PowerBook grey filament? Which RAL?
- Thread starter mmu_man
- Start date
DARK GRANITE GREY
Apparently, according to Robert Brunner, who was an industrial engineer for Apple from 1989 to 1996 before Sir Jonathan (Jony) Ive, "the dark granite grey color set it apart from other notebook computers of the time and also from Apple's other products, which traditionally were beige or platinum grey." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_100#cite_ref-brandweek_32-0)
Great idea with the RAL color chart, @mmu_man!
Would granite gray on the RAL chart be a good start to check?
Apparently, according to Robert Brunner, who was an industrial engineer for Apple from 1989 to 1996 before Sir Jonathan (Jony) Ive, "the dark granite grey color set it apart from other notebook computers of the time and also from Apple's other products, which traditionally were beige or platinum grey." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_100#cite_ref-brandweek_32-0)
Great idea with the RAL color chart, @mmu_man!
Would granite gray on the RAL chart be a good start to check?
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So we need to take up to the challenge to have multiple RAL codes to closely match those. 
Calling all vintage pre-iBook owners to join and figure this out. 
The plastics in those PowerBooks are known to break easily, especially the 1xx series. Printing new case parts with the right colors will be a great resource!
Calling all vintage pre-iBook owners to join and figure this out. The plastics in those PowerBooks are known to break easily, especially the 1xx series. Printing new case parts with the right colors will be a great resource!
No, it's all of them. They're all just as bad now (anything 5300 and earlier, the 1400s and 3400s are getting bad too)
I have a 5300c and a RAL K7 book.
I'm struggling to find one that matches very well. The texture on the outside makes it very difficult to match because the specularity of the grains alter the appearance.
On the inside against the glossy surfaces, it is somewhere between 7024 (too blue/cold), 7022 (too light, but pretty close on colour), and 6015 (about the right lightness, but slightly too green).
Not very helpful I'm afraid.
If I had to pick one, it would probably be 6015
edit: 6015, not 6014
I'm struggling to find one that matches very well. The texture on the outside makes it very difficult to match because the specularity of the grains alter the appearance.
On the inside against the glossy surfaces, it is somewhere between 7024 (too blue/cold), 7022 (too light, but pretty close on colour), and 6015 (about the right lightness, but slightly too green).
Not very helpful I'm afraid.
If I had to pick one, it would probably be 6015
edit: 6015, not 6014
Interesting...when I look at RAL 6014, it is "Yellow Olive." Remember the lighting and anything you see through in front of you, such as eye glasses, changes how color is perceived. That was the issue with the platinum PLA color in the other thread.
RAL 6015 is "Black Olive."
RAL 6015 is "Black Olive."
So, we are getting close for one of the four colors for the vintage PowerBooks....
www.ralcolorchart.com
Now, three more to go to find closer color!
RAL 6015 Black olive (RAL Classic) | RALcolorchart.com
This page shows RAL color 6015 with the color name Black olive. This RAL color is in the Green hues category, part of the RAL Classic color system.
www.ralcolorchart.com
Now, three more to go to find closer color!
So, here is an example. A PowerBook 5300c for sale. It works! 
And then notice a big gap crack on the rear side. 
Hence, the need to have closely matching RAL color codes! 
And then notice a big gap crack on the rear side. Hence, the need to have closely matching RAL color codes!
Vintage Macintosh Powerbook 5300c - Works! | eBay
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Do you have a 5300 era powerbook that you can compare with my assessment?
I have a (subjectively, in my opinion) pretty good eye for colour but I don't have much faith in my RAL K7 booklet. It's glossy finish and I think I'd prefer the matte one if I was buying it again. I bought it for colour matching touch up paint on machine tools but every time I have used it so far, including the powerbook, I have not found a match that I am very happy with.
I think there are not enough colours in the RAL system for accurate matching of really anything, I guess paint/pigment manufacturers like it specifically because there are fewer discrete colours than Pantone for example.
ISTR reading somewhere that early Apple products were manufactured using the Munsell system which is different again...
I only have a 520c and earlier machines.
Well unless we want to build our own manufacture for filament, in which case we could as well just build molds too, that's the best we have. Well, some manufacturer seem to produce Pantone filaments, but only for a subset of it. And the Pantone colorcharts are like 3 or 4 times more expensive even second-hand. The only cheap one I found is like, sh*t
Also, make sure you check with different light bulbs, and in plain sunlight as well, as they have a great influence on color perception.
Well unless we want to build our own manufacture for filament, in which case we could as well just build molds too, that's the best we have. Well, some manufacturer seem to produce Pantone filaments, but only for a subset of it. And the Pantone colorcharts are like 3 or 4 times more expensive even second-hand. The only cheap one I found is like, sh*t
Also, make sure you check with different light bulbs, and in plain sunlight as well, as they have a great influence on color perception.
Also, a website like Encycolorpedia can help finding Pantone and RAL equivalents, it shows the delta from one to another:
- RAL 7044: close to Cool Gray 4 and 6,
- RAL RAL 7024 / Graphite Grey: ~= Pantone 432
- RAL 7022 / Umbra Grey…
- RAL 7016 / Anthracite Grey: [19-4005 TPG / Stretch Limo ; 19-4908 TCX / Magical Forest] ; I noted some mentions of "anthracite" when searching for cables matching the PB5xx PSU…
Oh, it seems to know about Munsell Color System as well…
- RAL 7044: close to Cool Gray 4 and 6,
- RAL RAL 7024 / Graphite Grey: ~= Pantone 432
- RAL 7022 / Umbra Grey…
- RAL 7016 / Anthracite Grey: [19-4005 TPG / Stretch Limo ; 19-4908 TCX / Magical Forest] ; I noted some mentions of "anthracite" when searching for cables matching the PB5xx PSU…
Oh, it seems to know about Munsell Color System as well…
Let's use a spectrophotometer! For example:
apps.apple.com
For example:
LightSpectrum Pro
With LightSpectrumPro EVO you can measure the color temperature of a light source without having to spend hundreds of dollars on professional devices. LightSpectrumPro EVO has an error of 2 - 8% compared to existing professional products on the market. in addition to the color temperature...
apps.apple.com