Aardwolf

Hiya folks,
I was contemplating doing a bit of preventative scratch filling with nail polish.
So I need to match 1982 Holdsworth "Red Pearl".

Looking around I found ShadeScout Nails (https://www.shadescout.com/) which is an app to match nail polish products from a camera image.
The theory being you point the phone camera and it tells you what nail polishes are near that colour.
Unfortunately I can't get the Android version to work on my phone (Moto g6).

Does anybody know of a similar app ?
Or maybe a database of nail polish RAL or RGB colours.

Or I could just take the forks off and walk into a nail shop

sloar

I just take the fork or frame into CVS . I’ve never had a problem except for odd stares.

due ruote 

You could take a picture of the bike into the store, buy 6 or so contenders, walk out and examine in daylight, then go back in and return the rejects.

Chuck M 

I downloaded it but it didn't want to suggest nail polish, just makeup. Now I have to delete the app lest I have to explain to my wife why I'm looking for makeup on my phone.

jdawginsc 

I use the fork to store and picture to store method. Sally Hansen insta dry and cheapo dry are the best color matchers.

SalsaShark

Bring the fork to the store. Test on the steerer tube.

Aardwolf

Seems like that app isn't useful then (I don't use makeup, yet)
Bit of a shame as that would be quite handy for DIY.

I'll just have to remove the forks, testing on the steerer tube is a good idea thought.

cyclic_eric

I couldn't find any pictures of a 1982 Holdsworth in "Red Pearl". Is it like mine (pic below)?
If so, Revlon 551 Raisin Rage Vernis is a good match.

cyclic_eric

Oh, I just found your bike on the Show Your Holdsworth Here! thread. Yours is clearly different than mine.
Is closer to Ferrari Red

Vintage Schwinn

You can take the bicycle into the store, just mention the reason for doing so to the customer service desk-or store management.
I can almost guarantee that they will welcome you and often store staff offers to help because they enjoy seeing the odd sight of a classic bike in the store.
I did this at a Home Depot years ago while searching for an off-the-shelf Yellow that was the closest match to the early Seventies era KOOL LEMON Schwinn color.

Years ago, around Thanksgiving, my brother who at that time had a MIATA with the hardtop up on it, that had a scratch/paint chip on the hardtop from being stored in his garage, since the hardtop wasn't used very often except from late Nov to mid Feb. He kept going on and on about the stupid paint chip on the hardtop's roof that you could barely see, and my sister said, oh will you please just shut up with this, as it is a damn car and you can just go to Woolworths or Eckerds and buy a $2 bottle of nail polish that will match and fill the chip. There must have been a reason, probably to entertain the kids, or something but half the group, two packed cars, followed my brother's Miata to the Eckerds Drug Store about three miles away. The girl working at Eckerds said to us, is the car parked outside? lets go outside and see it upclose to see if we can find something that is a match. She said this is fun, and after pondering over about six different colors, she said these two from different brands should be about the same close match. My brother bought the color that the majority of the group said was the one to get. It perfectly matched and self leveled in the chip.....just that nail polish and some assistance from a new unhit wooden golf tee with a clean sharp point. I don't think he would have been able to get a perfect match without going upclose to the car, and having the benefit of several different pairs of eyes viewing and providing their opinion because there were so many possible color choices and it is difficult unless what you are trying to match is right there.

Aardwolf

I like the idea of walking my Holdsworth into a store to match the paint.
But I live in London and would be trying the large stores in the posh bits: they probably have a huge range of nail varnish.
I'm not sure Harrods wouldn't just have the security guards throw me out, I may have to ask anyway just for a laugh.
There's also a shop on Oxford street I normally avoid because the whole of the ground floor seems to be makeup and perfume and I can't stand the smell.

According to the 1982 Holdsworth catalogue the colours were:
(mine) Avanti - Red Pearl
Elan - Ice Blue Pearl
Mistral - Sable Brown Pearl or Spruce Green Pearl

Aardwolf

Just for illustration this is what Red Pearl looks like (and you can't have too many Holdsworth pics)

1989Pre

I've found that the brand China Glaze has the largest selection. You can find them online.
I wouldn't trust a photo.

Aardwolf

Can't say it's a lot of fun shopping for nail polish, female companion would have helped I guess
But Oxford Street isn't busy at the moment so I got quite a lot of help.

I think I've got a match, top is left to right Mavala 3 Paris, Nail Inc St James, Boots No7 Devils Delight, bottom is forks. Thats 1 coat, I'm going to try 2 coats and a clear coat.



That Mavala 3 Paris looks to be pretty close.
For future reference Mavala have a huge range of colours (https://www.mavala.com/en/910-mini-color), there's 39 shades of red.

capnjonny 

I have a large selection of partially used cans of Rustoleum spray paint. I often will mix 2 or more colors on a piece of aluminum foil pushed into a cup shape in an old plastic jar lid to approximate the frame color. Black is obviously the easiest color to match. I have also had good results with red and burgundy. White is s ***** as there are about a million shades of white. I have had success with Yellow on a Bianchi and a couple of Schwinn's. With a dark grey frame it might be good to do the touch ups in black as they will be much less noticeable than if they are a lighter color. If you clean the frame thoroughly then rub the paint with white polishing compound you may find that a lot of the scratches will disappear. Lots of blemishes are actually on top of the paint. After thorough prep I use a small artists brush that has been trimmed to a point and daub paint into the chip being careful to not smear paint outside the damaged area. Even it the paint is not a perfect match , doing this will make the touch up less noticeable. After applying a couple coats of touch up paint to the chips you might want to lightly sand the entire frame with warn 1000 grit wet sand paper using a sanding block over the s=damaged places to try to level out the chipped spots being careful not to sand through the color coat , then using Rustoleum Automotive clear, spray the entire frame. This will tend to blend in the touched up areas and also make the rest of the frame paint look like new.
One reason to consider spray paint is the cost. A can of Rustoleum is about $5. A bottle of nail polish might be close to the same price. Also if you do use nail polish be sure to use enamel , not lacquer or gel as they might not be compatible with the bikes finish. And be sure what ever you use, to make sure to clean the area with de greaser and alcohol or acetone before painting. by the way, A little acetone in a small jelly jar with a tight lid is great for cleaning your brush .

Thunderlips

My wife has about 30+ nail polishes, and not a single one matches any one of my bikes. And I'm not being picky. It's not like:
More like:

krakhaus 

Do you have Sally Beauty Supply in London? Just go in there, they have like 1000 shades of nail polish from a bunch of manufacturers.

Aardwolf

Cheers, I didn't know about them, and yes there's one a couple of miles from me.
On the down side their UK web site is only showing 12 shades of red, their US site has 153, and neither site has Mavala products.

A huge plus is I can get Mavala 3 Paris on Amazon next day delivery now I know about it.
I'm going to touch up the forks and see how it turns out.

Aardwolf

The nail polish seems to be close enough, but I did find something interesting while looking at enamel paint:

https://encycolorpedia.com/b12a2e

Put in the RGB value you're trying to match and it tells you the matching colour from various standards and paint manufacturers ordered by how different they are from the target (delta E value).
So Holdsworth Red Pearl is approx RGB 178/43/47 and the closest Humbrol paint is Scarlet (186/19/29), but Pantone Aura Orange is closest at 180/39/43.
Delta E 1 to 2 is "perceptible through close observation", 2 to 10 is "perceptible at a glance".

Whether it's accurate I don't know.