Any color matching tips from the experts?

vipe155

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What do all of you that restore/fix up machines do to match paint colors? I admit I don't have a lot of experience in this, and want to do some small, minor touch up on one of my games.

I know a Pantone chart may be helpful. I have tried taking pictures of the areas, loading them into Photoshop and using the Pantone chart on there to come up with a very close color. Can you even get a local store to get out a Pantone chart and make a color off of it?

I was planning on using an airbrush once I can get good matching colors. Is that a good method?

So, how do you all do it? I have no intention of doing this halfway, and want to only do a high-quality touch up.
 
Seems to me like an airbrush would be overkill for "small" areas... maybe your scale is not the same as mine? How big are we talking here? 3-4" gouges on the side of the cabinet or what?
 
what is it your matching or going to be touching up?
do you know what types of paints youll be using?

I started a blog on color matching here
http://www.coinopspace.com/profiles/blogs/the-wonderful-world-of-arcade-colors
but still have to finih up part2 that shows the actual color mix and application

matching colors "digtially" is not the way to go here.

if your going to use say the testers enamels as I show
its simply trial and error mixing the right colors to get you the shade you want/need.
 
Well, I don't have any paint or anything in mind. I'm wondering what the best choice would be. Acrylic? Enamel? Usually I use Acrylic in other applications because of the easy cleanup/thinning.

I'm talking about 1/2" wide (at most) worn areas. I was simply trying to see if through Photoshop I could come up with a Pantone color that was close. I don't have a color wheel, and want to know if I need one before buying it. I know some people have even done a decal type of thing, but I that sounds even more difficult.
 
Copied from Mr. Pinball tip of the day archive

If you've done any paint restoration work and found yourself having difficulties trying to find that 'elusive perfect match', try using this color mixing guide (taken from an old sign painting trade publication 'Freehand Lettering' by Dick Bird). I have used this guideline extensively in my past sign painting career and found it a valuable asset in toning a color up to that 'elusive perfect match'.

Color Wanted: Start with: Add a little:
Green Yellow Blue
Orange Yellow Red
Brown Red Black
Maroon Red Black & Magenta
Cream White Yellow
Tan White Brown
Ivory White Yellow & Brown
Gray White Black
French Gray White Yellow & Black
Olive Green Yellow Black & White
Pink White Red
Flesh White Red & Yellow
Coral White Orange
Purple Magenta Blue
Gold Yellow Brown
Lime Green Yellow Green & White
Another painting tip:
Do NOT use hot water to rinse out your brushes. Hot water softens the binding glue and will contribute to loose bristles stuck in your paint job.

K J Allison
 
Copied from Mr. Pinball tip of the day archive

...

I appreciate the information. That will be useful if I have to "eyeball" it and mix paints. I was hoping that, short of hauling a playfield somewhere to get it computer matched (lol), I could figure out a way to find a matching color without mixing it myself. It's probably wishful thinking.
 
i like to use a piece of clear plastic so i can hold my mixed color right over the color im trying to match

wal mart sells a nice paint set with a bunch of colors for 7 bucks or so
 
i like to use a piece of clear plastic so i can hold my mixed color right over the color im trying to match

wal mart sells a nice paint set with a bunch of colors for 7 bucks or so

That sounds like a good idea with the clear plastic.

I guess I'm naive, I just thought that colors used on games were existing shades that could be found and bought. I guess maybe silk screening vs paint and age of the game are factors as well.

It's not exciting to me, but I guess I can start mixing colors. Any issue with using Acrylic paint?
 
Any issue with using Acrylic paint

an issue i've run into is, after touching up the playfield, some of the colors dont react well with the clearcoat i spray on top of it and weird stuff happens. the black sharpie pens bleed a lot and some of the flesh colors do too as well

if you arent spraying clearcoat then you are good to go i guess. depends on what it is

colors fade over time which makes it even harder. gloss colors, flat. it's a lot harder than you think plus some colors change as they dry

i guess you could take the color to home depot and have them use that machine to color match it
how you would do that will be an interesting read !
one could bring in the head or the back door to color match it
 
i guess you could take the color to home depot and have them use that machine to color match it
how you would do that will be an interesting read !
one could bring in the head or the back door to color match it

Yeah, the looks I would get hauling a playfield into Lowes or something like that :)

Actually this wear is around a couple of pops and ball drop areas. My plan is to touch them up, then put a mylar circle/mylar square over the touched up areas so the problem doesn't happen again.
 
I appreciate the information. That will be useful if I have to "eyeball" it and mix paints. I was hoping that, short of hauling a playfield somewhere to get it computer matched (lol), I could figure out a way to find a matching color without mixing it myself. It's probably wishful thinking.

its basically the only way.
but if you use something like testers you can mix and test riught on the surface\if the color mix isnt right just simply wipe off with a thinner and mix/try again untill you get it.
painting on a clear pieces as a test will yield different results since its not the same type of surface or color being painted on.
 
I found this site way back for something unrelated and found that it works not too bad: http://scalemodeldb.com/paint

Haven't tried it for color matching on a pin yet, but works best if you can scan the area and upload the picture - photos also work providing you can get a good picture without glare.
 
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I found this site way back for something unrelated and found that it works not too bad: http://scalemodeldb.com/paint

Haven't tried it for color matching on a pin yet, but works best if you can scan the area and upload the picture - photos also work providing you can get a good picture without glare.

Major downside using this method is that cameras and monitors don't recreate colors accurately. Case in point, go to the site and click on the white area of the picture of the A10. Then note the color chosen is really a bluish-white or grey.

The best method I've found is to use a Pantone Color Guide. I lay the guide on the playfield next to the color I want to touch up and when I find a match I write the name of the pin on that color swatch. I then take to guide to a local hobby/craft store and match the color swatch to the paint in stock. If one store doesn't have the exact match, I try another store.

I've tried mixing paints on a sheet of glass and then laying the glass on the playfield but I find that I'm terrible at getting the paint color just right. I get close but not close enough. I just need more time to get the paint mixing thing down. I talk to the old guys at the local hardware shop about mixing paint and they have provided some good tips.

Try the Pantone Guide. You can find them on eBay. I got mine for $20.
 
you might also try: http://pinballpal.com/colors/

there is also a similar thread over on pinside: http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cabinet-and-playfield-paint

and there's a short bit on pinwiki about it: http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pinball_Restoration#Color_Matching

and you can find some generic color info (not pin specific) at: http://www.easyrgb.com/

and, finally, r.g.p. has many posts - just go to the group and search for the particular machine you're looking for (just put "color match" in the search field and you'll see how many matches there are!).
 
I actually found a guy by searching around on Google that has done restoration type work on his games, and he had matched the same colors I'm looking for. I got those paint numbers/brands to start with from him.

Also, he gave me some 300 dpi, perfect playfield images to make a couple of decals if needed. That's what I like a lot about this hobby...there are a lot of people involved, someone has probably done what you are doing before, and most people are more than willing to help you out.
 
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