Apparently, this is the 25th article I’ve written this past year. As many of you know, I’m a retired pastor and biochemist; among my retirement hobbies is writing both fiction and poetry. I think the mental discipline of writing regular more serious posts for CC has been beneficial for my hobby writing as well. I seem to be building less and writing more. But there’s still no shortage of things to see.
Our editor Rich suggested I write another piece highlighting my use of colour. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this filled me with trepidation, but it did make me stop and think about perception. Do we all see the world in a slightly different way? What do others see that I don’t, and vice-versa?
I remember getting my first pair of glasses at eleven, and being amazed how sharp and clear everything was. Dad asked why I hadn’t said anything before about my eyes, and I replied something along the lines of how did I know sight was supposed to be different? I had nothing to compare it to. We only have one brain. We have nothing else to compare our perceptions to, and any attempt at comparison is filtered through our own perceptions. Follow that line of thought to its logical conclusion, and who’s to say anything is a misperception? Let’s not get into the murky waters of neurotypical perception versus neurodiverse. That way headaches lie…
Okay, I’ll put the philosopher away for today.
My photo files are becoming unmanageable (for me), so we’ll just go look through the sixties today. But given access to my files, your choice might be different. And I’ll give you a look into why I chose that colour.
I tend to avoid common colours, like white, black or red. They’re too predictable, too overused. Sometimes uncommon factory colours can be appealing. For many years Chevy offered Omaha Orange (Is Omaha really orange?), though as far as I know Holden never used it on Chevy trucks here. Or on anything else, for that matter. This might not be Omaha orange, but that was the inspiration.
Some colours just look right no matter what you put them on. Here’s a Nineties Ford Teal, combined with some other Nineties Ford colours. On a Chevy. Because it looks good. And a lighter blue accent on the side trim; this one’s an old Humbrol colour;
This time it’s a Chrysler/Mitsubishi colour. Mitsubishi bought out Chrysler here in ’80, so there was a degree of overlap, with the same colours used on both brands in the late seventies, with some beautiful shades used. And it’s on a Chevy because it looks good. I’m not pedantic. I’m sure Chevy offered some good colours, but this wasn’t one of them;
Aussie Ford purple on an American Ford. This was a kit of a famous drag car; rather than a maroon I went with a lighter purple metallic, XB Falcon Mulberry. And of course, that chrome molding had to contain a second colour, to match the roof. These Fairlanes always seemed to be two-toned back in the day;
Just love those ’65 Pontiacs. This is another Chrysler/Mitsubishi colour, with an ivory interior. White was too predictable, and would look ‘weak’. I can’t define what I mean; intuitively it just doesn’t look ‘right’ to me. It grabs my eye, and takes my attention away from the main colour. Even in the heyday of white interiors, they were usually more of a parchment or off-white, varying from brand to brand. In a model white would look like unpainted plastic. So I used ivory;
One of my ‘signature’ models, that people seem to remember. The interior inspiration came from a Galaxie seen in a Collectible Automobile feature. I matched it as closely as I could with my trusty old Humbrol enamels. I can’t recall where I got the brown;
Testors used to have a cool line of custom car colours, like this Inca Gold. Something in me said to go for a tan and brown interior. Another ‘signature’ model;
If you said this Buick looks like nineties Aussie Ford Everglade, you’d be right. It’s one of those colours that’s something of a ‘go-to’ for me. I try to avoid painting too many models the same colour (I do have hundreds to choose from), but some colours just plain look right, no matter what you put them on. Interior is in a lighter Ford blue from that era;
This ’66 Malibu was converted from a street machine kit, hence the SS hood. I used the colours from a neighbour’s similar-vintage Holden wagon, but added chrome window trim because it looked like it needed it;
This time I went factory. Dad’s last Falcon was this colour scheme. You probably couldn’t get a Fairlane GT with the green interior, but since when has that stopped me?
Generally blue and green don’t mix. But with a slightly greenish-blue you can get away with it. Unfortunately, the Nova’s body doesn’t show much of the interior colour;
For this ’66 Olds 442 I chose a conservative (muddy) brownish-gold, but threw in a maroon interior. It worked for Holden in 1966, so why not?
Purple, meet red. Rather a violent colour combination, but since purple is a mixture of blue and red it ought to work – says me!
A study in dark greens. This ’67 GTO is a terrible kit, with vague detail from worn-out molds, but it was a present from my son, so I gave it my best shot.
A brown Chrysler? Brown interior;
Toning the interior to the car body colour rather than contrasting it seemed to be a growing trend in the sixties;
Unless you went for a black or white interior. A white interior would have worked on this Charger, but I went with green to match the body colour. I think it’s more interesting this way;
These Cougars show the ‘usual suspects’; white and black interior on the yellow car, black on the green. In Australia any muscle car just had to have a black interior, regardless of how impractical it was in our climate. It’s all about image, y’know? Hey, it’s our old friend perception again!
As I was going through my photo files, I realized how many visually unexciting cars I was passing over. Maybe sometime I need to have a “Festival of the Unexceptional”, like that famed British show? Another day….
A collector of scale models for over 65 years, I am a 47 Vintage Rolls Canardly, ( Roll down one hill and Can ardly get up the next) most of mine are promos or die cast. But earlier built several kits. I fondly recall trying to transform a 60 DeSoto into a 61 DeSoto with limited success. Strange how certain Marques have few if any models available in scale. For example, I have a 1961 1-18 Imperial convertible, but can find a 61 LEBARON only in 1-43. As for color, I have been fortunate enough to have 3 61 DeSoto 1-18 in red, black and light green. I believe it was also offered in two tone yellow and black. Another way I have been able to enjoy favorite cars is by using sales brochures to create collages. Most decorate my garage, but 61 Imperial (featuring LEBARON) and 61 DeSoto are hanging in my bedroom so I can see them every day! COLOR is important in every way. LOL and thumbs 👍.
Yes, the whole issue of what is available in scale versus what isn’t can be an annoying one. Builders like myself often wish we had the variety of choice available in diecast models! Fortunately there are many resin kits from small companies to fill many of the gaps – at a price.
But yes, it is annoying when four companies produce (say) a 1966 VW Beetle, but nobody does an earlier-sixties one. Back in the day of Scale Auto Enthusiast magazine, they would often do comparison reviews of the various kits; I remember them doing comparos of 1957 Chevys and 1953-55 F100s.
And yes, colour rules!
I had the exact same experience when I got my first pair of glasses at around the same age. I had no idea what I was missing! Oh, and I’m a bit worried about that figurine in your final photo. Did he have a bit too much to drink? Or perhaps he was just overwhelmed by the sight of a Lincoln Futura and not one, but two Cougar Eliminators? Somebody get that guy a cup of coffee.
Ha! I just got myself another cup of coffee!
I always used to be so fixated on taking a picture of a model that I didn’t notice what was in the background – like figures which had fallen over. I’m usually more careful these days, but sometimes I still slip up. LIke photos in CC features or the Cohort – it’s always somebody else who notices details in the background.
There’s a story behind the two Eliminators. A Canadian friend messed up the paint on one (the green one; it was blue), but rather than strip the paint and redo it, he chose to give it to me. I was building one at the time, so it was no trouble to build ‘production-line’ style as my research was already done.
I saw a similar ’65 Galaxie years ago at a local car show. Just about everything here is up my alley, and I even built a couple of these a few decades (!) ago, including the ’65 Catalina and the ’66 Wildcat. Yours came out a lot better, but mine still look OK sitting on the shelf.
Nice selection!
That’s a beautiful Galaxie, Aaron, and points up a few details I missed. Thanks for the photo.
Decades are funny things; one day you look back and realise you’re older than you thought. The Catalina and Wildcat are comparatively recent builds (about ten-fifteen years old). Back in the sixties I wasn’t so neat; those models would be best viewed not on a shelf but from behind a brick wall!
I’ve said many times that I think your modeling skills are nonpareil. I’ve not seen one of yours yet that didn’t reflect care, patience and great craftsmanship.
But the “signature” line on display today (have I somehow overlooked prior reference to the same? Shame on me) are really the “stuff”, man. The right colors, in a bright metallic, applied sooooo smoothly and flawlessly to the right car. Really great.
Wow, thank you!
No, you haven’t missed reference to ‘signature’ models before. A group I’m in used the term for the models people think of when our name crops up, ones we’re known for, ones people remember. Sometimes it’s the subject matter, like my London Bus, that lodges it firmly in memory; other times it’s the colour, or sometimes it’s just hard to put a finger on.
There can be excellent models that sail under the radar so far as being memorable is concerned, they just lack the ‘gotcha factor’. I almost always prefer understatement, which makes that gold Riviera all the more memorable. And the brown Galaxie is a model people always seem to come back to and comment on whenever I show it online. The Galaxie is understated, but somehow memorable.
Please do the festival of the unexceptional. Love seeing your builds.
The purple and red reminded me of something I noticed in the 90’s. I had a fox marquis as my first car. Dark blue over dark blue. But I started to see them in the same color as mine but with a red interior. I wonder if those were end of the run builds using the last of the materials before they launched the Taurus
Thanks Clyde. I have so much more to show. I’ll get there. We’re still only halfway through my second display area. Today’s feature was just a break.
Sometimes it’s only when we get a car that we notice the slight differences between trim options, colour, or changes the factory made during a production run. Like a red interior in a dark blue Marquis. Was it late production, or had you only started noticing them? Doubtless somebody, somewhere, will know the answer as to what was going on there.
Beautiful assortment as always, Peter. And please don’t ever banish your inner philosopher from your essays. I come here for your thoughts as much as for your models.
I’ve always found it fascinating that others can identify a shade of paint with a particular manufacturer, as that’s a skill I’ve never possessed. Aside from being able to give a pretty good attempt at identifying “Ford Blue” under the hood, I can’t tell a Chevy red from a Nissan red.
I’d never know from looking at that ’67 GTO was from a subpar model kit. Looks well detailed the way you did it.
Looking forward as always to the next installment.
Thanks Joseph. I won’t banish the philosopher, just sort of keep him on a leash, along with the poet and the pedant. And try not to get their leashes tangled! Or let them get away from me. Strange things happen when the philosopher comes to the fore, as my writing group has found.
It’s not so much that I can identify a paint colour on a car, Joseph, more that I can (mostly) remember what paint I used on a particular model, whether it was Duplicolor, Tamiya, Testors or Humbrol. But with the advent of Tamiya’s tinted clears I can get differing effects which sort of mask the appearance of what I used under the tint. Most of the Dulpicolor paint I have is Ford or Chrysler colours, with some Holden. They had the most interesting colours though the seventies. In my stash, Japanese colours are uncommon enough (aside from seventies Datsun Safari Yellow) that I tend to remember using them. And I only have one Korean colour, Hyundai Lobelia (below).
On that GTO, a lot of the engraving was almost theoretical rather than sharp. I worked on accenting what I knew should be there. Things like door lines, windshield wipers, badge lettering, rain gutters, chrome strips – they’re some of the areas where old molds tend to show. Some companies (like Aoshima) periodically tidy up old molds before running them through the machine yet again, and print a disclaimer on the box side apologizing that the model isn’t up to current standards. Other just crank them through one more time, oblivious to what the resulting quality does for the company’s reputation. Sad.
Very, very impressive work Peter! I am thoroughly wowed. Iconic cars, in fantastic colour choices. The quality of your work, fully speaks for itself. As you are choosing and engaged in a build, you must dream, about having some of these examples in your own garage.
As I’ve said before, you really belonged in some car design/trim department! With an excellent grasp of recognizing great design, and applying some of their most flattering colours.
Thanks Daniel. With hindsight, I now realize I am too sensitive to have survived in a studio environment, so it’s just as well I never pursued it seriously. I don’t respond positively to domineering/strong personalities, due to unfortunate childhood experiences.
I’ll sometimes daydream about what it would have been like to have owned a particular car, and often make colour choices based on what I would like to have had. When a car was only available in certain colours my mental hackles rise, and I get a case of the “how dare yous?” followed quickly by the “what ifs?”. That’s when stuff like this happens. That’s also in part why I don’t model much past about 2010 – new cars just look too boring unless you paint for the shock factor. An S210 Toyota Crown would be white, silver, or black, and looks pretty ordinary. Paint it a nice bright metallic green (pretty ordinary fifty years earlier) and the design takes on a whole new aura. The design comes alive, as you notice lines and contours blanded out by the limited and oh-so-common colour palette. The eye doesn’t register the design as different, it’s just another silver sedan.
Maybe that’s why modern Mercs and BMWs have such shocking styling – it’s so people will notice them at all. Time to bring back die Farben, Herren!
Some beautiful work here Peter, I will put my usual Chrysler bias aside, for a moment, and select the Wildcat as the pick of this bunch.
On matching interior colors with the color of the car, I once saw a YouTube video of a 68 or 69 Dodge Coronet, Red with matching interior, at the time I thought it was the most beautiful car I had ever seen, until of course, I saw the next most beautiful car I had ever seen.
Another vote for the Festival of the Unexceptional here.
Thanks Jonco. I hadn’t consciously thought about what cars I was showing. There is perhaps an under-representation of Mopars, now that you mention your bias. I could have shown a metallic purple ’62 Dart, but we’ve seen that before. For some reason most of my sixties Mopars are fairly ordinary colours. There was that 300, and the green/white Charger, but yes, the Wildcat does take some beating.
A ’69 Coronet in red, now let me see… Will orange do? 🙂
It turns out I am an older fart than heretofore I knew but hence shall duly note, for I realize that as soon as a car color turns custom-ish, my rather large nose wrinkles reflexively (whilst not noting the irony that an old fart achieves the precise same upon others).
In proof of the foolishness of my staid (if not stale) attitude, that ’65 Poncho, non-factory, is utterly delightful, and Car of Today’s Show. Perhaps in a fading defence, I might add that the Inca Gold Riv achieves a rating at the other end of the scale, looking to these eyes rather too much like We think Your Horse Has Diabetes*, but there nonetheless minor points for imagination.
I got glasses at just four. I had to, because I woke up one day and found the world had doubled, without leaving me any clues as to which of anything to choose as real. (When that came to hospital chocolates during diagnosis, it was an especially cruel twist from nature, leaving me both with an unjustified love of certain relatives for their generosity and a concomitant but paradoxical mistrust of same when the second whole box was not part of reality, but I digress).
World needs more Petes in it, Pete, for more color amongst us, the better to replenish our souls with a bit of joy.
*Fellow makes whisky at home, rather proud of results: sends off to lab for confirmation: opens reply in high anticipation many months later, and it reads “Unfortunately, we think your horse has diabetes”.
Justy, that must have been quite the experience, suddenly seeing double and at such a young age. But how disappointing that you couldn’t get to eat that second lot of chocolates. I shall have to have a chocolate in Young Justy’s memory. Cheers! Or whatever you say for chocolate…
Sometimes it’s tricky to draw the line between a custom colour and one that’s just, um, nice but not factory-correct for a particular car. Okay, any metalflake like that Inca Gold is obviously custom, but I don’t draw lines; I colour between them. I have no qualms about correcting a factory colour chart by applying a colour they should have used, thus livening up a car’s styling. Remedial colouring. Like that green Crown above. The body contours are actually interesting, but the bland factory colours hide them. Who looks at one white car among a sea of white cars? One silver car in a sea of silver? Who looks long enough to start noticing details let alone subtleties? The eye is bored; it moves on, in search of something that stands out. Maybe an instinct bred in us from hunter-gatherer days?
You could look at this as remedial colour therapy, notably used (if not invented) by Jasper Fforde (q.v.), probably at one of his Fforde Ffiestas (groan, also q.v.!), which tells you something about his sense of humour. And mine.
Peter: I thought that the Galaxie was superb, but then I saw the Wildcat…if I hadn’t known that it was a model, I’d have almost thought it was a real car! Simply EXQUISITE!! Your pictures are such a feast for the eyes; and I, too, found out that I was extremely nearsighted in the sixth grade. Like you, I thought that everyone saw the world as I did! 🙂
Thank you.
Sometimes I just build a model, but other times the subject really grabs me and I go all-out for realism. Most of the cars in today’s group were ones that grabbed me; the Galaxie from my memory of occasionally seeing these big American Fords as a kid (ultra-pricey in Australia), and from memories of the swap-card album I had (still have somewhere) with a Galaxie card in it. The Buick, well, I saw a sixties Buick once as a kid, and was just overwhelmed by all the brightness inside and out. I tried to capture not so much what a Buick should look like as my impression of a Buick. Does that make it qualify as an impressionist model? Is there such a thing? Who cares! I’m just glad it brings delight when others see it.