out of interest
your shell is fantastic (I'd love to restore it)
Just dont get too hung up on the corect colour blue.
I used Humbrol paints and lots of difrent images from the net and BOCN as reference then I select the best shade in between that I think looks right.
Ive had to do this because otherwise I would have pulled my hair out trying to get it right,and I dont believe there is a right way to do it,just as long as it looks close.
Ive studied loads of images of the 'correct' shade and found all the images differ in some way.
some images are bleached out with too much or too little flash,some are over saturated in colour,and age and storage conditions all play a part in the paint finish.
I painted my shell in the base colour blue then used a wash, i.e.a watered down darker version of the base colour to add depth and covered the blue in that. Ater it was all dry and any markings painted (yellow cross) I then mixed up a 'wash' of dark brown and covered it with that,let it dry and used the finest wet and dry to take off some of the dark brown and dark blue off so it gave the impression of age. (almost like nicotine staining)
Its the same principal as ageing new clock faces with cold tea.
This technique works for me because I dont like shiny glossy shells,and after 90 years I feel there should be some age showing.
But its down to personal choice,above all have fun and experiment,you can always clean it off and start again.
18 pounder
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