Federal Standard 595C color chart

CieLab data was first published in "Volume II" when FS 595A came out in 1968, all of the colors were in that document at that time. Later on, when the colors got smushed together, you only need CieLab data for one of each three, so you wouldn't have as many CieLab specs as colors anymore. This was only needed during the time period that 16081, 26081 and 36081 were still separate colors,,,,,,once they were combined into one color in 1984, one CieLab spec worked for all three. (Just change the sheen)

Rex

Milairjunkie, I have used colorserver. Only issue I've had is the 39 new colors added with 595C aren't in their database and give an error. So if you're looking for a color added between 1994 and 2008 they won't have it.

The app also let's you take a picture (or use an existing picture) of a color and calculates paint mixing ratios to match the color.
If you're taking pictures you're relying on the camera interpreting colors reasonably well. This can get tricky with reflections, shadows, the type of light, and the angle light is coming from when taking the picture. But it free with ads so so I gave it a try, and I liked it well enough to buy the full version for $4.

That British standard I mentioned above is 381c not 481c.

As another reference/matching method: If you have an iPhone (I think IPads work too) there is app called iModelKit that lets you pull a color from multiple standards (ANA, 595c, RLM, RAL, 481c, and 4800) and tells you what proportions each of the model paint colors you choose to mix. The free version lets you mix three colors. The paid version has no ads and lets you mix 4 colors.

So fed-specs.com was getting their samples from the GSA? I was thinking they're duplicateing the method the GSA used to make chips. But the binder I have does not definitively state who 'made' the color chips.
So 39 colors were added when with 595C and they give CIELAB values for only 4 (3 Navair and 1 F-35 color) of the new additions. So maybe they were just starting the CIELAB transition when it was issued in 2008.

Mij, the price has increased so much in such a short time because the GSA stopped making physical sets.  All government agencies will use the CIE-Lab data from now on instead of the color chips "held at the right angle in the exactly correct light" method. And before you ask, yes, that happened in the last year or so, so you must have purchased yours just as they were getting ready to axe the program.

For 1/1 scale "real work", using the CIE-Lab numbers makes more sense, it is not as variable,,,,,,,you input the numbers into your pigment measuring unit,,,,,,,and when you get your paint manufactured, you just use the scanner again and the number readout has to match the specs.

Not being able to get 595C from the GSA is not going to impact that many modelers in the long run,,,,,,almost the entire modeling community uses the "to my eye" method of declaring a color correct or wrong anyway. (and there is a built in error using 595B or C for pre-1984 colors)

There was going to be a cheaper way to get something that the GSA sold (at high expense),,,,,,,,but, just enough people resisted it that I trash-canned the work, due it the chips being "unnecessary" according to people that "didn't b'leeve" that the GSA was going to stop making the standards available.

Rex

edit to add,,,,,,,,,by the way, the fandecks were never actually color chips, they are printed with inks, not paints,,,,,only the booklet chips and 3 by 5 cards had actual paint on cardstock, they were cut and glued into the booklets.

Not quite the same as chips, but some reasonable monitor calibration software & the FS Color Server may help;

http://www.colorserver.net/

The problem with an electronic version of a color chart is relying on your monitor or printer to 'interpret' what the color looks like and they really have issues with portraying different lusters (flat vs glossy) and metallic sheens.
How are you defining reasonable price? You talking about mixing 650 different paint combinations and placing painted samples in a book or fan deck. So your talking about a lot manual work compared to how most books are printed.
I purchased a three ring binder from the link below:
http://www.fed-std-595.com
Was $200 after taxes and delivery in May 2013. But that same binder is $350 now before T&D! (Not sure why price has doubled in the 17 months, maybe Obamacare has hit them hard) Their cheapest option is the fan deck without the printed spec document at $158. Actual color chips have never been cheap but they are handy when you want to know what 36118 looks like with the specified pigments.

There is a free download you can use:

http://paint4models.com/