Question for the Ferrari aficiondos

[DrKerry]

I'm looking at building a few cars of Ferrari and was wondering if the Rosso Corso red remained the same on all Ferrari's from the early 60's to today?

If not what would be a good off the shelf red that comes the closest to the Rosso Corso?

Thanks in advance for any and all help you can give......

[Scale-Master]

It has changed over the years. Trying to get a "correct" match for a model is even more subjective than for a restored real car.

I'd suggest you find what looks good to you and go for it. Tamiya and Testors both have reds I have used for Ferrari models that went to real Ferrari collectors and were received well.

In the smaller scales TS-49 can work. As the size goes up TS-8 can work.

In the Testors line a similar correlation can be had with Italian Red and Guards Red.

[DrKerry]

Sounds good, I've had good results with Tamiya and Testors in both reds. Recently I painted one with Gaurds Red from Farm and Fleet, came close but not spot on.

I thought that as the years went on the colors changed somewhat...

Thanks for the info....

[sjordan2]

You can't go wrong by following Alex Kustov's build journals for the particular model you're building (scroll down below the fold on this link).

http://italianhorses.net/

My experience with finding Alfa Romeo rosso corsa is somewhat spotty, since there is such a wide variety of shades, from darker and cool to hot Ferrari red. As mentioned above, the shades changed here and there. It's sort of like "British Racing Green" and "Bugatti Blue." No two are alike.

Edited December 13, 2013 by sjordan2

[DrKerry]

Thanks Skip. I noticed that flipping through photos online looking at even the differences within the same year on some. That could be a restored verses original paint as far as shade difference. I also noticed the difference say between a 250 Testa Rossa and a FXX, the two are very different shades of red.... I'll be digging on that site for sure...

[Art Anderson]

Years ago, I had a conversation with Dave Dodge of Model Car World (MCW Automotive Finishes), when he was just first starting. Dave told me he'd researched Ferrari's red colors (this was about 1990, when he was leaving his job at a local NAPA outlet in Northern Indiana to start MCW), and discovered that there were a couple of dozen shades of red that Ferrari used up to that time. Apparently, a few more have been added since then?

Art

[Modelmartin]

It's sort of like "British Racing Green" and "Bugatti Blue." No two are alike.

I don't know about BRG but Bugatti blue is the color of Gauloise cigarette packs. French blue is darker and can be anything. Bugatti blue is and should be pretty consistent.

[DrKerry]

Years ago, I had a conversation with Dave Dodge of Model Car World (MCW Automotive Finishes), when he was just first starting. Dave told me he'd researched Ferrari's red colors (this was about 1990, when he was leaving his job at a local NAPA outlet in Northern Indiana to start MCW), and discovered that there were a couple of dozen shades of red that Ferrari used up to that time. Apparently, a few more have been added since then?

Art

Kind of what I'm finding out Art!! Thanks!

[Art Anderson]

I don't know about BRG but Bugatti blue is the color of Gauloise cigarette packs. French blue is darker and can be anything. Bugatti blue is and should be pretty consistent.

In years past, when the FIA assigned national colors, apparently no regulations or consideration of shade of color was specified. French racing blue was blue--anywhere from a light powder blue to fairly dark. British racing green ranged from almost grass green to very dark "green black" to the transparent "candy" green used by BRM OVER sanded aluminum bodywork.

In short, it was the color, not the shade of that color, that denoted the nationality of the particular race car.

Art

[sjordan2]

The Gauloises story is widely accepted, but the shades varied over the years, even from the factory. This is from a Bugatti owner:

#041 (5/6-1998):

Marco Bertazzoni writes:

---quote:---

As I know there never existed a proper Bugatti blue. The blue color got in the years darker and darker. The early Lyon cars had after the common opinions a verry light blue like the Gauloises cigarette boxes, and in the following years up to T 59 they got verry dark. Interesting is, that the T 59 G cars had a twotone paint of light and dark blue.

As I restored my car (a Type 51 -Ed.) I found 3 different blue tones plus some red paint rests. The blue colors went from a light baby blue, over a blue like you can find on a Renault 8 Gordini to a nearly night blue.

I decided to paint my car in the color the Schlumpf cars have. Because after Mr. Garnier, the director of the Muse National at Mulhouse, Fritz Schlumpf took the color that the Bugatti factory used in the post-war time. It is RAL 5119.

http://www.bugattipage.com/jacob/infohunt/q-085.html

A few years ago, I asked one of our members to scan and break down an image of a vintage Gauloises pack in printer's CMYK format. C=cyan. M=magenta. Y-yellow. K-black. Here are the percentages if anyone wants to try to mix them using paint:

"I get slightly different results depending on exactly where on the pack I sample the color. Some results:

67-31-18-0

64-29-17-0

66-38-17-0

68-33-18-0

About the ony constant is 0% K, but these should get you a pretty close match. I guess if you average it out it would be 66-31-17-0."

BTW, my local smoke shop says Gauloises can't be imported any more, and the package colors have changed substantially over the years.

Anyway, I won't hijack the Ferrari subject anymore.

Edited December 15, 2013 by sjordan2

[sjordan2]

By the way, over the years, 1:1 Ferrari paints have been supplied by Glasurit (very expensive). You might check with them.

Edited December 17, 2013 by sjordan2

[DrKerry]

Thanks for the info Skip.....