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In preparation for the huge box of stuff that is doubtless 98% shipping to me right now, I spent some time yesterday trying to convert the RBG codes in the rule book into Vallejo equivalents.

I was not successful.

For a start, there's nothing to link the list of hex codes to an actual color on the drawings. So trying to figure out what part of the model is supposed to be painted in some obscure color is pretty difficult. Using Max's VF-1 as an example, its pretty obvious what parts are referred to by the 1D3A82 reference (its a sky blue color). But what part of the model is supposed to be painted 49514D (nearest Vallejo equivalent is Russian Uniform)?

Secondly, some bizarre choices have been made on the codes (there are at least two different codes used to refer to black [000000 and 262626, for example). I can't help feeling that it would have been more useful to give a list of nearest equivalents in popular paint ranges (Warmachine and Flames of War both did that in the initial versions of their rule sets).

So I think I'll be doing the colour matching by Mk-I Eyeball. Has anyone else had better success? I used a number of internet resources to try to get matches. This is the most useful one I found: http://scalemodeldb.com/paint

Wait, you're saying the rulebook gives color hexcodes for paint values? Why would anyone do that? The last time I checked, no one sells paint by hexcode.

most manufacturers have their paints listed by hexcode, its just usually in a part of their website or a brochure, not on the paint itself.

and one ofthe problems with using the names by maker, is usually those names are trademarked or otherwise owned by the company, so you'd have legal use issues to determine.

I kinda figured Palladium would screw up the paint guide by not giving us enough information so we could use our preferred brand of paint......

glitterboy2098 wrote:and one ofthe problems with using the names by maker, is usually those names are trademarked or otherwise owned by the company, so you'd have legal use issues to determine.

All Palladium had to do was list the FS (Federal Standard) color codes. Just about every model kit I've purchased over the years (Even the Fine Molds and Hasegawa kits with instructions in Japanese!) lists the paints by name and Federal Standard color code.

Vallejo list FS or RAL codes for a lot of their stuff on their color charts. I guess I can start there.

Surely listing the brands of various paints in the rulebook would count as fair use and not a challenge to copyright or ownership...

For those who are also considering this problem, here's Vallejo's rather good equivalency chart:

http://cdn.acrylicosvallejo.com/0049261608364909a238add9b4a53745/CC073-rev05.pdf

It covers a wide variety of suggested matches for most of the big brands. It's also pretty recent (2012) so I think it includes the newest revisions that GW made to the Citadel paint range. Unfortunately, it uses Federal Standard and not RGB so it doesn't solve the original problem but I might do some RGB -> FS -> Vallejo using that chart and some other resources.