Model Master Light Gull Gray is too brown?

[Vaildog]

Do these F-14s

Match this

It seems most picture of early 80s Tomcats have a much more blue cast to the gray than what looks to be more of a yellowish or tan gray in most paints labeled as light gull grey.

[Darren Roberts]

You can't go by pictures. There are so many factors that effect the final picture (weather, lighting, exposure settings, developing process). Gull Gray is on the brown side, not the blue side. If you look at pictures of Tomcats in Tomcat Alley, by Dave Brown, you'll find a wide assortment of hues of Gull Gray, from brownish to blueish. Yet they are all the same color. I've found MM Acryl to be a good representation of Light Gull Gray.

[DutyCat]

The paint is accurate, IMO. Most of their colors are. Ambient lighting varies. It and exposure have a huge effect on photography, especially in the days of wet film when each brand had a different chemical composition and a different color bias.

[Rex]

I don't remember exactly how the Enamels stacked up, but, the Model Master Acrylics both match their 595A paint chips. (they don't match each other, but, they weren't supposed to,,,,,,,,and that is all I am going to say on that subject, don't want this thread deleted too)

I do seem to remember that the Enamels and the Acrylics swapped directly for each other,,,,,I think I finished an "Enameled Phantom" with Acrylic MM paints without having to do a total repaint. This was during my changeover from Enamels to Acrylics.

[Darren Roberts]

I don't remember exactly how the Enamels stacked up, but, the Model Master Acrylics both match their 595A paint chips. (they don't match each other, but, they weren't supposed to,,,,,,,,and that is all I am going to say on that subject, don't want this thread deleted too)

I do seem to remember that the Enamels and the Acrylics swapped directly for each other,,,,,I think I finished an "Enameled Phantom" with Acrylic MM paints without having to do a total repaint. This was during my changeover from Enamels to Acrylics.

I thought you provided some excellent information. What happened that got the thread deleted? I totally missed it. It must have happened fast. I've seen worse threads stay up longer. There was nothing in there that I could see that was objectionable. Pity, really.

[Rex]

We have no way of knowing what posts were made after we went to bed, etc. But the Mods do know what is posted, and it is not their job to check with the posters first, just to take care of things they see before they get too ugly. All we can do is trust them.

[DonSS3]

No, it's not too brown. I spent a lot of my adult life around Gull Gray and White airplanes and I do know it was a very good match for the airplanes I was around almost every day...

[MarcDuhon]

Not any more... As mentioned, the game has changed drastically in the last decade, to the point that the US was forecasted to become "energy independent" by 2020. The catch is that the domestic oil is pricy.

Can't really blame OPEC, as noted, this is simply capitalism at work. In reality, it's really not even OPEC, it's the Saudis. The rest of OPEC wanted to keep things as is. The Saudis, for whatever reason, opted to ramp up production.

Yeah pictures are horrible for matching paint.... especially older pics... then you also have to consider something as variable as monitor calibration..

[MarcDuhon]

Not any more... As mentioned, the game has changed drastically in the last decade, to the point that the US was forecasted to become "energy independent" by 2020. The catch is that the domestic oil is pricy.

Can't really blame OPEC, as noted, this is simply capitalism at work. In reality, it's really not even OPEC, it's the Saudis. The rest of OPEC wanted to keep things as is. The Saudis, for whatever reason, opted to ramp up production.

Yeah pictures are horrible for matching paint.... especially older pics... then you also have to consider something as variable as monitor calibration..

[Slartibartfast]

Hey, that's a neat trick, responding to a thread and have it post to a different thread.

[chek]

While completely subjective, having seen many US Navy aircraft in both bright and dull ambient conditions, and from midday to evening from the 1970s to the late '80s, there is definitely a brownish cast to Light Gull Grey. I could qualify that further by admitting my observations are coloured by the light quality of the North-East Atlantic region. Perhaps by SEA or Mediterranean light my impressions might be different. But not so different.

Some things need to be directly observed before the sole experience of variably reproduced photographic evidence is accepted as some sort of (inevitably) solipsistic gospel.

Edited December 19, 2014 by chek

[DonSS3]

Chek, that Light Gull Gray kept its brown appearance in the Med, the Pacific and the IO.