red seems to be "washing out" in my digital video

Hi all

I'm shooting a short DV featuring a red helmet. The red is fairly intense. I am using a Canon Elura 2. I'm in a studio setting. Photoflex softbox and a variety of other lights. A light tent too. The problem is how to (or not to) light this red helmet such that the color remains the true red. So far the red is looking more orange. I've varied my settings one at a time, white balancing after each change in an effor to find the right combination of lighting, exposure etc to get a true red and not the orange. Am I missing something simple here? Any one out there with a similar experience?
thanks
JB