Well, it’s been a while, (I was away, buried in work, etc) but this is the
time I finally wanted to finish the xk120 color swatches based on Urs’
formulae.
First the good news:
I can make a set of swatches for all colors Urs provides the formulae for
in his XK120 book except for Gunmetal Gray.
I would have them ready within few weeks, so I should be able to mail them
so that they arrive in time for Christmas.
No the not so good news:
I have sent all samples of paint to Roger Payne, in order to have critical
opinion on the colors Roger compared the samples I sent him to 2 sets of
swatches (Zofelac & Synthetic) and his verdict is:
3 are very good:
Red
British racing green
Pastel blue metallic
4 are good:
Birch grey
Black
Lavender grey (for synthetic sample match, Zofelac swatches are different)
Cream/OEW
10 are not so good:
Bronze metallic - different colour shade showing little of the distinct
Yellow
Pastel green metallic - shade itself is much to dark
Silver - shade not even close
Ivory - shade lighter and a little less yellow
Dove grey - better, but shade-to-dark, with shade difference far more
apparent in sun-light
Battleship grey - quite different
Suede green - a shade too dark
Pastel green - too dark and to my eyes not enough yellow
Pastel blue - too dark
Light-grey/pearl-grey - totally different
Roger did not have the samples for:
Twilight blue
Red sheen
It’s worth mentioning that Roger only had samples dipped in paint, not
sprayed.
And finally the cost:
I would like to make them on a 6" x 4" piece of primed aluminum chip,
painted professionally by a paint shop with the formula indicated on the
back.
The cost would be $45 USD + shipping for a set of 19 colors, prepaid via
Paypal.
Please mail me back with your location, I will estimate the shipping cost.
In reply to a message from Tadeusz Malkiewicz sent Wed 7 Nov 2012:
Concerning the 1949-52 Pastel Green Metallic:
When three of us got together in Sept and compared samples,
one crucial point that was impressed on us was that the
spraying technique greatly affects the outcome.
Another point to consider is the fineness of the metallic
particles.
That said, my personal opinion is that the 2005-09 Toyota
color 6U0 Pistachio or Silver Pine Mica used on Avalon and
Prius is about as close a match as most people would ask
for. I carried my original PGM spare wheel around for a
couple of weeks, trying it beside various green Japanese
cars, until I found an Avalon to compare it against, and I
am satisfied with the match.–
The original message included these comments:
Pastel green metallic - shade itself is much to dark
For battleship grey, in the process of taking apart our 54 FHC I took off
the boot lid panel piece and found the original paint on the inside of the
boot lid was flaking off of the aluminium skin. (One of the few places on
the car that was not sprayed with “what-were-they-thinking” bright blue then
metallic maroon.) The paint looks pretty new and unfaded (even the wiring in
there looked brand new!). If it would help I’d be happy to mail you a flake
of paint for matching.
Well, it’s been a while, (I was away, buried in work, etc) but this is the
time I finally wanted to finish the xk120 color swatches based on Urs’
formulae.
First the good news:
I can make a set of swatches for all colors Urs provides the formulae for
in his XK120 book except for Gunmetal Gray.
I would have them ready within few weeks, so I should be able to mail them
so that they arrive in time for Christmas.
No the not so good news:
I have sent all samples of paint to Roger Payne, in order to have critical
opinion on the colors Roger compared the samples I sent him to 2 sets of
swatches (Zofelac & Synthetic) and his verdict is:
3 are very good:
Red
British racing green
Pastel blue metallic
4 are good:
Birch grey
Black
Lavender grey (for synthetic sample match, Zofelac swatches are different)
Cream/OEW
10 are not so good:
Bronze metallic - different colour shade showing little of the distinct
Yellow
Pastel green metallic - shade itself is much to dark
Silver - shade not even close
Ivory - shade lighter and a little less yellow
Dove grey - better, but shade-to-dark, with shade difference far more
apparent in sun-light
Battleship grey - quite different
Suede green - a shade too dark
Pastel green - too dark and to my eyes not enough yellow
Pastel blue - too dark
Light-grey/pearl-grey - totally different
Roger did not have the samples for:
Twilight blue
Red sheen
It’s worth mentioning that Roger only had samples dipped in paint, not
sprayed.
And finally the cost:
I would like to make them on a 6" x 4" piece of primed aluminum chip,
painted professionally by a paint shop with the formula indicated on the
back.
The cost would be $45 USD + shipping for a set of 19 colors, prepaid via
Paypal.
Please mail me back with your location, I will estimate the shipping cost.
I also have some large paint flakes from the same area of my 1954 120 ots.
My car was the red-orange color, whatever it is called. As I do not care
for it at all, when I repaint the car, it will go back in a red much
closer to maroon than anything with even a hint of orange. I would be happy to
donate some of these to a project as worthwhile as what is now being
discussed.
Regards, Bob McAnelly
Wonderful dialogue.
May I please have an update on where to find a reference for finding how to re-create the as near original Pastel Blue as possible, eg a modern paint code equivalent (? Max Meyer, ? Duralit, ? Spieshecker or any other).
Our car was repainted white so well that there is no trace of the original inside or out to sample.
Simon
Early cars were Pastel Blue Metallic and later cars were Pastel Blue without the metallic. Give us the body number and we can figure out which for yours.
For the synthetic lacquer era we could look in Clausager’s XK120 book at the paint records, which lists only one DHC in Bronze, one late OTS in metallic blue, and no others in metallics at all that would be identified as built in the post-cellulose-enamel era.
OTS and FHC of course cross over the boundary, and this record does not delineate if and/or whether any of the metallics listed were done in the later period.
Clausager states specifically that the six metallics were deleted between Oct and Nov '52. If any had continued to be offered as a special, I think he would have mentioned it, as his purpose as a historian was to identify the color history as best he could determine from the records.
