Greg Myers Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 (edited) Rust, Rubber, Jet exhaust, but no dedicated color for automotive carburetors. When looking at builds on contest tables, here on the board, and just about anywhere you'll find a myriad of different colors representing the automotive carburetor, from a definite gold to a definite silver and chrome too, and everything in between. Now granted, carbs come in a few different colors, but for the most part we tend to go to the lightly tinted gold color representing the typical cast zinc or aluminum material carbs are made from. But why , with so many colors available for other things easily mixed don't we have a designated Carburetor Paint ? Edited December 26, 2017 by Greg Myers
Mercuryman54 Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 I usually just mix gold and silver paint till it looks reasonable in color to the carb I'm trying to reproduce. Dennis
highway Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 Ummmmm.....maybe because just as your picture shows, there is no SPECIFIC carburetor color!! Black, pale gold, and aluminum are all colors I can easily find in my paint color selection, and even Tamiya X-32 Titanium Silver as on the catalytic converters on this is a pale gold hue.
BigTallDad Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 Based on the amount of paint it takes to paint a carb. even a small bottle would probably dry out before it's all used up.
Quick GMC Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 Brembo Gold from Gravity Colors is pretty good.
JollySipper Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 Why not get a can of this? It should last like 50 life times!
Bill Eh? Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 (edited) Tamiya Titanium Gold comes pretty close, Available in enamel and acrylic. There are a variety of other metallic colours available. I really like the the Vallejo acrylic line called "Metal Color". Edited December 26, 2017 by Bill Eh?
George Bojaciuk Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 (edited) I worked at Eastwood and the bronze is pretty awesome. They also make a silver for Ford carbs. However, I have found hobby paints that work better and in smaller quantities. This being said their wheel colors like Rally Wheel paint can't be beat! They have a nice Chevy and Pontiac wheel paint that is all I'll ever use! Edited December 26, 2017 by George Bojaciuk
High octane Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 We've been "getting by" without a specific color paint for carburetor for years, so why start now? I certainly wouldn't buy it.
StevenGuthmiller Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 I just keep about a quarter of an ounce of a mixture of Pale Gold & Aluminum Alclad on hand for carbs & a few other detail parts that are generally that color & shoot them all at the same time for a particular kit. Steve
Dodge Driver Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 It would be nice to have cadmium yellow-gold in a hobby friendly spray can. I don't see that happening, though. It would be a sliver in an already niche market.
Muncie Posted December 26, 2017 Posted December 26, 2017 The trick here may be to wander over to the craft side and take a look - there are alternative gold-silver colors over there
Daddyfink Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 With just some Tamiya paint and your airbrush, you can make most of these colors. For example....
935k3 Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 (edited) 8 hours ago, Bill Eh? said: Tamiya Titanium Gold comes pretty close, Available in enamel and acrylic. There are a variety of other metallic colours available. I really like the the Vallejo acrylic line called "Metal Color". Also The transaxle on the engine below was painted TS-87 airbrushed. Edited December 27, 2017 by 935k3
berr13 Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 Krylon makes a small bottle in the "Short Cuts" line called "Antique Bronze" that I use for all my Holley carbs. Mine is in a one ounce bottle, and I've been using it for years, with many more to come.
#1 model citizen Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 3 hours ago, Daddyfink said: With just some Tamiya paint and your airbrush, you can make most of these colors. For example.... Thanks for posting this. Its quite a tutorial on airbrushing as well as creating metallic finishes.
mr moto Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 I think you answered your own question with the photo in the initial post. There is no standard carburetor color. The gold anodized carbs are a pretty recent thing and in the day when virtually all cars had carbs the "standard" color was just a sort of grungy, dull gray. Having said all that, there's no shortage of colors available to model whatever color of carb is correct for your particular build and era. Google images can be a great help at finding out the right color for any particular vehicle.
niteowl7710 Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 (edited) I think you're also marketing something towards higher-end builders, the casual Friday guys don't care what color their carbs are compared to the 1:1 factory specs, they'd probably not even dechrome them. So you're marketing towards guys with airbrushes, and you're directly competing with Tamiya, Alclad, & Vallejo Metal Colors for a specific use product; that you would really have to have like a dozen or so carbs you needed to mass paint. Because otherwise it would be a ridiculous waste of time to set-up and then tear down an airbrush to paint 1-3 carbs "Holly Light Gold" or whatever. (Especially when that Holly carb is pretty much out of the bottle X-31, with XF-16 base, X-12 linkages, and XF-56 butterfly) Edited December 27, 2017 by niteowl7710
DeeCee Posted December 28, 2017 Posted December 28, 2017 I find Dupli-Color ANTELOPE has a nice gold tinge to it, it sort of changes a little bit, depending on the light.
RustedBronco Posted December 28, 2017 Posted December 28, 2017 Vallejo has a Bronze, 70.998, which is very close.
Greg Myers Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 17 hours ago, niteowl7710 said: I think you're also marketing something towards higher-end builders, the casual Friday guys don't care what color their carbs are compared to the 1:1 factory specs, they'd probably not even dechrome them. So you're marketing towards guys with airbrushes, and you're directly competing with Tamiya, Alclad, & Vallejo Metal Colors for a specific use product; that you would really have to have like a dozen or so carbs you needed to mass paint. Because otherwise it would be a ridiculous waste of time to set-up and then tear down an airbrush to paint 1-3 carbs "Holly Light Gold" or whatever. (Especially when that Holly carb is pretty much out of the bottle X-31, with XF-16 base, X-12 linkages, and XF-56 butterfly) Holley
Olderisbetter Posted January 25, 2018 Posted January 25, 2018 I'd say the reason nobody markets a specific carburetor paint is due to demand and the volume of paint that would be sold. Think of how small a 1:25 carburetor is. Now think of how many carburetors you can paint with an ounce of paint. Also factor in that once a model is built, you can barely see the carburetor(s). So the demand is so terribly low, there is little market for the product.
Dave Darby Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 Other than Holleys and the occasional Rochester and Carter 2 barrels MOST carburetors are bare diecast. That makes them silver. Everybody has that one I'd think. I always chuckle when I see a gold painted Stromberg 97 on a model.
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