I've been annoyed with this for weeks. I've been doing a repaint of Prime Bumblebee and I've got all the drybrushing, robot parts, etc. done, and all I need to do now is find a show-accurate shade of yellow to cover up that horrid pasty yellow he's molded in. I've tried a few different colors, but of course they always dry a few shades away from what the label advertises. So that brings me to my question: Can anybody suggest a specific factory shade of yellow that matches Bumblebee's on-show colors? I can apply it via hand-brushing or airbrush, although if it's more suited for airbrushing I'd prefer it be an acrylic since cleanup is *much* easier. I have no specific preference when it comes to brands, although it would be nice if something from Testors could be recommended since that is available for me locally, and I don't really want to pay for shipping and wait a week or two more for one little bottle of paint at this point (Although I will if I have to) Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Sorry to bring this thread up again, but I seemed to have come across a great mix, and wanted to let everyone know about it in case they were working on a Prime Bumblebee. By mixing an entire 1/4 oz. jar of Testors Yellow Enamel (normal, not model master) with 2/5 of a 1/4 oz. jar of Testors Turning Signal Amber Enamel, I achieved perfect results. The shade just matches Bumblebee's, picks up enough light to pass off as automotive paint, and is the perfect viscosity for brush painting even without a thinning agent. It does require a few layers since it is still after all yellow, but it is a great shade. It is not metallic despite the amber being metallic, so it is accurate to the show.
I would actually say that the show MIGHT be based on the pearl paint used on the movie BB from the way they make it seem to change color, though I've only seen the darkness rising dvd, and all the rest of the show on youtube, so I can't say definitively about it :/.
Yeah, I spent a couple hours looking at screen caps in our resources (Thanks TFW!) as well as videos. It does change quite a bit in different lighting, as do the dark grey/black parts in his robot mode, however I didn't notice any metallic flakes or pearly sheen in any of the photos, compared to characters like Prime or Arcee where you can clearly see those qualities in their paint in most shots. It just seems like a gloss yellow. However, that yellow definitely was inspired on movie Bumblebee's.
Just another option to share, I'm currently using this method for a Hot Rod out of Jazz. First start off with Tamiya Chrome Silver and cover the areas you wish to have a metallic pop, and in the case of Hot Rod, I'm using Clear Red over the Chrome Silver, you would want to use Clear Yellow for yours, obviously, but it gives a nice metallic shine thru the clear color. Hope it goes well no matter what you decide to do!
This thread is a bit old, but I have new information to add- If you plan on using this mixture of paint for a custom, be sure to use Testors brand thinners. I used mineral spirits as I always do, and the yellow dulled a noticeable amount after curing and sitting for about two weeks. I've never had this problem with any other mixture of paints, whether it were flat or gloss, but I just wanted to give everyone a heads up so you don't have to strip all your hard work like I do
