Chicle & Copra Drab Paint Formulas

Bob Bidonde

Bob Bidonde

Well-known member
Thanks to Jay Pearcy for these modern paint formulas for Copra Drab & Chickle Drab. The formulas are for the correct brown tint colors. Thanks also go to Richard Lorenz for making the connection with Jay Pearcy.

[FONT=&quot]Chicle Drab: Dupont: Series 293 Var. CC: Ref. No. 741178[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Color: Medium Dark Cashmere[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mixed by : Gladwin Paint Co. Rx Date: 09/12/2003[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]**Non-*** Guide Mixing Size: 16 oz. (pint) Total[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ingredients: MB501 White 207.5 207.5[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] MB527 Trans. Black 100.8 308.3[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] MB523 Trans.Reddish Yellow 99.4 407.7[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] MB506 Oxide Red 58.4 466.1[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] MB536 Dark Red 8.7 474.8[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]_______________________________________________________________________________________________[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Copra Drab: Dupont: Series 293 Var: CC: Ref. No.: 755870[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Color: CIFA Braun[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mixed by : Gladwin Paint Co. Rx Date: 09/01/2004[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]** Mixing Size: 32.0 oz (Quart)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ingredients: MB527 Trans. Black 350.9[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] MB531 Trans. Oxide 669.1[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] MB501 White 878.8[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] MB506 Oxide Red 904.7[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] MB581 Maroon 924.7[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
 
Jay Pearcy's car is shown on the front cover of the Jan.-Feb. 2012 Model A News. Additional photographs accompany an article starting on page 36.
 
Interesting to see how different light / cameras / printing etc. change colour. When you compare the photos in the M.A. news to the colour chips there is a huge difference, easy to see how people can get confused. Obviously because this car is a MARC of excellence etc. the paint colour must be bang on.
 
Jay told me that colors in the picture on the cover are closest to the true color of his car. Many people might not know that the chicle and copra drab colors were changed accidentally (?) many years ago by a paint company so that the commonly used colors are not the same as the originals. Marco published a photograph of a car that still had the original colors, but I don't know when that was done. The Paint Guide color chips seem not to agree with anything believed to be actual original colors.
 
I have had a sample of lower body paint mixed according to Jay's formula. It looks good to me, but I will send Jay a color chip made from this paint to find out how close it is to what is actually on Jay's car.
 
The Acrylic Enamel color that was mixed for me is not an exact copy of Jay's color. My "paint lady" chose to mix a modern color that is close to Jay's. It is a 2010 Ford color Code M7013 called Arizona Beige. Jay's mix is for the base-coat, clear-coat combination.

Jay sent me a color chip of his Chicle Drab and it has a slightly more brownish tint than mine. I found that a Sherwin Williams hose paint color Homestead Brown, Code SW 7515 is almost identical to Jay's color. You can find a 2 x 3-inch card of this color at any Sherwin Williams house paint store if you want to get a good approximation of Jay's color.

All three of the above-mentioned colors are definitely darker than what is shown on the cover of the magazine that I received. I do not post pictures on this forum, but I will try to find someone who can show you a comparison picture that I took.
 
Bick in New Zealand said:
Interesting to see how different light / cameras / printing etc. change colour. When you compare the photos in the M.A. news to the colour chips there is a huge difference, easy to see how people can get confused. Obviously because this car is a MARC of excellence etc. the paint colour must be bang on.
Click to expand...

:o I am not saying Jay's car is incorrect but to kinda muddy-up the waters a little more, MARC does not have any way to verify the actual color during the judging process. The Paint & Refinish Guide Rev III is actually a publication of MAFCA, and for whatever reason it was not adopted by the MARC JSC for use in MARC adjudication. Therefore, by technicality the judges are instructed in the front of the Model A Restoration Guidelines & Judging Standards book not to use anything other than that book itself as guidance. The RG & JS book does not have any color chips in it to be used as a comparison against the vehicle's paint so it would seem the only way to determine accurate color is by a Judge's opinion. ;)

And, if my memory is correct, there is someone here on this forum that actually has a NOS decklid that is painted in, ...guess what color!! :eek:
.
 
I thought the color of Jay's car on the cover, and he said that was the closet true color of his car, looked very yellowy brown. I thought the original mix up of the color was to more a of gray vs. a brown. Brent showed a pretty good comparison of the two colors awhile back.
 
31Tudor said:
I thought the color of Jay's car on the cover, and he said that was the closet true color of his car, looked very yellowy brown. I thought the original mix up of the color was to more a of gray vs. a brown. Brent showed a pretty good comparison of the two colors awhile back.
Click to expand...

I saw a restored car with a greyish version once about 12-15 years ago and it was a bit of a shock to me being very familiar with the original colors. Most of the cars restored from the late 60's though the 90's had a greenish cast due to PPG's reformulations when they shifted from nitrocellulose to acrylic lacquer in the 60's. There was no hint of grey or green in the original chicle or copra drab colors.
 
I wanted to add what I think is the PPG code for Copra Drab. The brown tinted one. I took the Model A Ford Paint and Finish Guide to a local automotive paint store. They prepared two paint spray out cards. One was code 440 that they say is the correct color. It is the greenish or grey tint. I asked them to match the one in the paint guide which they did. It looked spot on to the chip in the guide book. The code is 28810 Dark Bronze Mist. They said it is a GM Interior color. I hope this helps.
 
I hate to muddy the waters, but my old coupe was painted with Ditzler nitrocellulose lacquer (long before it was PPG) and it was greenish gray.

But of course it all depends upon the lighting. The second image is of the same car on a late winter day, and it looks brownish!
 

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And, by the way, Jay' s Copra / Chickle Drab Coupe has won "The Henry Award" and this Coupe is on display at Gilmore "Model A Museum" in Michigan. Please drop by the Museum and see this car and a lot of other beautiful Model A's. By the way, Please help the Museum grow with a "Nice Financial Donation"..
 
Here is the tudor model rendered in Copra & Chickle sampled from the MAFCA color chips. All the lighting is pure white (something you can control in Lightwave). Definitely in the brownish range.
 

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As a Cautionary addition, this thread is getting older and paint supply is in constant flux of change by manufacturer, formula, and numbers. Dupont is now Axalta and some PPG formulas are no longer available. The MAFCA 4th Edition Paint and Finish Guide chip matching is still the safest way to get a color match. From there, it's up to the source of the paint and the eye of the person mixing it to get a good match.

Welcome to the Ford Barn.
 
Here is a picture of my Tudor in chicle and copra drab done in a base clear.
 

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