[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Christian,

I hope that the rest are learning as much from this discussion as I am.

I found your comments very illuminating. If my understanding is correct, in Ken's latest books he tried to approach the subject by dealing with original paint chip formulations. However, with your confirmation that, say, RLM 81 can't be represented by a single sample, which is what he has done, then where do we go from here?

Use of a colorimeter could certainly help in making comparisons, but you do have a point that the represented sample as seen on an unrestored aircraft may be misleading but it may also be all that we have to work with. In other words, a random paint sample from part X off of a Dornier from 1943 might be totally worthless, even if we could section it as you suggest. Thus, the visual cross check that I suggested may be the best compromise that can be made in terms of efficiency in obtaining an answer.

If you have a better suggestion that can be reasonably employed or feel that a particular representation has covered the subject with reliable paint chip samples, please share this information with us.

Regards,
Richard