CB&Q color?


trailrider,

Additionally, the color of what is being photographed will change depending on the "natural light" conditions. An engine photographed in full sun will look different if the same engine was photographed in over cast conditions. You can't trust a photograph, new or old, to ascertain a color.
 
Tony-
Just keep mixing small quantities of paint until you get close, mate! Oh, and BTW, keep a record of how many drops of what you used to get it, so, if you need more you won't have to start all over! I know from bitter experience! :p

That's about all I can do, trial and error, trial and error. I thought I had the color pretty close until I sprayed it and had the B unit next to the A unit (the factory painted one) and it didn't come close. I've order some antique white, imitation aluminium so when that arrives I'll revisit the paint work. By then I should have around 30 or 40 layers of paint on the engine :)
 
Strip 'em both, prime, repaint, decal!
(need the primer to make sure the paint will show color the same)
Then they will both be the same.
Problem solved.
 
That is one option; however, I bought the F3 A unit with factory fitted decoder so I didn't have to remove the shell and risk loosing or messing up the front coupler.
 
If there was one thing I could change on the Kato E and F units and probably the PA's as well, would be the front coupler mount. I don't have any of their freight locos so I don't know how they're designed.
 
It's an awkward setup and a real pain in the butt to replace. The main issue is with a small spring that needs to be reinserted some where and to be held in place while the coupler is pushed back through the cow catcher housing and while the assembly is reattached with a clip" behind the cow catcher assembly. If you had minuscule fingers, say N Scale size, it probably wouldn't be that hard.

As it is, the front coupler, on the engine I did remove the shell from, came apart and parts went in every conceivable direction lost to the here after for ever. That engine no longer has a front coupler as I cannot for the life of me get the new one I was sent (courtesy of a member here) back in place.

After that experience I swore I would never take another Kato F7 engine apart for any reason, hence my decision to buy one with DCC installed and then paint the B unit to match. I just, unknowingly, picked the wrong road name to buy for obtaining an of the shelf color match.
 
The problem of getting the "correct" colors to match photos of prototype rolling stock (or buildings for that matter) is that in the "Transition Period", the color film used didn't necessarily reproduce the colors of the equipment being photographed. Lighting conditions altered the color rendition. I forget which one it was, but certain Kodocolor film tended to enhance the blue tones, especially at sunrise and sunset. Even where paint chip samples were available, getting a paint mix "just right" to match the chip depends on what kind of indoor lighting is being used. Daylight versus indoor fluorescent bulbs will really mess up the apparent hue on a model. It's enough to make a modeler "anti-chromatic"! :rolleyes: (Hint: Go with steam locomotives painted "grimy black". But, then again, what color "duplicates" the no-longer produced "graphite and oil"?) I yield the stump.

Why do you assume that the writer of the article on the N.P. U28C was attempting to match a photo of the real locomotive? The Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association (NPRHA) produced a Paint Chip Selection of authentic N.P. Colors that it would be my guess the author of the article used to compare. If your going to argue that the selection of paint chips may be wrong; or, the lighting might be incorrect, I would tell you your much more of a "Rivet Counter" than I care to be, as I'm solely interested in having fun with model trains than arguing the fine points of model railroad detailing and painting!
 
Tony, there is an easy way to get an exact match between the engines. Select a paint that looks right to you, and paint both engines with it. Presto, exact match.

Joe
 
Good old grey backs that never looked grey to me. Officially, Badger Modelflex #165-16193 CB&Q Imitation Aluminum. Aluminum is one of those "colors" that look very different under different types of light. Hence the huge disagreement and confusion on the subject. They always look more beige to me.

In the olden days it was said the most of the correct paint for the gray is Scale Coat #68 CP Gray.

Many people just used reefer white with a couple drops of black in it.
My point exactly! Even if you have an original paint chip to match, it will probably look slightly different depending on the light in the model railroad's location. As for being a rivet counter, I can't count them past twenty (10 fingers, etc.) I will admit in looking at the model A-unit, I see something in the numbers: If following the prototype practice, #9960C would be one of the F3 sets originally used to pull the California Zephyr. The model, incidentally, has the passenger pilot, which many Q F-units had instead of freight pilots. But your A-unit is decorated as a freight unit. Wrong? Nope! After being reassigned to freight service, they repainted them in the freight livery, but left the four-digit+letter suffix of the original assignment. Now, about the paint on the B-unit... Since only FTA-B units were drawbarred together, that F3A could have had any B-unit coupled to it, and its paint color might not match to the A! So that could be your rationale for them not matching exactly ;) See, I'm not a rivet counter...or am I? :rolleyes:
 
Since only FTA-B units were drawbarred together, that F3A could have had any B-unit coupled to it, and its paint color might not match to the A! So that could be your rationale for them not matching exactly
Thanks trailrider,

Even though I like/prefer consistency, that does make for a very good explanation and does make me happier, more accepting, of the "shade/hue" difference.
 
Tony .... I use Testors 1233 Flat Light Aircraft Gray (rattle can) , and it looks just right .... It closely matches paint on CB&Q F-units with factory paint on models made by Stewart, Athearn Genesis, Walthers Proto 2000, and Life Like Proto 1000.

Below is a model of Burlington F9Am # 700D. The prototype was rebuilt by EMD from a wrecked F7A. The F3B was painted at the same time with Testors 1233.

35970515274_6e908e8f55_b.jpg


In the following photo, the 2nd and 3rd B-units are LL Proto 1000 models, and the trailing units is an F2A also painted with Testors 1233.

35542767343_598583d727_b.jpg


Note: ... I grew up next to the CB&Q mainline west of Chicago, and watched numerous freight trains with CB&Q F-units as a very young railman. The units looked white with a tiny percentage of gray mixed in. It was not silver or aluminum color.
 
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After re-reading most all of this thread -- Think I would start with Garry's Testor 1233 and then add a drop at a time if it needs it.
You should be able to get very close?
 
Ah, that's probably a picture of the prototype. He's been using his time machine to go back to when they were really running! Seriously, great shots! :)
Trailrider .... It is an ore train on its way to the steel mill.

Sherrel ........ Thank you
Beautiful job, and also on the ballasting. You wouldn't like to come to Denver and ballast my layout, would you? Never have quite gotten the hang of descent ballasting. I've got Q "covered wagons" and GP7's beginning to appear on my layout, but am still hauling coal from Southern Illinois using 2-10-2's and 2-10-4's.
Everywhere West!
Trailrider
 
Gary,

Amazing shots and an amazing setup. Your layout must be huge!

I'll definitely give the Testors Light Grey a try, heck, I think I've tried every other color so far so what's one more :) Aside from that, your shots do show, clearly, how close the color is. Even if it isn't identicle, it certainly looks a lot closer than other colors, mixes I have tried.

I also have to go with the CB&Q guy as well ;)
 
I used to walk home from Jr. High when FT's were new. The only railroad serving our town was the CB&Q, so I got to fall in love the those greybacks at an early age, and I've never forgotten how great they looked. I stood not 10 feet from the each time.

Many of the commercial models are too white if my memory serves me right. GaryCBQ's colors look pretty near correct on my monitor. I really dislike the one's that are too white, as they don't look anything like what I remember.
 
Briefly on cell phone now.

Trail rider... I like Denver but don’t know when I will go back there. Don’t be afraid of ballasting . There are plenty of good how-to articles on it. I used mostly Woodland Scenics and usually mixed more than one of their colors by shaking in a bottle before application. ... I don’t have much steam, but do have a 2-10-2 which sometimes hauls coal.

Wombat ... Thanks for commenting. I hope you have success with the Testors gray. If I get a chance I’ll post my FT ABBA which I also painted with the same paint.

Deanej.. like you I was trackside with Burlington trains rolling by . At a station platform, I saw many of them. At speed , they shook the ground and stirred up a wind. I was glad they did not derail!
 



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