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Athearn Heavyweight Pullman Green

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  • Member since
    January 2008
  • 2 posts
Athearn Heavyweight Pullman Green
Posted by rfr525 on Monday, January 22, 2018 10:26 PM

I am am trying to model Santa Fe heavyweights and have purchased older Athearn BB and have noticed they offered 2 shades of the Pullman green as seen in the photo. How will I know if I buy on eBay if I get the dark or lighter as sellers are not responsive in answering?

 

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 7:37 AM

Hi, and welcome! 

What is the photo you refer to?  the sellers picture on Ebay?  Your not going to know until/unless the seller gets back to you, or you just go ahead and take your chances.

Don't know what else to tell you.

Good luck.

Mike.

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Mpls/St.Paul
  • 13,892 posts
Posted by wjstix on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 12:51 PM

There's a good chance the seller doesn't really understand the question. It's hard to tell in a photo what the actual color of something is, "Pullman Green" is just "Pullman Green".

Athearn in recent years has greatly improved the decoration of it's models. It could be if you're comparing cars from say 5 years ago to cars 25 years ago that the green used won't match. Manufacturers do things like that; Walthers GN Empire Builder cars used a different shade of orange than their other passenger cars decorated for GN, so you couldn't 'mix and match' that well.

Remember that green fades, so a train of Pullman Green cars may not all be the same exact color...but if you really want them the same, best bet is to just buy undec cars and paint them all yourself. That's what I do - even if I buy a pre-dec "Pullman Green" car, I repaint it so it matches my other cars.

Stix
  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 5:43 PM

Welcome to the forum, although you were here 7 years before I was.

Color reproduction in an Ebay ad depends on the lighting, the camera, was  scanning a pic involved?  There are a lot of variables besides the actual color.

There is a permanent post, called a sticky, on how to post photos, in the General Forum. 

Don't be such a stranger.  Stop by Jeffery's Trackside Diner, where we get off topic most of the time.

 

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    November 2015
  • 1,345 posts
Posted by ATSFGuy on Wednesday, January 24, 2018 2:49 PM

Athearn's dark green on the heavyweights might not be prototypicality correct, but some modelers accept the "good enough" quo and the heavyweights can be used as a stand in if needed.

  • Member since
    January 2008
  • 2 posts
Posted by rfr525 on Wednesday, January 24, 2018 3:57 PM

Guys thanks for the replies. Agreed not easy to see easily on eBay photo so asking selling and hope they understand is a chance.

I did call Athearn and whoever I talked to only explained that color matching the factory paint is near impossible and not sure about shade differences.

I wanted the darker green to match my existing inventory without refinishing cars however I acquired a Rivarossi RPO as detail looked better than Athearn and I’m living with and getting to like lighter green.

I’m not much on social media so sorry for not getting on more often and thanks again for the replies.

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Mpls/St.Paul
  • 13,892 posts
Posted by wjstix on Thursday, January 25, 2018 9:52 AM

Probably the most accurate "Pullman Green" is the Badger Accu-flex Pullman Green, it's a very dark green that seems to my eye to be a great match for the actual color. However, since our indoor layout's artificial light is not as bright as sunlight, it tends to look black on a model on a layout. Many folks prefer to use a lighter shade of green that looks better on the layout. (That's a trick many military modeller / dioramists use when choosing colors.)

Stix

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