Trying to get a paint code to paint my alloy car in its original pastel blue metallic. Any help?
The factory used British Domolac ZOFELAC Cellulose Enamel Paint
Pastel Blue Metallic original code was D.3107
They have the '48-'52 colors, though not the '53-'61 colors.
They supplied me with Gunmetal Metallic.
I seem to recall that TCP was the paint company that ALAN POZDOL spent a lot of time and effort with to produce accurate not only shade-of-colour match, but the more difficult degree of āmetallicā effect.
With these 1940s/52 Cellulose Enamels there were of course āsolidā colours, but the āmetallicsā were referred to more often as being āopalescentā which I understand were produced by using/adding ground up āmother-of-pearlā. The appearance was far more subtle than modern paint technology āmetallicsā. If my memory is correct, Allan was able to get TCP to best replicate the original āopalescentā appearance by adding finely ground up aluminium, so net result was at last, a genuinely accurate colour shade and opalescent effect for the complete range of Opalescent colours used on 1949-52 XK120s
But bottom line is that if anyone wants an accurate match of the original 1949-52 XK120 metallic colours, your best source is TCP Globalā¦
I know this doesnāt quite answer your question but my sequence to achieve this was as follows:-
See if there is any of your original paint under the dashboard, inside the door channels, under the boot (trunk) panels. This is obviously the best source of what your colour was originally and as it has been in the dark should not have been too affected. Have your paint shop make a swatch to the nearest they can of this shade.
Ask Tadek (on this forum) if he has a swatch.
Get a swatch made by a paint shop that uses the original RM codes (as in Urs Schmidās book).
Compare the three in good daylight.
Choose the nearest you are comfortable with and that you like that your paint shop can come up with using the paint system they use.
Sit back and enjoy the result knowing that nobody will drive alongside you with a perfect originally painted car.
Rob
Thanks for your reply. I have original color samples but no one seems to be able to match them
Thats why I asked
John Gerhard
Thanks for you reply. My car should look similar to yours when finished. I hope TCP Global will help!
Thanks again
John Gerhard
Thanks again for the info. Weāll try them
Any decent auto paint supplier should have a scanner ā¦what samples do you haveā¦they sholld be able to scan the sample if large enoughā¦Steve
Iāve had paint scanned multiple times with no luck! Close, but not correct!
Hi Frankā¦depends on what you mean ācorrectāā¦you are never going to get an exact match to what was originally usedā¦Steve
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Hi,
If I order a small can of one of their paints, to get a good match of 1949-1952 Birch Grey for #647194, which product(s) should I choose?
Acrylic Enamel?
Urethane Basecoat?
Acrylic Urethane?
Urethane Basecoat Low VOC?
I would need to get it in time when I visit Miami, FL and bring it home in my luggage, hopefully no problem, I know rattle cans are not allowed in luggage nor hand luggage, but perhaps a small sealed unopened can of paint?
Cheers!
Hi Steve, yes, unfortunately youāre right! I found that out trying to do some touch ups and blow-ins on my '65 E Type with some original paint. Youād just think with todays technology, it wouldnāt be that hard!
Re colour matching, it needs to be appreciated there are many good reasons why it is difficult to get a good match, or more so as you try to approach an exact match.
Original XK paints were made of 1940s/50s paint chemistry, that bears no resemblance in any way, shape or form with modern paint chemistry, so quoting simple formulas is impossible. Modern paint companies will individually come up with their best approximation of 1950s colours, and how well or otherwise they do that is extremely variableā¦ Standard practice with paint retailers is first question - is paint for a complete respray or a touch upā¦ If a complete respray they work on the basis of just supply their current formula, whether it is a good, bad or indifferent match - as the owner will not see any relativity in colour. If a touch up, they immediately pass-the-buck, and say hereās the current formula (good, bad or indifferent), but the onus on being a good match is totally up to the spray-painter to adjust as necessary, as he has to compensate for deterioration/fading/chemical degradation of the original paint and its original colour (and of course inaccuracies in the new colour formula)
There are three major aspects to using modern paints to match the appearance of original XK coloursā¦
- SHADE of COLOUR. This is all a modern formula does, to a good, bad or indifferent accuracy and indeed all you can hope for with modern electronic colour scanning - with the above caveats re full respray or a touch upā¦
- GLOSS LEVEL. This has a huge impact on the colour appearance of the final coat of paint, with all modern paints excessively glossy relative to XK original paint, so will never look āoriginalā even if colour shade match is good, unless the gloss is reduced (easily done by a competent painter) And of course this problem is severely aggravated by paint shops that insist in applying a final clear over colour coatā¦ Do NOT allow a paint shop to apply a clear over coat, if you have any desire for an high standard āauthenticā paint appearanceā¦
- METALLIC. This of course doesnāt apply to SOLID colours, just pint 1 and 2 above. But if you are trying to match a 1949-52 Metallic colour as used only in early XK120s, and not again offered by Jaguar until 1961 onwards E-types/Mark 2s - then this is a huge bugger factor. As commented previously the original 1949-52 āmetallicā technology bears zero relevance to modern āmetallicā technology, that has been developed for greater and greater enhanced appearance priorities, thus now the one paint that from different angles/lights can be two distinct different colours, not just shade of same colour. And ask any spray painter to guarantee a metallic paint touch up ----- and look at then end result of most metallic paint touch upsā¦ As before ALAN POZDOL did a huge amount of work with an on-board/cooperative paint company TCP to far more accurately match the metallic effect of the 1949-52 Cellulose āopalescentā enamels, and at the same time also matching the 1949-52 Colour Shadesā¦ He sent me a complete Colour Samples booklet that he/TCP had made up of all the 1949-52 colours including the metallic colours. To my eyes (and thatās another variable) these matches in both colour shade and metallic effect are better than anything else I have ever seen, and that includes comparing alongside a 1949-52 Jaguar Colour Chip book I have, and also against various original āprotectedā location original painted pieces I have collected over the yearsā¦
So again, my personal opinion, is if you are in this case lucky to live in USA and are seeking a state-of-the-art off-the-shelf accurate paint match for your 1949-52 XK120/Mark V/Mark VII then buy from TCP.
Sadly in UK, Europe and here in Australia, we have no similar source/supplier of such accurate paint matches of these 1949-52 opalescent colours, and best we have is modern metallic paints with various degrees of Colour Shade matching accuracy. For solid colours 1953 - 1960, we can do as good as anywhere else in the world, just depends how accurate or not you want to be re Colour Shade and Gloss levelsā¦
See my original 1949-52 Cellulose Enamel, including metallics, paint chip booklet that was brand new/unopened/unexposed to light/elements when I got it - so still 1949-52 true colours and metallic/gloss effectā¦ British Domolac was the manufacturer/supplier of these paints to Jaguar in 1949-52.
Sorry about the damage to one chip - last time I lend this book to anyone, even a really good friend, and please donāt think what you see on your screen is an accurate colour match for what these chips are in hand/in front of youā¦
Hi,
Yes, thanks Roger, I get that. I had a sample but the body / paint shop lost it.
So which one should I order? (For me the American English terminology is very confusimg, I just need a good colour match for a non metallic colour, Birch Grey (built July 14th 1950.)
Cheers!
Either acrylic enamel or acrylic urethane will give you a good sample. Enamel is easier to spray, while urethane is more durable. You can search acrylic enamel vs acrylic urethane auto paint and see some opinions. But since you are only getting a sample for color matching, I would get the cheaper choice.
I suspect the authorities would not be pleased to see someone bring paint in a metal can in their carry-on luggage. And I wouldnāt put it in checked luggage because it might open up during the flight due to low atmospheric pressure in the baggage compartment at high altitude.
I would bring along some primered metal sample pieces and a cheap paint brush, paint them at your hotel, dry them in sunlight or with a hair dryer, wrap them in plastic wrap, and carry them on that way. So if the inspectors force you to leave your can of paint behind, at least you have the samples.
I once flew to San Francisco on business and stopped in at Jaguar Heaven, came away with two Lucas ignition coils. The airport inspector asked what they were, and I had to explain that they were parts for an antique car, but was careful not to use the words ignition or spark.
The last time I ordered paint from TCP I ordered two gallons of Gunmetal lacquer and a gallon of reducer, and they packed all 3 together. The carton was too heavy and somebody dropped it, so one of the paint cans was dented at the top edge and leaked a bit inside the carton.