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I am not an expert on Ford paint colors and codes, but... I am an avid hobby photographer and I can tell you right now that comparing pictures of your trucks is completely meaningless unless they were side by side in the same photograph, and even then it is only a relative comparison given the lighting conditions.
The ONLY way the color in a photograph will match the color of the object is if you use 100% controlled artificial lighting and use a white balance profile that is calibrated to that lighting. Product photographers must do this, because if they are shooting an ad for Ford, the Ford blue emblem had better be Ford blue in the advertisement.
The human eye is pretty good at compensating for different light conditions, and digital cameras try to do the same thing with auto white balance programs but it's a very rough compromise. Natural lighting is almost infinitely complex, and the image capture and data processing software are biased toward rendering vibrant images and pleasing skin tones. It was even mentioned here that the color appears different in direct sunlight, and that is with the human eye. Like I said, I am not a Ford paint expert but my guess is that the trucks actually are the same color even though they seem slightly different in the pictures.
Amen! That is exactly why I can't be part of the "debate".
I am not an expert on Ford paint colors and codes, but... I am an avid hobby photographer and I can tell you right now that comparing pictures of your trucks is completely meaningless unless they were side by side in the same photograph, and even then it is only a relative comparison given the lighting conditions.
The ONLY way the color in a photograph will match the color of the object is if you use 100% controlled artificial lighting and use a white balance profile that is calibrated to that lighting. Product photographers must do this, because if they are shooting an ad for Ford, the Ford blue emblem had better be Ford blue in the advertisement.
The human eye is pretty good at compensating for different light conditions, and digital cameras try to do the same thing with auto white balance programs but it's a very rough compromise. Natural lighting is almost infinitely complex, and the image capture and data processing software are biased toward rendering vibrant images and pleasing skin tones. It was even mentioned here that the color appears different in direct sunlight, and that is with the human eye. Like I said, I am not a Ford paint expert but my guess is that the trucks actually are the same color even though they seem slightly different in the pictures.
I can go along with that.
Keep in mind that my truck and 86F150six's truck has a fresh coat of paint. Ozark's paint is over 30 years old, so they are bound to look a little different.
This will help explain some of the confusion *I* had for my truck's exterior color, but creates even more confusion on what Ford called Code 51 then, and what Ford calls it now:
Here, Ford called Code 51 Dark Canyon Red. This makes sense, considering my 1985 F-Series brochure doesn't list a color called "Medium Fire Red." I also checked the 1984, 1986 and 1987 F-Series brochures and Ford does NOT list "Medium Fire Red," only Bright Canyon Red and Dark Canyon Red. This is also more consistent, as the interior red for those years was simply called "Canyon Red."
According to the 1985 color code chart above, Bright Canyon Red is code 2E, and Dark Canyon Red is code 51 (2A Medium Canyon Red was only available on the Econoline.)
By contrast, the parts catalog calls color code 2E "Light Canyon Red", and color code 51 "Medium Fire Red."
If the sales brochures and Ford literature at the time called Code 51 Dark Canyon Red, I wonder where the name "Medium Fire Red" came from?
And, to back Rick/Fonzie up on what the parts catalog says, here's a link to where it is shown on my web page: Exterior Paint Codes - ???Gary's Garagemahal. I'll amend my catalog, as well as the web site, to include " also called Medium Canyon Red". And, I'll include a link to this thread in the verbiage.
Check out the revised Exterior Paint Codes - ???Gary's Garagemahal. But, I didn't provide a link to this thread because Rick/Fonzie is going to send me the brochure, and hopefully the paint sheet as well, and I provided a link from the exterior paint page to the to-be brochure page.
Check out the revised Exterior Paint Codes - ???Gary's Garagemahal. But, I didn't provide a link to this thread because Rick/Fonzie is going to send me the brochure, and hopefully the paint sheet as well, and I provided a link from the exterior paint page to the to-be brochure page.
Sorry, but the paint sheet isn't mine. I found the picture on Ebay. The seller was selling a 1985 brochure along with the paint sheet.
But in addition to the 1984, 1985, and 1986 brochures, I do have a 1985 "Accessories" catalog. I will send that along as well.
On your website, notice that paint code 2E is called "Light Canyon Red." According to the paint sheet and the 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987 brochures, that *should* be (or was) called "Bright Canyon Red."
Ok, I'll mod my catalog to show Bright Canyon Red on 2E, and amend the verbiage above to show at least 2 anomalies.
As for the 1985 accessories catalog, that will be a nice addition. And my 1981 accessories catalog should be in next week so I'll have them all scanned and will add them to the site. Merry Christmas!
Edit: The changes have been made to the web site. Thanks for pointing that out.
