film of restoration Enterprise

[zubie]

Originally Posted by whulsey

Thanks much, with those I can pretty much search out the Pantone equivalents. From there its just sit down with the Pantone book and a bunch of Testors Model Master bottles and start mixing if I ever get to that project.

Sorry about not reading this thread earlier. It turns out that at starship modeler this question also came up. The posting of the LAB values created many similar questions and I posted an answer that may allow for better cross referencing; please pardon the long quote but tablet typing is a bit of a hassle also orig thread is limited to members.

Originally Posted by Zubie at starshipmodeler.net

Well the article was informative but confusing. I suppose mainly because it uses L.A.B. references as opposed to FS or other paint ref guide. It's nice that lab is non proprietary, and its a standard based on what it looks like as opposed to how it photographs or appears on monitors or print, but it is still a ways to go for a paint ref to model (as a gallon of latex is not an option for your PL kit).

I suppose you could go to you local paint shop and pick up paint chips for valspar and such. I did find an rgb generator for lab color space
EasyRGB - The inimitable RGB and COLOR search engine!
Select CIE-L*ab as the color space and enter the 3 values from the article ( 1, 2, 3)

This will show the color on your monitor, but unfortunately that's just what it looks like on your monitor!

So to get an fs number I then went to http://encycolorpedia.com where you can search for the color using the hex rgb value. Note, this not quite right as the dec rgb is higher precision than the hex ref, but color is iffy and gray more so.

Ex. Prod hull lab 64, -3.53, 2.14,
Yields rgb of 150.11, 156.87, 151.15, in hexadecimal approx 96, 9d, 97
At http://encycolorpedia.com enter search for 969d97 and the answer pops out.
http://encycolorpedia.com/969d97

Note as you go down the lengthy set of reference details you will hit not only FS numbers , but also model master, vallejo, humbrol, testors, and tamiya colors with respective error rating (/\E)

Hope this helps.
Now if NASM could have clearly indicated where these shades were applied exactly (remembering the question regarding pilot neck color with respect to hull colors)

Ps. Edit. EasyRGB incorrectly rounded 156.87 to 156, i.e. #9c. 157 is #9d so values and search values changed. It makes it a tad greener, but doesn't radically change the recommended paint values.

Note-this site also has pantone-pms ref
http://encycolorpedia.com/969d97#pantone_pms
Curiously, most modelers have preferred a lighter shade than that found, and considerably more neutral, tamiya's xf12 slightly whitened. Xf12 has a lightness rating of 75% vs the NASM recommended @ 60%.

In hindsight I'm not entirely surprised. I recall the first time I painted a b-24 light gray by FS ref I thought that was too dark. Same for spifires in official sky, both too dark and too green. I think in my mind the colors were closer to airfix and revell artwork than what a researcher said. Those old AMT box cover Enterprises are nearly white.

[Ron Caudillo]

Originally Posted by whulsey

Ron, will do but no idea when (if ever) I'll get around to that project.

Do you still need photos of the truck missile system? I may finally get a chance to get down to Pima in the next couple of months.

No worries on the color project, I'm backed up with existing projects for a while!

Yeah, if you get to Pima, I'd appreciate some photos. I'll PM you my e-mail address and we can correspond. Since I have a new job, I'll also let you know my new phone number too.

Thanks!