I want to paint a couple of the BNSF hoppers, but I am having a real hard time with getting the paint color close. I started with white and began adding a drop at a time of refer gray. Doesn't seem to come out right. Would appreciate any suggestions on mixing the off white color.
Just for clarity, BNSF has several different types of hopper cars. Are you talking covered hoppers, coal hoppers, or iron ore hoppers? None of them are typically a white based color. Some coal hoppers are bare aluminum. Ore and covered hoppers are mineral red. There may be some special service hoppers that are light gray, like for cement service. Even Bentonite is now shipped in mineral red three bay covered hoppers.
The OP means like some on this site cars. https://atsfinroswell.wordpress.com/2014/09/
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
I think I might add a wee bit of "tan" to warm it up. Not much. You want to see it, but not notice it, if'n you get my drift.
Ed
There's plenty of pictures on the net for BNSF "Heritage" hoppers. I agree with Ed, maybe just a little touch of tan.
Mike.
EDIT: And yea, they are covered hoppers, and I do like the logos. I've removed a lot of the big Burlington logo "boards" to make a hopper more "modern", so to say?
My You Tube
Thanks D...that is exactly what I'm talking about , a Trinity Covered Hopper.
I like the idea of a trying tan to warm up the white. I should have taken art back in the day. It has become quite clear to me that while I know what color is right, I have no clue how to get there.
Always an experiment when trying to match a prototype color.
Good luck!
a alternate to tan you might add a drop or two of yellow ocher or mabey raw sienna or a bit of both .
Srwill2 ...I know what color is right, I have no clue how to get there.
...I know what color is right, I have no clue how to get there.
I think, actually, that you know what color is WRONG.
Which is why you came here for advice.
There's a lot of that in modeling: We see something that looks "wrong". And then we think on it. And maybe we ask our buddies. And we get a solution/resolution.
That color's shifting a lot with lighting.
I'd gamble on an off the shelf military color. Plenty of gray shades found their ways onto naval aviation. Tamiya's AS16 Light Gray has a warm tone to it that is a bit tannish in the right light.
NittanyLion That color's shifting a lot with lighting.
That certainly appears true on the SP&S one. The long shadow gives a hint why.
I'm not sure which car you are talking about so I picked the top example. My 9th grade art teacher taught us that white and black are not colors. They are used to lighten or darken colors. According to the color picker in Photoshop the color is a very light pale orange. Orange is red and yellow mixed together. Start there. One drop of red, one drop of yellow, several drops of white.
Other photos showed that the color is on the other side of yellow, meaning that there is blue mixed in with the yellow instead of red. This could mean that the cars are different colors or that the white balance was not properly set on the cameras which took the pictures.
Lone Wolf - Thank you. You have added science to art. Going to play with your orange and play with the tan, I will report back on the findings. I have also seen a few (very few) of these white covered hoppers with an orange BNSF logo on it, so, it would make sense that a orangish hue is added to the white.
NittanyLion That color's shifting a lot with lighting. I'd gamble on an off the shelf military color. Plenty of gray shades found their ways onto naval aviation. Tamiya's AS16 Light Gray has a warm tone to it that is a bit tannish in the right light.
Good observation. With Floquil gone, railroad colors are hard to find, and there was was always some disagreement about them anyway. There is a huge selection of military colors available within any one brand and even more if one shops between brands. Often the modeler does not have to mix their own although some do. When chosing a color, ultimately one has to satisfy oneself.
Even the actual paint used on the prototype may appear wrong. Varables are lighting conditions, aging and scale factors. Long disertations have been written an these individually and and in combinstion. .