bringing some order to describing colors
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 1:05 pm
Following a conversation I began in the 40a Bedford 7 Ton Tipper thread in Missing, Previously-Catalogued 1-75 RW Variations, I'll try to present what I feel is an improvement to how color variations can be catalogued. I don't collect Matchbox and didn't feel that I had the content necessary to do this up right, so I'll be using vintage Corgi models. The bigger canvas may make my job easier. The principles are the same.
It will take a week or more to gather together what I'm thinking and document it, but here is where we start. All of these cars are red. The quality of the remaining paint is roughly equal. At a quick glance, I believe that they are all a different shade of red, yet very similar. At the upper left is a Matchbox Ford pickup (5d I think). To my eye, the closest match is the Corgi Rambler Marlin just below it with the black roof. To the right of the pickup is a Corgi Cadillac ambulance, then a 1958 Ford Thunderbird. Lower right is a Corgi Aston Martin DB4.
It's not a great picture. taken indoors, at little blurry, I think it has a blue tinge compared to what I saw in my hand. Lighting plays a role in getting the shadows and highlights next to each other. That doesn't matter. If it ever stops raining, I'll get some pictures in daylight. What's more important to me now, is how we differentiate these colors. At this stage of the game, it's not necessarily what color they are, but what color they are in relation to each other. If Rambler red is the 1st run color, and I say there's a blueish-red variation in the color of the Cadillac, you can compare those side by side and know the difference. A difference that's not as evident in the picture. Farther down the line, we'll try to indicate which of the two colors you own.
It will take a week or more to gather together what I'm thinking and document it, but here is where we start. All of these cars are red. The quality of the remaining paint is roughly equal. At a quick glance, I believe that they are all a different shade of red, yet very similar. At the upper left is a Matchbox Ford pickup (5d I think). To my eye, the closest match is the Corgi Rambler Marlin just below it with the black roof. To the right of the pickup is a Corgi Cadillac ambulance, then a 1958 Ford Thunderbird. Lower right is a Corgi Aston Martin DB4.
It's not a great picture. taken indoors, at little blurry, I think it has a blue tinge compared to what I saw in my hand. Lighting plays a role in getting the shadows and highlights next to each other. That doesn't matter. If it ever stops raining, I'll get some pictures in daylight. What's more important to me now, is how we differentiate these colors. At this stage of the game, it's not necessarily what color they are, but what color they are in relation to each other. If Rambler red is the 1st run color, and I say there's a blueish-red variation in the color of the Cadillac, you can compare those side by side and know the difference. A difference that's not as evident in the picture. Farther down the line, we'll try to indicate which of the two colors you own.
