Hello all, I'm going to jump back into a model I started a few years ago and never finished. The General Lee, one of the reasons I put it away was that I couldn't find an orange that I thought captured the car as seen in the show. Anyone have a suggestion, something you used on your builds?

Testors' Racing Orange

I always found the Testors # 1628 "Gloss Orange" was very, very close...
They may have changed the name to Racing Orange by now !!!

Hey, thanks guys! :thumbsup:

According to this,
http://pages.prodigy.net/tcwinfk/gl-facts.html#question01

The original G/L was painted Hemi Orange which was a Chrysler color available in '69

But due to the rigors of television they used any orange that was close, Hugger Orange was mentioned in the link.

In an episode that was a flash back about the General Lees birthday Cooter said something about an orange red paint for the general. I think the episode aired during the 7th or 8th season, if that helps any.

Here's some very interresting info about the first Charger used in the pilot in '78. It's worth the reading....

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=119349

They say this:

Once purchased by Warner Bros., Lee 1's transformation from everyday cruiser to TV star was not a careful one. The Charger wasn't treated with care or restored by the transportation department. It was just another car being prepped for just another TV show. So they ripped off the Charger's vinyl top, quickly sprayed it with an inconsistent coat of cheap Acme single-stage orange paint and added the soon-to-be-familiar graphics. A roll cage was added to the interior, a push bar was bolted to the nose, a CB antenna was stuck on the rear deck and those Vector wheels were bolted on. The General Lee was complete.

And this:

The car that would become the first General Lee spent most of its useful life as a Copper Metallic daily driver. In order to ensure authenticity, the car was first carefully painted the original Copper Metallic before — once again — being sprayed with cheap Acme Orange. That's almost too much detail.

Steph

John F, f1steph, thank you for the links! It's always nice to get more background on a subject.

irishtrek, I think I remeber that episode. I think it was called "Happy birthday General Lee".

two that are REALLY close the TV car (not the chrysler color) are Case road tractor oilbased enamel and OSHA safety orange farm implement urathane enamal.

Both will spray fine onto any primer that can be used on plastic

It is a model...........paint it Orange.

It is a model...........paint it Orange.

but then it wouldn't be close to the movie cars color! :p

It is a model...........paint it Orange.

I kind of agree with you. but hey its all about bragging rights and what level of detail and realism we're looking for.

I don't do many cars so I'd paint it a close orange.
"Nice general lee model"
"Thanks" :)

Someone that does a lot of model cars will paint it the correct exact orange.
"Nice general lee model"
"Thanks, did you know its the exact shade of the car on film?" :)
"Cool"

I spent 2 days adjusting the anchor angle on a WW11 sub so it was the correct style for the shipyard that built the boat. So I understand the orange thing, but I'd probably just grab some orange myself.

Here's what it looks like in Model Master's Hemi Orange, if it helps:

http://www.spencer1984.com/image/m202a.jpg

No matter what reference you go by off the internet just don't forget to take into account the lighting condiions when the photos were taken as well as the settings on the computer you use to view the images.

Take a look at the photos here: http://www.generalleefanclub.com/realgenerals/realgenerals.html

These were taken during show filming. Not all of the Generals are the same color.

The diffrences in colors is probably due to lighting condtions.

The diffrences in colors is probably due to lighting condtions.

Nope. lots of cars to prep and a production schedule means "orange is orange"

http://www.generalleefanclub.com/realgenerals/rare06.jpg

What could settle this 'dispute' would be a photo of 2 or 3 generals that show up different shades of orange, all in the same photo sitting side by side.

um, like the picture posted above? lol

they were all Orange!

What could settle this 'dispute' would be a photo of 2 or 3 generals that show up different shades of orange, all in the same photo sitting side by side.

Check out the link I posted. It is the same group of Generals taken from several different angles. You can clearly see that some cars are lighter than others.

.....it's called sunlight.

Maybe so but they all look to be the same color to me. Oh well.

.....it's called sunlight.

not in this case, when all the cars are side by side in the SAME sunlight.

2 pages dedicated to Orange. Wow, just wow.
Don't forget that if you use primer, and color of primer, will change the shade. How many coats you use too.
Chris

2 pages dedicated to Orange. Wow, just wow.
Don't forget that if you use primer, and color of primer, will change the shade. How many coats you use too.
Chris

Take a look at how many "What color do you paint your Enterprises" links we've seen over the years. Some paint from the bottle, some have complicated mixes. And they all look gray to ME!

True Quintillis, True.
Chris