zstripe You should be able to find a suitable or exact match for the color You are looking for......don't by no mean's get hung up on a Railroad color name....a paint MFG. may have the exact color that You seek, but with a different color name. I have been using Tamiya paints for yrs. and many of their colors match, Railroad specific colors, but with different color name's. Large list of colors available. Just because it say's Military color's.....so what! If it matches Your color. Here is a link to Tamiya: http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/feature.php?article-id=72#.VQhrZNLF9Pk Take Care! Frank
You should be able to find a suitable or exact match for the color You are looking for......don't by no mean's get hung up on a Railroad color name....a paint MFG. may have the exact color that You seek, but with a different color name. I have been using Tamiya paints for yrs. and many of their colors match, Railroad specific colors, but with different color name's. Large list of colors available. Just because it say's Military color's.....so what! If it matches Your color.
Here is a link to Tamiya:
http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/feature.php?article-id=72#.VQhrZNLF9Pk
Take Care!
Frank
zstripe,
Agreed that color often bridges across different hobbies and applications. The real question is: What is the color perceived when any paint color is laid on a dark verse light background?
In the OP's case, it is key to know if the outcome was seen as "black" because the plastic color was black, shifting pullman green color to the "dark side" (couldn't resist). Until this question is answered, there will be money and time spent on trying colors that look OK in the bottle, but fail when applied on a dark background.
BTW: Using black as a base color is a modeler's trick to introduce highlighting in a model during the application of the top color coat. By playing with the angle of spray to intentionally not hit all of the crevices, the black color peeks through and also darkens the color being applied to a degree, depending on how thin you apply it. This technique is called "pre-shading".
Finally, background color is most important when applying lighter colors such as yellows. For such "problem colors" true color match to what is in the bottle is acheived when you use a light colored primer or paint directly on light colored plastic (or whatever).
Bottom line for the OP. I would check how your pullman green paint reacts with the dark verse light background or be prepared to buy/try other possibilities hit or miss.
Joel
Modeling the C&O New River Subdivision circa 1949 for the fun of it!
Joel,
I totally agree with You, about what He is starting out with as a base color to put the desired color on.....makes all the difference in the world as to the final shade of the same color.
Experiment...
zstripe Joel, I totally agree with You, about what He is starting out with as a base color to put the desired color on.....makes all the difference in the world as to the final shade of the same color. Experiment... Take Care! Frank
I can certainly understand how the base color could influence what shade of color I would get. I would expect to get a darker shade of green painting over black than I would with a white or gray primer base coat. But I didn't get a dark shade of green. I got black. I got that using both Scalecoat Pullman Green as well as Brunswick Green. An earlier poster wrote that his experience is that Brunswick Green is very close to black which led me to wonder whether the can of Pullman Green I got was a can of Brunswick Green that had been mislabeled.
Today I picked up two different cans of spray paint that might turn out to be close to what I want based on the cap color. One I got at Michael's, an arts and crafts store. The brand name is Liquitex and the color is Hooker's Green (I didn't make that up). In the store light, it looked close but might be a little too green. The other I got at Lowe's and is Rustoleun's Camoflage. It might be a little too drab. The only way to find out for sure is to try them with different backgrounds. I will paint each over black, white, and gray as well as over each other and hopefully get something acceptable.
The Scalecoat Pullman Green is gone. I can't remember if I used it for some other purpose or whether I was so disgusted with the color I got I didn't both to clear the nozzle after use and ended up throwing it out. Since I didn't get what I wanted with it the first time, I see no reason to try it again. They don't give that stuff away.
Well I'm not a big fan of rattle can spray paint for Models.....so I won't get into that.....It does have it's use's....just not what I build.
Something to read through....scroll down to Color Context:
http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory
Good Luck!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
I think i have found what I was looking for thanks to a suggestion by David Starr. Rustoleum's Camoflage paint turned out to be a very close match to the green on my Walthers and Branchline heavyweight cars. To be a perfect match, it would need to be a shade or two darker, but I can live with it as is. I had my doubts because the cap color is even more drab than I wanted, almost grayish in tint, but the paint itself has just enough drab olive tint to be acceptable. By contrast, The Liquitex green I bought at Michael's arts and crafts store was just too vivid green, even more so than the cap color. It cost $12 a can but it won't go to waste because I have a non MR project that I can put it to use on. Thanks to all for the suggestions.
PS When I get a car painted, I will try to post some side-by-side pictures with a Walthers heavyweight so others can see how close a match it is. I discovered over the weekend the USB cable for my camera is damaged but if I can find my old 5 MP camera and cable I will swap the card from my 16 MP camera and try to use that to upload the pictures.
As Mr. Bernier mentioned, maybe you need to upgrade your lighting. As a photography major, one of the proplems we run into as modelers, is lighting. When choosing a paint, keep the following in mind:
Take a car that's already Pullman green with you to the paint store. If you have tungsten lighting, and they have flourescent lighting at the paint store, it will look totally different. If you have daylight flourescent lighting, take some of the paint chips from the paint store outside and make your selection.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Medina1128 As Mr. Bernier mentioned, maybe you need to upgrade your lighting. As a photography major, one of the proplems we run into as modelers, is lighting. When choosing a paint, keep the following in mind: What type of lighting do you have in your layout room? What type of lighting is at the paint store? Take a car that's already Pullman green with you to the paint store. If you have tungsten lighting, and they have flourescent lighting at the paint store, it will look totally different. If you have daylight flourescent lighting, take some of the paint chips from the paint store outside and make your selection.
The problem isn't my lighting, it was the paint I tried. All the RTR cars in my fleet look green. The one I painted with Scalecoat Pullman Green and later Brunswick Green appeared black. If the problem was my lighting, they would all appear too dark. I have ample lighting. I can't create daylight in my basement and wouldn't want to if I could because I don't want to have to wear sunglasses when running my layout. Layout lighting is never going to replicate sunlight. It is much cheaper and more practical to match colors to the lighting rather than vice versa. What I needed to do was find a paint that would closely replicate the RTR heavyweight cars. I believe I have done that. It isn't perfect match but it certainly looks far more realistic than the Pullman Green paint I started with.
jecorbettI can't create daylight in my basement and wouldn't want to if I could because I don't want to have to wear sunglasses when running my layout. Layout lighting is never going to replicate sunlight.
I wasn't implying creating daylight in your basement. Flourescent lights come in different temperatures, measured in degrees Kelvin. It closely replicates sunlight, where most standard low temp bulbs do not. That's why when you photograph it with your camera set a daylight, the pictures have a greenish tint to them, whereas incandescent bulbs have a reddish (or orange) cast. I'm happy that you found a color that you're content with. Another thing to consider is the color of your primer. If you spray a light colored primer, your final coat will look totally different if you use a dark primer with the same color final coat.
jecorbett I think i have found what I was looking for thanks to a suggestion by David Starr. Rustoleum's Camoflage paint turned out to be a very close match to the green on my Walthers and Branchline heavyweight cars. To be a perfect match, it would need to be a shade or two darker, but I can live with it as is. I had my doubts because the cap color is even more drab than I wanted, almost grayish in tint, but the paint itself has just enough drab olive tint to be acceptable. By contrast, The Liquitex green I bought at Michael's arts and crafts store was just too vivid green, even more so than the cap color. It cost $12 a can but it won't go to waste because I have a non MR project that I can put it to use on. Thanks to all for the suggestions. PS When I get a car painted, I will try to post some side-by-side pictures with a Walthers heavyweight so others can see how close a match it is. I discovered over the weekend the USB cable for my camera is damaged but if I can find my old 5 MP camera and cable I will swap the card from my 16 MP camera and try to use that to upload the pictures.
Wouldn't the Rustolium O.D. be a flat color?
NP2626 jecorbett I think i have found what I was looking for thanks to a suggestion by David Starr. Rustoleum's Camoflage paint turned out to be a very close match to the green on my Walthers and Branchline heavyweight cars. To be a perfect match, it would need to be a shade or two darker, but I can live with it as is. I had my doubts because the cap color is even more drab than I wanted, almost grayish in tint, but the paint itself has just enough drab olive tint to be acceptable. By contrast, The Liquitex green I bought at Michael's arts and crafts store was just too vivid green, even more so than the cap color. It cost $12 a can but it won't go to waste because I have a non MR project that I can put it to use on. Thanks to all for the suggestions. PS When I get a car painted, I will try to post some side-by-side pictures with a Walthers heavyweight so others can see how close a match it is. I discovered over the weekend the USB cable for my camera is damaged but if I can find my old 5 MP camera and cable I will swap the card from my 16 MP camera and try to use that to upload the pictures. Wouldn't the Rustolium O.D. be a flat color?
Yes, it is a very flat color but that's OK. My RTR cars have a fairly flat finish as well. Besides many heavyweight coaches ended up in commuter service after having been in use on long distance trains. That's the story on my RR so a flat finish and a fleet of cars that look like they've seen better days is just the look I'm going for.
Medina1128 jecorbett I can't create daylight in my basement and wouldn't want to if I could because I don't want to have to wear sunglasses when running my layout. Layout lighting is never going to replicate sunlight. I wasn't implying creating daylight in your basement. Flourescent lights come in different temperatures, measured in degrees Kelvin. It closely replicates sunlight, where most standard low temp bulbs do not. That's why when you photograph it with your camera set a daylight, the pictures have a greenish tint to them, whereas incandescent bulbs have a reddish (or orange) cast. I'm happy that you found a color that you're content with. Another thing to consider is the color of your primer. If you spray a light colored primer, your final coat will look totally different if you use a dark primer with the same color final coat.
jecorbett I can't create daylight in my basement and wouldn't want to if I could because I don't want to have to wear sunglasses when running my layout. Layout lighting is never going to replicate sunlight.
Most of my lighting is fluorescent fixtures with daylight bulbs. I have begun gradually replacing these with LED floodlights but I had all fluorescents when I experimented with the Scalecoat Pullman Green and got such disappointing results.
Before settling on the Rustoleum Camoflage paint, I created my own paint chips with small squares of styrene. I had two greens I wanted to try. I created 3 chips for each. One with black undercoat, one with gray primer, and when with plain white styrene. I then painted these with the greens. I honestly couldn't tell the difference in color. Each of the 3 chips came out looking pretty much the same. I think with a lighter color, the color of the base coat my show through but both the greens pretty much canceled out whatever the base color was.