Sam Barris Mercury Green or Period Bronze colours
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October 31, 2013 at 15:28 #7083Stephen GotzParticipant
Hello Everyone,
Been thinking that since my Chevy needs some paint to seal it for the UK life i might as well throw a quick garage paint job on it before have running mods done.
Now I’m in two minds of a bronze metallic or dark green and was thinking about trying to find a factory colour like the Sam Barris mercury. Now only seeing Internet pics its hard to really tell what it is like so has anyone seen the restored or original versions and could liken it to a factory colour they have seen? I’m not after a perfect match but a good “pretty close” is cool as it will be a temporary measure and will end up with primer spots around up coming mods.
Likewise on a nice bronze metallic that would look 1952 ish, any thoughts?
Thanks
Stephen
October 31, 2013 at 16:01 #7084Rik HovingKeymasterWhen I was looking at the Sam Barris Mercury at the 2009 Sacramento Autorama Mercury Gathering I overheard John Mumford talking about the color on the Sam Barris Merc. He mentioned that they found a factory color that came very close to the samples of old paint they found on the car. I think he mentioned it was a modern Mazda color.
But they ended up having some custom paint mixed.
As for the color on the Sam Barris Merc… I think it looks a bit to modern, to much fine mica in it.You can check for modern colors (like 2000 and up?) on the TCP site. And if you find a color or name Google it for more images. Once you have one or two you like its time to go to the local car dealers and see if they have samples of those cars.
Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
October 31, 2013 at 17:16 #7089David WolkParticipantStephen,
Here are a couple websites that have vintage colors. Hope they help.
http://pc.dupont.com/hcl/index.jsp
http://paintref.com/paintref/index.shtmlGood Luck,
DavidOctober 31, 2013 at 17:39 #7090Jeff NepplParticipantI remember hearing that it was a modern toyota color.
October 31, 2013 at 18:31 #7091KingKustomsParticipantThat’s a great idea, Rik. The dark metallic plum that is going on my ’50 Ford is actually a Mazda color. It should be very close to the current paint color on the Wally Welch Merc restoration. While it may be a little modern looking to some people, I think the convenience of touching it up and being able to match it with an “off-the-shelf” color is great.
Robert A. Radcliffe III
King KustomsOctober 31, 2013 at 20:29 #7093Stephen GotzParticipantThanks for the comments and links guys, seems like a reasonable plan 🙂
Also just realised how many new build green customs have come out in the last few years whilst doing some googling, going to have to look at the elegant colours that were about back then as well to see what’s been reused in the last decade of so.
So with all the modern restorations are any of them getting period looking paint or do they all look modern? Only asking as don’t see many restored original customs in the UK
October 31, 2013 at 22:36 #7094Rik HovingKeymasterThere is a nice maroon color. I think its on Citroen’s or Renault’s from a couple of years ago. It is a solid color, no modern mica’s or pearls or metallic’s. I always feel that is a really nice deep maroon color with an old feel to it.
Just look around while you are on the road. And look closely at colors of cars that make you turn your head. Also do not forget bikes. But a lot of them might look to high tech for the look you are after.
Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
October 31, 2013 at 22:51 #7095Jeff NepplParticipantWe also just had that new caddy out of southend kustom that was green and my uncles cad that is almost done is a shade of green too. Green has definitely been very popular recently. Lookout maroon….
November 1, 2013 at 00:59 #7096Quentin HallParticipantThis is an interesting topic as one of my pet dislikes in the “authentic restoration” world is paint jobs that don’t look anything like authentic.
Perhaps “over restoration” is what I mean. I am not suggesting that everyone building a period custom goes out and paints their car in the backyard with house enamel and a 4 inch horsehair brush but when I see these mile deep, wet look, clearcoat metallic $50 000 paint jobs that demand your attention, I hark back to the less is more rule. I always think the best paint is understated so that the greater emphasis is on the actual car and the styling.November 1, 2013 at 01:20 #7097TonyParticipantHaving seen in and out of and sat in the Barris Merc, I can say that the paint is not something out of this world hard to copy. There would be several late model colours available that would get you there.
I agree with Rik’s comments about it.
I’m not a big green fan so haven’t paid that much attention, but I think if you looked through what’s been on offer OEM globally in the last 10 years you’ll find what you’re after for a quick fix.
November 1, 2013 at 05:19 #7098Jeff NepplParticipantThis is an interesting topic as one of my pet dislikes in the “authentic restoration” world is paint jobs that don’t look anything like authentic.<br>
Perhaps “over restoration” is what I mean. I am not suggesting that everyone building a period custom goes out and paints their car in the backyard with house enamel and a 4 inch horsehair brush but when I see these mile deep, wet look, clearcoat metallic $50 000 paint jobs that demand your attention, I hark back to the less is more rule. I always think the best paint is understated so that the greater emphasis is on the actual car and the styling.I completely agree with you about the over restored,over cleared “traditional customs “. There are plenty of cars falling into this category these days. I have brought this up with many different people. I feel that some modern day painters over clear cars to try and make up the lack of depth of todays modern paints. The old laquer jobs had miles of depth but thats because of the paint,not tons of coats of clear. I mean some of todays paint jobs over shine the chrome on the car. Im glad someone else brought this up.
November 1, 2013 at 07:36 #7119Rik HovingKeymasterPerhaps a bit off topic.. at least to how this all started.
But one great example of this too modern paint as mentioned before on this thread can be found on the Bertolucci/Westergard Buddy Ohanesian 1940 Mercury. When the late owner of the car Ed Hagerty had the car restored it was first decided to get the paint job as close to original as possible. The dash and some other components were already finished in the right shade of maroon. Which also had the right shine, and feel to make it look like the original paint from the late 1940’s early 1950’s.
But at one point Art Himsl stepped in and advised the owner to go for a more modern paint/color. So sad!Anyway this interior photo shows the difference in the look and feel of the dash and body colors really well.
Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
November 1, 2013 at 09:10 #7126Stephen GotzParticipantI think the “over restoration” comment is a good one and one you hear a lot on these old classics and Rik’s pic shows that really well. His comments on using a solid colour over a metallic is also really valid as modern paints are just to refined. The dash on the Merc almost looks like a Burgundy rather than a Maroon the difference is so great, yes it’s in car versus outside but there is quite a difference. Definitely an approach well worth considering.
I was flicking through some colour charts last night and saw a interesting Cadillac combination of a French Grey lower body with a Maroon roof than looked really elegant. It was a metallic roof but it would work really well with a solid Maroon as well.
So this leads to another question, how common were two tone customs up to ’52?
November 1, 2013 at 15:59 #7155palosfv3ParticipantPaints in the 40’s and 50’s were very basic in their formulation . Toners consisted of primary colors and one size of small metallic flake . With these as a starting point for mixing formulas its easy to see how colors of that time are so different in appearance compared to today’s colors . A typical paint mixing system of today has over 35 toners , several different size metallics , and over a dozen different pearls to chose from . If you want the color to retain an early 50’s appearance stay with single stage color mixed with toners similar to the early systems . You will run into some challenges on silvers and metallic colors . Mottling in the application of some metallic colors is a common issue, along with scaling if buffed . Many painters of the time did clear over these colors to eliminate or minimize these issues .
Urethane clears and resins are responsible for that wet look appearance of today’s paints not the mixing colors and toners . There are some tricks you can use to tone down the urethane shine but they are unique to the materials used and what you want to accomplish .
Larry
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