack M.]

Re: Color Opinion?

Sorry about the images... I only have a scanner (nothing to take a photo, as I'm currently still living in the 1900s).

First of all, don't confuse 1966 Marina Blue (current image) with 1967 Marina Blue (different color codes).
I've rescanned a totally different 1966 'Magic-Mirror' fan booklet... Marina is near the top, and Nassau near the bottom.
The height differences play a factor... so this time, I added material behind the Nassau, to try to korrect the height difference.

Side-by-side, the 1966 colors are VERY close. Depending on some angles, the Nassau can have a slight greenish/lighter tint.
See if these new images/scans help any better:
1966 Colors - Nassau Blue -vs- Marina Blue-02a.jpg
1966 Colors - Nassau Blue -vs- Marina Blue-02b.jpg

[Bill L.]

Re: Color Opinion?

It's actually lighter on my Bowtie car...