I decalled the first car for the SGRT refrigerated car line.
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The snowflake emblem on light blue is custom. I thought it was going to look amazing, but now I am not sure. I know the herald is larger than what was typical on refrigerated boxcars in 1954, but something else is just not right. I think light blue was the wrong color choice. I wanted it to look cold, but it looks pastel to me. Was light blue used much in 1954?
I spent a good bit of $$$ on these custom heralds. I want to use them, but I also do not want to ruin six Branchline Blueprint cars that will be very hard to replace.
What are your thoughts?
I am going to finish this one. Maybe it will look better when finished and on Kadee trucks.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190something else is just not right. I think light blue was the wrong color choice. I wanted it to look cold, but it looks pastel to me. Was light blue used much in 1954?
Kevin,
I suspect any blue was soon light blue in 1954, as it tended to fade fairly quickly. That could certainly account for why it might look a little off, pastel, whatever.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I like the blue. But I think the outer ring should have been thinner and more delicate.
Ed
If you like them its great.
Most real railroad heralds were smaller. Blue was a challenging color since its fades so fast. Red, yellow, white and black were a lot more stable so used a lot more.
Heralds in that era tended to be more about the railroad than graphic symbols. A quick scan of refrigerator car images show either the regular railroad herald or product logo if it was a leased car.
They probably would have not really thought of "ice" because the cars couldn't keep anything frozen, just cool.
Of course this really doesn't matter since you already have made the decals and they are on a car. If you double down and make a series of them then on your layout they will be more common so will be "normal".
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Thank you, these are all very good points. I appreciate the input.
I did not know about blue fading so quickly in the 1950s. This is good to know. The rings had to be made wide to accomodate size variations in the 1/48 scale "low visibility" RAF roundel I intended to use. I know it is not typical, but I have come to accept it. I think the last comment is correct. When I have a string of these cars they will probably look more normal to me.
Thanks again for taking the time to comment.