Paint Rack app

[malachi]

For the painters, I thought I'd share my take on a phone app (iPhone and Android) for miniature painters that looks helpful and might save you $$. The free version of the app allows for some basic tracking but unlocking the full tools for $5 brings some useful functions.

I'm working on FW-190s and was in a local hobby shop today looking for an AK Interactive 3rd Gen color called RLM 76 version 1. I have versions 2 and 3 of that color but of course one of the schemes I'm doing called for the older color for the fuselage sides. Mixing colors and shooting from the hip can work fine but can sometimes be tedious getting the proper shade. The store owners at this place are helpful and when they didn't have what I was searching for he used the Paint Rack app to find a suitable substitute that I never would have tried, Hellhound Flesh from the Scalecolor Fantasy & Games line.

That was useful enough, but if you're like me with too many paints, it's going to be worth the effort in the app to find colors within my own inventory that match rather than the trial and error of testing one after another on the palette. The app easily lets you scan in your current collection and has a huge library of over 20K paints from dozens of manufacturers, but even if you don't get your collection entered, the Color Tools are still useful for identifying matching colors.

I was having a bit of trouble figuring out some of the app settings (youtube vids were no help) but then stumbled on the correct setup. Here's an example if we were looking to find a match for AK Interactive 3rd Gen RLM 78 (1941):

Open Color Tools from the main menu then click the yellow arrow icon to search for a color, the result will be similar to what's shown here:

To turn on hex values, hit the "1.0" icon near the red arrow - that will display the hex value for that manufacturer (2.23 for Vallejo in this case). Hex values under 3.0 means the color is indiscernible from the other by the human eye. The only real downside is that slider with Citadel -> Vallejo -> Reaper and tons of other manufacturers you just have to move and see which maker has a paint matching a good hex value, the app doesn't prioritize them for you.

In the image above, if you hit the hollow circle that is bracketed under the hex value, it will bring up the matching Vallejo paint. I think if the circle were solid instead of hollow it would mean I own the paint and added it to my collection in the app. We can see that a good match for AK Interactive RLM 78 (1941) would be Vallejo model air US Grey (air).

[Diamondback]

It's even more challenging with how many paint brands and colors are simply extinct due to almost the entire US supply having been made under various Rustoleum brands (Floquil, Pactra, Polly S, Testor, Model Master) and Rustoleum deciding to almost entirely exit the hobby sector.

So now we're running to catch up with Vallejo, and if you can find it Tamiya and Gunze Sangyo... one thing to beware of, Vallejo brush (70.xxx) and airbrush (71.xxx) formulas don't always have direct counterparts to each other.

[Teaticket]

Thanks Chris. Looks like this could really help. Does it cover craft acrylic paints? Americana, Anitas, Craftsmart, Folkart....?

[malachi]

Peter, it covers most I think. Here's the current list:

[Diamondback]

Almost like the old Paint4Models chart in an app form, but it needs the ANA, BS381 and FS595 "full scale" catalogs.

[Jager]

I wonder if they have a PC version. I just use my phone as a phone.
Karl

[Diamondback]

I wonder if they have a PC version. I just use my phone as a phone.
Karl

Not that I've found. I sent the guy who ran the old Paint4Models site a note suggesting he look into their app as a new platform for his data, but this is the guy who I sent regular reminders about the death of Adobe Flash for YEARS before it happened and he studiously ignored my request to start planning a next move all the way up until Adobe yanked his skivvies up over his head.

[malachi]

update: I wasn't going to scan my collection just yet but got on a roll. It took about two hours and went pretty smoothly. There's no way to tell exactly how many paints in one's collection in the app, but it has an easy "export to .csv" where you can send an email file - 520 paints, more than I thought I'd say about 10% weren't found by the bar code scan due to poor label or just wouldn't take it, but searching by name or SKU found all my paints but one. Not sure why Liquitex Yellow Oxide Gouache couldn't be found, the rest in that set were.

There isn't a way to enter your own paint into the app, probably in order to keep the data clean, but worked very well. You can include/exclude paint manufacturers in the filter to narrow down to your favorite choices; mostly that improves the navigation by getting rid of some of the chaff.