Understanding FS paint codes

This is an article that I put on another forum a while back, as many people were asking questions regards Federal Standard FS paint numbers.

I thought his may be of help to members on here.

Contrary to popular belief Federal Standard 595 paints have no name, each color has a specific 5 digit number which is prefixed with the initials FS. The FS595 range is a colour collection not a colour system so new colours are getting added all the time hence why you'll find gaps between the numbers that already exist.

So just what do the numbers mean, well hopefully this will explain.

We will take FS16270 as an example

The first number indicates the level of sheen:
1=Gloss
2=Satin
3=Matt

so in the example above "FS16270", we now know is a Gloss finish.

The second number identifies which main colour group it belongs to

0=Browns
1=Reds
2=Oranges
3=Yellows
4=Greens
5=Blues
6=Greys
7=Other
8=Fluorescent

So the example above "FS16270", we now know is a Gloss Grey.

The third, fourth and fifth numbers join together to form a single number 001-999 (rarely goes above 600) which identifies the intensity of the colour. The lower the number the darker and the higher the number the lighter.

From the example above you can now tell that FS 16270 is , Gloss, Grey with a low to medium intensity as can be seen here
http://www.colorserver.net/showcolor.asp?fs=16270

Over time the more common colours in the FS range have been given a generic name by various paint companies to aid in their identification.

FS16270 is more commonly known as Neutral Grey which is the name that most of the hobby paint companies use, although some companies have issued their own names for their own reasons?

As said the FS range is vast and it is not practical to name every colour /shade here as we don't have the space or time. This is meant as an easy to understand guide into using the FS range and when used in conjunction with the instructions within the model kit and the various paint charts posted elsewhere in this section, will allow you to obtain as close a match as possible.

One thing to note is when cross matching hobby paint from Federal Standard to what ever paint brand you use, it is very unlikely (I don't know of any) that they cover all available colors in all three sheens, so if your instructions call out for FS26270 and you can't find it, this is more than likely down to fact that they do it in either Matt or Gloss so would be listed as FS36270 or FS16270, this would then require a Clear Satin coat to finish.

HTH

Scott

Thanks Scott - that is really interesting. I have always wondered what the relevance of those codes were.

Should help with my forthcoming F-18 build!
Matt