SP 2-tone grey colors?

[stratcatgenius]

Hi folks -

I know this is a can of worms, but I'd like to get my 2-tone greys as close as possible to how they actually were. Again, I wasn't around in that era either physically or geographically, so I need some help.

The only thing I've really got for color reference is Harry Stegmaier's "Southern Pacific Passenger Trains and Consists 1955 - 1958". Page 34 has a 2-tone roomette which is in the browner/greener range, page 66 shows observation 9500 in a much more blue-ish cast. Page 68-69 shows the Lark triple-diner, and the greys are greener.

If anybody has that book, and from experience and memory, which photo is the closest?

ModelFlex Lark Dark Grey and Pollyscale Reefer Grey are approximating the look of page 66.

Also worthy of note is The Coach Yard's photo of the Cascade
www.thecoachyard.com/PDF/Cascade.pdf

From years of running a printing shop, I know that grey is a tough color to reproduce consistently from medium to medium. But some guidance is better than none, so....

My experience so far...love ModelFlex paint, but their Lark Light Grey is WAYYYY too light...almost like the light dove Navy grey on the underside of a WWII plane. Their Lark Dark Grey is definitely in the blue-ish grey range, rather than the brown greys or green greys.

Pollyscale has a Lark Dark Grey which is a tad browner, but they don't sell a Lark Light Grey to match it. Arggggh.

What to do?!! Any help is much appreciated.

GENE

[Enzo Fortuna]

Jan 8, 2010 1:26:00 GMT -5 stratcatgenius said:

I know this is a can of worms, but I'd like to get my 2-tone greys as close as possible ....
GENE

Well, if only you have time to find "where in this site are...
Check "Star Brand Paint" at P-B-L....
"Star Brand Paints created TWO special colors for our S.P. customers: The "Proper", as originally painted S.P. Freight Car Red; and a great shade of "Sunburned Red" which is how their wood cars mostly ended up looking, with the passing of time. Both colors AVAILABLE NOW in STAR's traditional semi-gloss so as to readily accept decals. "
www.p-b-l.com/
he has an SP very accurate line I've tested , heir paint accurately matches SP colors. Star Brand is easy to use. Airbrush it mixed between 60:40 to 70:30 paint to thinner ratio, at about 20 psi or so. Play around and try a few test applications first to determine the best settings for your use.
Hope helps (as I've no time here at work to investigate more)
Cheers
Enzo Fortuna
Ah... Happy 2010 to all!

[stratcatgenius]

Thank you again Enzo, I'll have to look into their products to see more details.

GENE

[Enzo Fortuna]

Well... I've found some more cells in my old brain:
Go to the P-B-L site and select "Online catalog" in the left bar.
Then select "22-Paints/Cement" in the upper combo!
go to page 3 and...
1-STR-25 S.P. Scarlet Red - 1 oz. $ 4.99
1-STR-26 S.P. Dark Gray - 1 oz. $ 4.99
1-STR-27 S.P. Daylight / P.F.E. Orange - 1oz. $ 4.99
1-STR-28 Star Brand UP Harbor Mist Gray $ 4.99
1-STR-29 SP/ UP/ Rio Grande Dark Olive Paint 1 oz. $ 4.99
1-STR-30 S.P. / U.P. Freight Car Red Paint 1 oz. - $ 4.99
1-STR-31 S.P. Sunburnt Red 1 oz. $ 4.99
Cheers

[stratcatgenius]

Hi Enzo -

So I presume we are looking at Harbour Mist for the Light Grey and SP Dark for the center band?

Tell me, is this the same as the Overland 2-tone color scheme? What about the 2-tone Pullman scheme?

Thanks,
GENE

[Enzo Fortuna]

Hi Gene,
Yes, the two BOLD Gray are what I've used for Harriman's Commute car and Lark.
I can't tell about the "Overland 2-tone color scheme" but I presume (I'm wrong ?) that SP 2tone Gray was the same for all shops ( given the predictable subtle differences depending on each batch and paint mix...)
I'm so lucky to have 2 little scratch paint of a "real" Lark sleeper and I've compared these for my N scale Lark consist. I found this brand very close. Consider that models run generally in artificial light on layouts, and time give some tone modification on prototypes under sun-snow-dirt etc... so I take my rule: test model paint results in "operating" light and follow your emotions.

What about the 2-tone Pullman scheme?
No idea! It's different?
Cheers

[stratcatgenius]

Thanks again Enzo...I'll try to round up some paint when I get a couple spare moments!

GENE

[cascadelark76]

I really can't say which brand of paint is better in making the two tone gray, (grey), But I used floquil brand up to now, but went to scalecoat II paint and found it good enough for my use, as to which light / dark color to make the correct combination, well thats strange because the Pullman, Lark, Cascade, Overland two tone gray, all looks the same to me.

[arved]

I recommend SP LARK Light and Dark Gray. Also used by Pullman. In fact, The NYC 20th Century Ltd used the same two grays, as verified by the paint codes in Pullman drawings. (UP) Harbor Mist Gray is a different animal altogether. It would be like substituting (UP) Armor Yellow for Daylight Orange. Well, maybe not quite as bad, but you catch my drift.

This is a good reference: www.urbaneagle.com/sp/spcolors.html

An even better reference are the paint and lettering guides published by the SPH&TS, but collecting reference material like that can start to get expensive (this IS an expensive hobby. If it's too expensive, I suggest a cheaper hobby, like owning a Formula 1 race team, or African Safari Big Game Hunting).

Star Brand paint is good. Tru-Color is, for all intents and purposes, the same thing, although there are few colors in Star Brands (like the burnt oxide red) that aren't in the Tru-Color line (at least, last time I checked). The paint uses acetone as part of the thinner, and so you may have problems with "blushing" when painting in high humidity. The Acetone absorbs moisture from the air, and, literally, clouds form in the paint when the absorbed moisture condenses as the evaporating Acetone cools the surface.

I haven't tried Scalecoat since Weaver sold the line off, but it was also a good paint. A bit more robust, which is why I used it on brass engines, and when the humidity here in tropical Florida gives me problems with Star Brand or Tru-Color paints.

I hope this helps,
- Arved