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Based on photos, this color on UP passenger cars and locos seems all over the map, from bright yellow to greenish yellow to reddish yellow. Can anyone recommend the right color? The color on Athearn locos looks about right but I can't match it with Polly-Scale paint (it looks too greenish).
It appears from comparing color drawings of UP equipment from the 1930s or 1940s to drawings from the present that the color shown has gone from a slightly greenish yellow to a brighter yellow. Any thoughts?
Russ Bellinis Member # 2377
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I think the problem is that yellow is as bad as red for color shifting as it weathers. In addition, I'm not sure how consistant the colors are. I've seen CNW that was a bright yellow, and I saw one in Cajon Pass in a U. P. consist where the CNW yellow matched the U.P. armour yellow.
Challenger Member # 1298
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Mr. Bellins is indeed correct that yellow is very bad for color shifting. As a matter of fact the three worst colors are the three primary colors Red Yellow and Blue, as they are almost always adversly effected by ultraviolet rays. Plus there is the fact that in reality not every batch of paint is exactly the same. I saw in one photo where EMD had a bunch of new SD40-2s lined up for Union Pacific. (I think it was in an old 1980s issiue of trains) While overall the appearance was quite uniform. Upon close examination of the picture. About half of the locos were one shade darker than the other half. My speculation is EMD ran out of one batch of paint and had to open up the next.
As for Athearn Locomotive Colors. I have had to custom mix paints to match. I found a mix of Testors paints that is very very close, At least under my layout lighting conditions. The color mix I have is two parts lemon yellow, one part insignia yellow, and one part yellow. One caveat about this paint mix is that the Lemon Yellow color is no longer being produced. You might still be able to find it at your hobby shop though.
If you need to match the Harbor Mist Gray, the testors paint color Gray is a dead match. I was building an Athearn SD40-2 for UP one time and managed to severly scratch the pant on the frame. I just paionted over the scratches and let the paint dry and I cant tell where I had touched up.
I hope this information is helpful.
James
usbureaucrat Member # 2109
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Challenger, thanks for the information. I think the Testors yellow is closer to UP prototype pax cars than Scalecoat (either UP new yellow or UP Armour yellow) and much closer than Pollyscale AY. All of the preceding seem slightly too greenish or just not right. I have a picture of a UP dome diner in which the yellow is very close to the Testors yellow. Since this is the appearance I want of some UP cars, I will use it. It is annoying that even paints called UP Armour yellow are farther from the prototype than some standard hobby paints. I've learned this after spending a bit of money and time, assuming the model RR paints would be closer to the real thing. You mention that the Testors gray matches Athearn. I agree but is the Athearn about the right prototype color? After looking at a lot of prototype photos, I think the Athearn yellow is a pretty good match to the prototype although I think the Testors yellow is even better (because the Athearn color seems to me to be slightly closer to green while the protype seems to me to be slightly closer to red), but I have not yet decided what to do about the gray. Any ideas? I know the Pollyscale and Scalecoat harbor mist grays are a bit too dark.
Challenger Member # 1298
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Tough Call.
All this is complicated by many factors that make an accurate assessment of color very very difficult. These factors include, but not limited to, lighting type, and brightness of the workbench lighting, Lighting on the layout, The yellow shift (incandescent) or blue shift (fluorescent) of the light when compared to sunlight. When comparing to reference materials, the lighting conditions of the photograph when a photo was taken, Was it sunny? was it morning, mid afternoon, early evening? Was it cloudy? Was the locomotive facing east-west or north-south? Was the film in good condition when exposed or developed? Is the print faded any? If in a book, are the inks stable?
It is these factors and many more that can cause radical variations in how a color appears. I have on my extensive photo collection a Picture of a BN SD40-2 taken at two different locations on the same day. Due to elapsed time, and direction, Cascade Green in the first picture appears bright shiny, and an almost four leaf clover like green. While in the later pick, it is dull, flat, almost energy draining color.
It is for all these reasons that when it comes to color of the model that I apply the "Good Enough" principle. I leave it as is and try to mix paints to match it as close as possible. Then when custom painting I will use one of the mixes I have come up with or just use a bottle labeled as the appropriate color. As for your gray. I would pick Testors, and call it good.
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