Request color and source for paint scheme used on Athearn Reefer cars in HO. Known as the "Map cars"
Series was Scout, Chief, Super Chief, Grand Canyon, Texas, and El Capitan.
I have the decals
This is an Intermountain car of the same type, built from a painted and lettered kit....
It was a little too modern for my late '30s era layout, so it went to a friend, and I replaced it with two undecorated Intermountain kits. Here's one of them, painted using PollyScale Reefer Orange, although I seem to recall adding a little white, and perhaps some yellow, too. It's basically the same paint scheme minus the map (of which there were at least two versions) and the slogans...
Both of mine were lettered using Champ decals.
The car above, and many of the "map" cars, were actually rebuilds of earlier wooden cars, and since some of them would have still been around in the late '30s, I modified this Accurail reefer to a car quite close in appearance to the real ones....
Again, the paint was a mix of Pollyscale Reefer Orange and whatever else seemed to look okay, and the ends and roof were also an altered Pollyscale colour - I don't recall which one or the additions to it, though. Lettering for the wooden car was done with decals from Champ, Microscale, and C&BT Shops.Keep in mind that railroads often used specific colours, but over time, the formulae for those colours may have changed, resulting in a similar, but slightly different hues. Also, time and weather had an effect on colours, fading some and darkening others. Even two cars, built one right after the other, might appear markedly different in colour a year or two later.
Wayne
Thank you Wayne. Your cars are an excellent build. The colors are more yellow than the Athearn kits which I believe were what we called Reefer Orange when the railroad colors of Floquil and Polly-Scale were available.I have a chart somewhere of the Testor replacement but I am not able to find a source or a valid replacement color chip or number.
ThumperER9VCB I believe were what we called Reefer Orange
Scalcoat 2 has "Reefer Orange" in their product line.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190 ThumperER9VCB I believe were what we called Reefer Orange Scalcoat 2 has "Reefer Orange" in their product line. -Kevin
Not sure but that might be for the PFE reefers which were a darker orange than the Santa Fe fleet.
Here are a couple prototype photos:
http://sdrm.info/roster/freight/ref11207/pfe.jpg
http://ftpmirror.your.org/pub/wikimedia/images/wikipedia/en/7/7b/2_men_atop_PFE_reefer_at_Oxnard_CA_produce_plant--Spring_1964.jpg
Looks like the second one is getting loaded with ice. I think the first one is a mechanical reefer.
Compare to the Santa Fe reefer:
https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/8187868219355555/filePointer/8187868221988570/fodoid/8187868221988566/imageType/LARGE/inlineImage/true/sfrd33055.jpg
Nice looking cars. Good paint. The color looks fine to my eye.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com