[rotorwrench]

I've got some chip charts that are a little over 20 years old and I didn't take the protective measures I should have with them (I don't use that brand). They fade as bad or worse than the paint does. You have to be very protective of color chip charts or they will be worthless for matching. When I'm matching a color for a part replacement on a helicopter (finite life limited part), I try to take something that is at least large enough to get a favorable match. My best match man at the paint store likes it to be about the size of a gas door on a car. Helicopters have inspection panels that work well for this. Anything smaller and it's a gamble for a good eyeball match. If the whole thing is going to be painted then it's not such a big gamble but it might be doubtful that it's absolutely the correct color that left the factory. I have some original Dupont color chips for my 51 Mercs and they are too badly faded to get a match from. The paint in the trunk of the cars looks new compared to those chips and I'm sure it has faded too.

The bottom line is to get it as close as possible and go with it. It's not an exact science. My art teachers always told me you can mix any color with black, white, red, yellow, & blue and they were correct but to match a color is a whole different story and when you throw clear and metal powders in there it really gets complicated. Plain pastel colors aren't too bad but metalic poly paints get pretty rough. There are still quite a few colors that I've seen restoration folks fight over the exact hue.