Paint Matching

[tigerstripe]

I personally have never liked the Athearn paint, its not GREEN enough and kinda pale. I read somewhere that "KATY GREEN" is actually a closer mix
for locomotives, the BN green is used on freight cars only.
Try repainting one and the difference is clearly visible.

BN....... the way it should be,
not the Big New Santa Fe, and those heritage pumpkin things

[Anonymous]

Want an exact match? Try going to Home Depot. Pop the shell off your loco and bring it into their stores. They have a colour matching computer. They hold the colour up to the scanner eye (in this case the side of your loco) and voila! Instant match! Ive done it for some other paint colours that I needed larger cans of. Try it. If you aren't satisfied with the match you don't have to buy the paint.

Trevor

[ksax73]

This is actually good to hear because when I try to paint and kitbash my Amtrak equipment I end up dealing with some headaches trying to get one batch of paint for a number of cars to match a previous batch of cars.

My recent experience has been successful for the most part, but now I don't feel too bad. My phase V Amfleet I coaches seems to be more of a challenge than the phase IVbs because the blue in phase IVb is virtually the same as D&H blue but slightly darker. Phase V requires a totally new shade all together taking refer white and gradually adding more D&H blue.

[Bergie]

Antonio is right. I could show you dozens of pictures I've taken of my beloved BN's freight cars that have been repaired and touched up over the course of time. Even if the car was relatively clean and still look like BN green, the patch always stands out.

I'm of the opinion that as long as you're in the ballpark, you're fine. The combination of dirt and fading from the sun (plus, whether the piece of equipment has ever been washed or not) can make two cars or two locomotives from the same order look completely different. Not to mention the fact that you and I probably don't view colors exactly the same... everyone's eyes are different.

Don't sweat it... as long at you're close, you'll be fine. Plus, it's your 1:87th scale world! (Assuming you're in HO scale.)

Yours in BN,
Erik

[AntonioFP45]

Bnnnboy,

Believe it or not, you've run into a problem that's actually encountered by the prototypes!

[;)]Even with exact paint formulas, often times locomotives or cars painted in shops that are located in two different cities or states can wind up having small variations in the paint shade. Factors such as weather, humidity, paint brand, and application technique can make a difference. I noticed this with Seaboard Coast Line as some of their locomotives had different shades of yellow. Rio Grande was another railroad where yellows varied. The final color appearance depended upon which shop the units were painted in.

If you go to www. Railpictures.net and check out the Burlington Northern photos carefully, you will see small variances in the BN green, and I don't mean just due to the grime on the units. I spent years painting buses in a transit body shop and I used to wonder why paint matching was sometimes a challenge. The worst solid color to match: Anything in the RED family!

Anyway, in model railroading competing manufacturers will have the their version of a prototype color. Most often they try to be accurate but again the paint supplier, brand, or production line equipment can make those "annoying little differences in shade" that sometimes makes a modeler want to chew on cast iron! [|(]

I strongly suggest that modelers experiment with color mixes and jot down their results.[;)]

Perhaps this may help:

If the Green you come up with is:
Too Strong: add white OR medium yellow
Too Light:: add med. green-blue
Too Red: add med. blue AND medium yellow
Too Yellow: add med. blue
Too Blue: add med. yellow AND dk. red

Do this in small amounts in 1/2 to 1 ratios. If no one here chimes in with an exact formula you can try experimenting. Personally if it were me, I would perform a paint blend. I've done this successfully with colors that are "slightly" different shades.

Let's say a panel is slightly damaged and needs spraying. After masking off the surrounding area and priming the panel, "LIGHTLY" scuff the rest of the hood on that side. Gently airbru***he panel and as the paint hits the panel continue spraying and swing the airbrush away from the body. The overspray will fall on the surrounding body area and "blend in"[;)]. Follow it up with the clear glaze.

Most of us (me too) want our locomotives to match up nicely in a consist, but all we have to do is look at photos of multi-unit lashups from various railroads and you' may notice the sublte differences in paint shades.

Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Well, I posted this in the layout building forum, but it didn't get any replies, so I think I'll try it here. Has anyone found a good mix of paint to match the color of green that Athearn uses for their BN equipment? I have used some commercial paints that say that they are the BN green, but they never look right.
Thanks,
Reed