[halistan]

Ok, so yesterday I went and picked up the paint samples from Major. Let me fill you all in on what's happened thus far. I gave Major the formula info from above. He consulted his paint distributor and they said that wasn't compatible with their system. So Major called a few suby dealerships that's worked with in the past in the UK. According to them, the Swiss Ruby Mica color was international paint code 947 and to top that off, there were 4 distinct versions of it. Each had a slightly different formulation based on geographic area (which confused the heck out of me, but whatever).

He and I discussed it and there was no way to figure out which was the formula that I was looking for, so he agreed to do a paint sample of each for me a nominal fee (just a half hour of labor to help cover his costs). I agreed and he had for swatches painted up just like it would be on a real car (clear coating and all)

They were completed Thursday and I went and picked them up. Major was right, they are all in the same family of red, but still distinctly different but all gorgeous just the same.

The 4 versions are: Standard 947, Cleaner 947, Bluer 947, and Lighter 947.

He's given me all 4 to look at and I spent most of the evening looking at them all in different lights with a friend of mine. We tested direct sunlight, shaded sunlight, halogen light, etc...basically every kind of light you can think of. Here are some observations:

Lighter: This one is the about the same shade as Barcelona Red. Imagine Barcelona Red with a pearl layer in it. It was almost an exact match for my current SVX. I liked it, but compared to the others, it looked a little more orangey.

Standard: This one is a little more red than the "Lighter" shade, which gives it a darker look, but only just slightly

Cleaner: This one is very close to the "Standard" shade but it has more blue in it than red. It also seems to be a tad brighter and more pearl. It's hard to describe, but it is the one that most closely "Ruby" color of that Swiss SVX that I posted before. It seems to be the same ruby red in light and shade and is a very deep color.

Bluer: This is the darkest of the bunch. It's still gorgeous but is obviously the color that the darker Swiss ruby mica SVX's are painted. It's almost a maroon color and is by far the darkest in the shade. It has the same pearl as the rest but is just darker. I believe this is the version used on the Australian SVX's from what we've been able to tell by looking at various pictures from the club.

I wish I could share these with you guys to get your opinions but i'm not sure how to do that. They are so close to each other that i don't think a camera or scanner would do them justice. I will see if i can find a way to post them anyway. If you have any questions, please let me know