I ended up getting this early seventies Bianchi that I helped my son find and buy. Now, even though it is not the perfect size for me, I have decided to build it up. Decals are already on their way. The problem is, needless to say but I will say it anyway - how do I get my hands on the kind of paint that I like to brush on in a Bianchi Celest Green color..?


With that in mind and having little or no skill mixing paint, I found this paint mixing program on the internet. Now, thanks to the program, I can figure out how to mix he color I want. This is not a good shot of the target color but using the tool it is easy to get pretty darn close to the Bianchi green. Once I have a digital idea of what colors to buy and experiment with, I am willing to bet I can nail a decent facsimile of the original Celeste green. Fingers crossed and will let ya'll knpw how it works...




I intend to try to do so using good old Rustoleum, my brush on paint of choice...


My most recent brush on paint job many of you have already seen, but this is the kind of quality that I can achieve with care and patience....

If ever a thread deserved to be made a sticky instantly, this is it.

Thanks for the link. I'll be playing around with that for a while.

I'm confident that you can mix an acceptable shade, especially given that there have been at least a half dozen variations of Celeste through the years.

The second shade looks about right to my eye. Looking forward to seeing your results - very impressive work you've done with a brush!

So hardware stores mix custom Rustoleum colors? That's awesome. I always thought the roll on Rustoleum was limited to black.

I fear that this thread might drive [MENTION=111144]Andy_K[/MENTION] over the edge.

I was thinking the same thing...that was a process!

i agree that second shade looks closer, but I really like the first shade.

Or, since you're going to paint it anyway, find a good spot and scrape some off to take to a paint shop for color matching. Or not; that second color looks pretty good, accurate or not.

Randy,
Rust-oleum Prairie Grass.....I have used it in the past and it seems close.
They also have quart cans. but I can't find them now. If they don't carry it you may need to use white green and a little blue or red to match.
Best, Ben
randyjawa

Sorry, I did not intend to confuse or lead people astray. I will buy some half pint cans of the colors I think I need and mix them myself with the help and guidance I gain from the mixing software I stumbled across recently. This is where the attempt will start...


As you can see in Pallet #2, post #1, I combined blue, green and white to achieve a reasonably close Celeste color. I spent all of two minutes to fiddle up that color. Once I have a digital idea of Rustoleum colors needed, I will purchase a get busy with the real world mixing. I will, of course, show results when done but don't hold your breath. I have to get back to my lake cottage, this Summer, where I do my bike restoration (not an accurate word) work these days...

The thing is, way before I chose my Celeste I had reached the conclusion that if you look at a Bianchi and you don't say "That's not Celeste" then it is Celeste. But for me, with the way my mind works, that was a huge problem because I'm really, really, really bad at choosing among a large number of approximately equally good options. I had to find some way to get one to rise above the others.

Also, for the record, Jet Stream is the correct choice here.

Hmmmm that looks to be my size. Let me know if you continue shrinking and want to pedal it down to the bottom of the province.

1 more bit of info: I used a 1/2 pint tin of Rustoleum blue (either navy blue or deep blue, can't remember, bike + paint are 3,000 miles away in Oregon) to do some hand touch-up all over a battered Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo few years ago. Match was darker than I hoped for, but after 2 yrs of Summer riding, the touch-up areas faded to a close match. Don

No, this was my fault! Everyone else knew what you meant. I just had wishful thinking.

Art Store....
Ben
malcala622 take a look at these paints for your pedals and Bottle cages....

I decanted Rustoleum from spray cans to get the paint match for my ‘73.
The 4 colors you will need are turquoise, yellow, blue, and black.


Turquoise: 480 parts
Yellow: 99 parts
Blue: 62 parts
Black, 10 parts

This mix should get you close to the Celeste used in the 1973 timeframe. Celeste is all over the map, so yours may be lighter or darker.

Kurt