Blue.

I am nigh on ready to spray my Interstate tank. I have been told that it will be blue. I believe that there is a dark blue for interstate tanks. Anyone have any idea what colour it is?

If you have a look in the brochures, and at surviving bikes, it is variously called Dark Blue, Navy Blue or Royal Blue. Rolls Royces and Aston Martins (and Fords) came out in what seem to be an identical plain blue colour.

In the local hardware shop, I notice a spraycan (rattlecan) of what seems to be the same colour, simply called blue (ideal for patching up your Rolls ?).

Beats me why someone hasn't collected all the paint codes for Nortons, like other bike makes have, there aren't even that many of them.

Hopethishelps.

Can have a infuance what colour the basecoat is .

Silver shows irregularities best , so is good for initial smoothing out or flatting off.
Id use Gold over that , as it would get a bit luminous in certain lights . Black would
give it dark toneings .There was at least seven shades or mixes of B.R.G. .

These days if you ' borrow ' a paint chip of a original , you can get a spectographic
or suchlike anaylisis to get a V close match. So they say .

One 61 Aston Zagato was netalic blue with shades of gold and green . Far out man .
Metalic and metal flake are two differant things . The phycadelic ones metalflake .

The blue on the Interstates was just a plain solid navy blue.

No metalflakes, no base coats, no top coats back then, just blue paint.
Same as the black was just black.

Opethiselps.

Well, I am spraying right now. Chose a straightfoward Cellulose Sapphire blue. 1st couple of coats on now.
It is unusually warm at the moment & is drying a bit fast.

What do the English call a 'cellulose' paint. ?
Is that really the same stuff that they painted Model T's with, or what is called acrylic lacquer or krylon in other parts of the world ?

How did you did you settle on that colour match ?

The colour is now Sapphire blue.
Think they did the model T with it. Actually saw one of them 2 weeks ago in a hotel car park. (it was black).
Thought everybody knew what cellulose was. It is a single part paint that can be thinned with cellulose thinners & fast drying. It is no where near as tough as 2k, but I prefer the look of cellulose. It isn't such a hard colour. A lot safer to use at home, as it doesn't contain some of the really nasty toxins as 2k, although it does contain some others.
To top it all, I got a lovely run in the wrong place. Going to have to let it dry for a few days, flatten it all out & stick another thin coat on. Very time consuming.

I think though that actual 'cellulose' paints disappeared in the 1970s, what the Brits now call cellulose is actually acrylic lacquer, and totally synthetic ?

Real cellulose paints can still be bought, to paint guitars and furniture with.
20 coats, and it looks good....

Acrylic is acrylic & synthetic is synthetic, competely different paints.
You can put acrylic or synthetic on cellulose, but not the other way around or it will react.

This british cellulose sounds decidely like acrylic lacquer.
As it is called in the rest of the world.

Can't put anything else near real cellulose paint.
(Nail polish is real cellulose paint...)

(When was the last time you saw a car or bike painted in nail polish ?).
(They used to paint Model T's with it. Hose it on, in fact).

Cheers.

Ah Ha . " NITO CELULOSE LACQUER " still avail in N.Z. early 80s and got a can of Clear , fpr model aircraft here in Aus , 2000 .

NOWADAYS is chemical concoction TULULENE = POISONOUS if inhaled . BEWARE . ( as bad as petrol fume immersion .)

excuse the lecture . a drop or 3 of CASTOR OIL per gallon acts as a PLASTCISER . ( used to see big peeling stone dings from wheels upwards in munguards )
nitro cellulose was typically used 30s to 50s for production vehicals . all hand rubbed , brush painted in heated booths . on pommy vehicles, and N.Z.

Acrylic Lacquer ( Dulux 2D ) was the modern ' auto LACQUER ' .almost supperceeded now by stuff thatd rival the gas chambers for good healt .STAND UPWIND .

Digressing into obnoxious detail for 20 Ft. Deep gloss paintjobs . ' BRODAK ' does pearls , stuka stunt & stunt hanger c/l aircraft forums have application techniques.
Basicall it consists of a perfect base ( THIN ) and applying 20 ? coats progressively thinned more with A LOT ( 4 : 1 ) thinners , to get the deep ice / water appearance.

letting harden ( GAS OFF = READ . the biggest place for a blue b :wink: ) as to quickly applied coats seal in chemicals and soften job , alowing marking.& WEIGH.
These gus are trying to do a show finish @ 6 Oz from bare , on around 2 M2 of area .Properly done it lasts decades . with care , indefnately .
The stunt hangers a bike mechanics site , might need to sign in for the painting and finishing panel.The fuel ( methanol / Nitro etc ) might be C O O L Too . :shock: :wink:

Aircraft suypplies might have usefull stuff too .

Isn't acetone the solvent for nail polish, nitrocellose lacquer and aircraft 'dope' ?

Yes ; can be difficult to get in narcisist / narcoticist neigbourhoods .Was $ 20 for 4 gallons back 73 / 74 .
Spraying thinners / universal thinners these days former costs more , & will get a gloss finish .
Can use universal for primer , but better to not use the cheap stuff at all , to get good adhesion & bonding .

Aircraft dope was Acetone & celluloid , essentially . Theres nitrated & butrated to cause problems .
Nitrate wont stick to butrate base, but butrate sticks to nitrate . For a initial coat butrate has poor
adheshion , and shrinks like billyo . Throwing ten coats on in a day , will have it gassing off & shrinking
for 18 months , or 24 . :shock: Probly the old cracked shrunk overspray finishes you saw occasionally .

4 or 6 or 8 coats of colour , and 6 or 8 or 10 of clear , get a acceptable finish .If your not in a hurry .
Takeing your time rubbing out ( 600 Wt ) Ea few coats , then 800 , then polishing with 1200.All wet .