Thread: Hercus Paint Colurs

Beige was the standard colour used for Hercus lathes supplied to the NSW Dept of Education at over one period, around 1970-80 IIRC.

Regards,
Chas.

That's VERY interesting Chas, since mine is actually ex dept ed and had beige under the last coat. However under that was another coat of green (and below that grey which I think was actually primer). The beige job was pretty well done and I now wonder if it wasn't repainted at the factory before sending out. I don't mind the beige but maybe not if it labels it as from a specific past so thanks for the heads up on that.

Pete

If you are concerned about a Specfic colour representing a Specific Orginization you might be better off Re painting it a Custom colour ( Maybe two tone or something totally Different to the norm. )

Normally I try to go with the original colour with this type of thing and I presume it was "Vista Green" during this era too. Sadly I'm not a big fan of the colour. Sure it's not intended to be a proper "restoration" but at least nobody in the future can blame me for the crap colour

If the Lathe is serviceable who cares what colour it is.Im sure there are many machines out there that would be as close as possable to the Original colour for there Vintage but not serviceable.

Well I guess the same can be said about a lot of things there Pipey. Who cares if you smack your car door into the garage wall each time you open it; doesn't affect the way the car runs now does it

If I'm going to all the trouble of stripping and rebuilding the machine, and all the hours of work that involves, getting the colour "right" is insignificant time wise, and zero difference out the gun. Now whether "right" means historically correct or right to my own eye remains to be decided. As a tradesman I always took a great deal of pride in my work, and nothing has changed now. So to answer your question, who cares? I care; the only one who needs to.

Fair enough.

Hi Pete,

I'm still in the process of painting my Hercus green, and am using Dulux Quit Rust enamel containing epoxy over a comparable Quit Rust undercoat.

The closest colour I could find was Green Freeze OCH. Like many, I wanted to keep things as close to original as possible, but have had to compromise a tad. The paint out of the tin was one shade lighter than the paint chart, and dried two shades lighter after hardening. I've been in two minds whether to continue, or get a proper paint match done, and start again. So far I'm about half way through. I know, I should stop whinging, and just press on.

One small problem I did find was the length of time the paint takes to dry and fully harden. Touch dry in hours, but a week or so to fully harden, finger nail test.

Good luck with your restoration,

Ken

Thanks Ken, I believe Hercus call their colour "Hercus Vista Green" but when they started using that I have no idea. I have found a distributor here for Plasti-kote Vista Green which certainly looks similar, however it's difficult to tell on a monitor, and every manufacturer is slightly different anyway so how good it would be for touch ups I couldn't say. http://www.masterdistributors.com.au...talogue_PK.pdf See what you think about the shade?

I have contacted the distributor for a retailer and will see how we go. Bunnings is listed as a retailer, but my local one had only a small range of Plasti-Kote products and said in no uncertain terms they wouldn't even entertain the idea of ordering in anything for me. I'd hoped to finish the machine in either engine enamel or specific machinery paint, mainly for oil resistance, however I think I'd be pushing my luck there unless I went for a grey.

Hi Pete,

I think the original green paint on the 9" Hercus was called Crowhurst Green. Crowhurst was the family name that made the paint. I have a feeling Crowhurst were taken over by Wattyl.
Wattyl no longer have any details for Crowhurst Green.

With the introduction of the 260 in mid 1975, Hercus changed to Vista Green, slightly lighter in colour.

It is such a pity that much of the Hercus history is lost.

Ken

Ok thanks for that Ken, that makes sense. I found a picture of your lathe which has the original paint right? It certainly seems somewhat darker than the Vista Green. I'll see how I go, otherwise the grey is looking good

Originally Posted by neksmerj

Hi Pete,

I think the original green paint on the 9" Hercus was called Crowhurst Green. Crowhurst was the family name that made the paint. I have a feeling Crowhurst were taken over by Wattyl.
Wattyl no longer have any details for Crowhurst Green.

With the introduction of the 260 in mid 1975, Hercus changed to Vista Green, slightly lighter in colour.

It is such a pity that much of the Hercus history is lost.

Ken

"Crowhurst" sounds like W P Crowhurst who are still operating in SA as Solver Paints.

Adelaide,

Thanks for the update re Crowhurst, Solver Paints definately rings a bell. Any further info on Hercus paint schemes, will be appreciated by us all.

Ken

Crowhurst, Solver, Wattyl, now days all the same company, if you ring Hercus 8346 5522 they may be able to help with paint tints etc. I did this with a thicknesser I am restoring and they were able to help it just depends on weather they still have those particular records