40 replies to this topic

[MG Brown]

This thread is dedicated to...
 
Mike Kravitz 
 
Don't DQ me for having the wrong SHADE of orange on my McLaren... after all, it's ONLY a toy car!!!
 
I read recently what we think of as "McLaren Orange" is actually...
 

 
Comments?

[Zippity]

Nope.

[S.O. Watt]

Needs a taste of black.

Of all the conversations I've seen on this subject over the years, nobody that I recall ever came up with the true "factory" mix of it.

[Zippity]

Try 2070 orange or 2120 lt. orange
 
1375 CVC Pantone (or FF7B08 Hexadecimal) would be a pretty close match up to a good McLaren orange
 
or read HERE.

[Mike K]

Thanks, MG!!
 
Ask the "expert" PdL... he's the one who originally scolded me about my effort at painting a McLaren...

[TSR]

Ask Ron, he's got that one right and it is not that often.

[Jairus]

Looks about right to me. 

[MSwiss]

I don't care what color someone paints their slot car but whoever thought it (McLaren Orange) was that 1023 yellow, must be color blind.

BTW, Carrera really botched the Gulf blue on their fairly recent Porsche 917.

[MG Brown]

I don't care what color someone paints their slot car but whoever thought it (McLaren Orange) was that 1023 yellow, must be color blind.

 

IIRC it was the person who made the body castings for McLaren in-period. They go on to state that many of the cars remaining in the McLaren collection have been improperly re-painted a orangier color over the top of the molded-in color which was described as "Traffic Yellow".

 

"McLaren bodywork was moulded with this pigment colouring all the way through the item, and highly polished. That was just the fibreglass bits of course, but they had the exact paint shade mixed specially for them by Trimite a 3M company, it was exactly the same colour, a perfect match, and this was applied to aluminium monocoque sides etc. In my day, McLaren bodywork , at least the moulded items, were never painted. Although their turnover in the 70s would make them utter paupers by present-day standards, they were near the top wealth-wise at the time, very few damaged bodywork items were repaired, and then probably only for testing, which would usually have meant a paint finish. I never saw anything like that, they'd always use a new nose cone etc, probably one of the few teams that could afford that kind of extravagance, at least in Can Am. The only difference in appearance between GRP or fibreglass and paint is that they reflect light slightly differently, also GRP tends to fade a little more than paint with exposure to strong sunlight. Pigments with better colour fastness were available for colours most affected, but I'm pretty sure that McLaren never asked for them, they'd have replaced anything that looked washed-out. Any surviving orange cars would be unlikely to still have any original body items, and painting would be more likely than the correct moulded finish. I suspect that many owners would choose something a shade brighter than a true match, which is what McLaren themselves seem to have done with their own cars, but these just don't look quite right to anyone with a good recollection of the real thing."

 

 

I will grant you that variations of monitor fidelity may account for the original sample that was given to look different for different people. I have two different cameras made by the same company that seem to register certain colors differently. There are so many variables, light being one of them, that result in differing color registration.

[TSR]

"McLaren bodywork was moulded with this pigment colouring all the way through the item, and highly polished. That was just the fibreglass bits of course, but they had the exact paint shade mixed specially for them by Trimite a 3M company, it was exactly the same colour, a perfect match,

 
This is exactly correct and I used to have a small pot of that paint in the early 1970s from Lloyd Asbury, as the McLaren company had given him some to paint the production 1/24 scale models he was making for them of the Mk6. Lloyd had been also given the 1/4-scale wind-tunnel model of the Mk6 to copy for the slot car body. I am not sure if Lloyd still has it where he is in Mexico or if it was disposed of.

[Cheater]

A paint's color name, i.e. "Traffic Yellow", has meaning only in relation to the specific coating manufacturer who labeled or named it. Most assuredly, the color name does not in any way define the color itself.

 

Llewellyn Ryland colour chart

 

LR 11040 traffic yellow looks pretty darn close to the McLaren color to my eye. It was often termed "papaya orange".

 

The RAL 1023 traffic yellow does not. Different company and/or color chart, different color associated with that name.

 

RAL colour chart

[MSwiss]

Yes, when you Google traffic yellow, the results you get in "images" are all over the place. 

 

Some look a bit orangey.

 

But on one of the charts, use those decriptions and Google Dahlia yellow, and IMO, the results are close and way more consistent.

 

dahlia yellow

 

This one looks pretty good on my monitor.

 

[MSwiss]

Llewellyn Ryland colour chart
 
LR 11040 traffic yellow looks pretty darn close to the McLaren color to my eye. It was often termed "papaya orange".

Agreed.
 
#11040 is pretty groovy.

[Bernie]

I have the paint formula somewhere in my files from when I redid my FV. Took me a year to get it after many dead-ends. Obtained it from a well-known vintage collector. Will post it if I can find it.

[olderracer]

Hi gang:

 

I mixed this up several years back. Thought it was pretty close.

 

 

                                   ------------Jack

[SteveDee]

I have found Liquitex artist acrylics Cadmium Orange (dark shade) is a pretty decent match Do not use Cad Ogrn HUE. I usually add some pearl pigment or use irridesent medium.

 

Heavy body paint, in a tube, can be brushed if you don't want to mix airbrush colors, soft body is easier to reduce for spray. Use an airbrush medium, Liquitex or Golden, to reduce to sprayable consistency.

 

If you are in California, you may not be able to get the real Cad Orange, enviro police ya know. Grab some on an out of state trip or have someone send you some. All of the materials can be found at an art supply store.

[Mike Patterson]

I think the color patch in post #1 is correct. My memory says they weren't all that orangey.

[W. J. Dougherty]

It's pretty much orange...

[MSwiss]

Some look yellow in the sunlight but not these original pics.

[Gator Bob]

[Zippity]

6 parts red - 8 parts yellow.

[n.elmholt]

One thing people often seems to forget is that a given colour in 1:1 does not necessarely look right in a smaller scale. Often the colour need to be a bit lighter than the original hue.
 
I always mix the "correct" colour by hand (and feeling) and most times I am happy.  
 
I am actually painting an 1/24 Mclaren M7A slot car body right now.
 
This is a 1/24 static model based on Philippe's Heller McLaren M7 plastic kit.
 

 
Niels, DK

[W. J. Dougherty]

What is your formula or what do you use for the McLaren orange?

 

 

Thanks...

[Cheater]

One thing people often seems to forget is that a given colour in 1:1 does not necessarely look right in a smaller scale. Often the colour need to be a bit lighter than the original hue.

Excellent point, Neils, and absolutely true.

I recall some slightly contentious discussion about this very "effect" at Slotblog in the past, though it wasn't paint that was being debated.

Human eyes and brains "interpret" the visual world and true "reality" might not be what is actually perceived. Like the curved columns of the Parthenon which appear straight to the eye.

[W. J. Dougherty]

Greg,

 

You mean like that warning on the passenger side mirror.