Best paint matches - UK Range/Suppliers

[John M Upton]

Hello

 

Does anyone have a guide or advice on colour matching US/Canadian railroad colours to enamels available off the shelf from UK ranges such as Humbrol, Railmatch, etc?

 

Specifically I am trying to find an off the shelf match for SP red.  I have tried Humbrol 174 as well as NSE and Rail Red but nothing really sits right.  Ideally it needs to match the shade of red used by Proto 2000 on a SP red/grey GP30.  I also need the grey as well but as British Rail had several zillion shades of grey in the 1990's that should be easier.

 

I know there are US ranges of matching paints but the chances of getting hold of them this side of the Atlantic is practically nil at the moment.

 

Many thanks!

[Patrick SPF]

I am not aware of a match chart, but for my CN RDC I took a copy of CN lines to Games Workshop and they found the right colours for me from their large range...

[long island jack]

try this https://www.microscale.com/Floquil Color Chart.pdf

[John M Upton]

7 minutes ago, long island jack said:

try this https://www.microscale.com/Floquil Color Chart.pdf

 

Now that is what I call useful!  Many thanks!

[mdvle]

 

4 hours ago, John M Upton said:

Does anyone have a guide or advice on colour matching US/Canadian railroad colours to enamels available off the shelf from UK ranges such as Humbrol, Railmatch, etc?

 

If you are willing to go acrylic then Model Railroad Hobbyist created an extensive guide for colour matching, with matches using the Vallejo range of paints that seem to be available worldwide.

 

https://www.testors.com/~/media/DigitalEncyclopedia/Documents/Testors/ebook/MRH-Acrylic-painting-guide-post-Floquil-Portrait.ashx

 

The guide claims there is also a solvent based paint book but a quick search doesn't reveal it, and it may not match to paints available in the UK anyway (and solvent based paints are slowly disappearing from the North American hobby as manufacturers drop product lines).

 

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

1 hour ago, mdvle said:

 

 

If you are willing to go acrylic then Model Railroad Hobbyist created an extensive guide for colour matching, with matches using the Vallejo range of paints that seem to be available worldwide.

 

https://www.testors.com/~/media/DigitalEncyclopedia/Documents/Testors/ebook/MRH-Acrylic-painting-guide-post-Floquil-Portrait.ashx

 

The guide claims there is also a solvent based paint book but a quick search doesn't reveal it, and it may not match to paints available in the UK anyway (and solvent based paints are slowly disappearing from the North American hobby as manufacturers drop product lines).

 

 

I was talking with a local model shop owner before lockdown and he referred to a brand of “slow drying” acrylics that behaved more like enamels.  I’m afraid I can’t remember the name and obviously can’t check at the moment (I think they were German?) but I thought it worth sharing that model paint technology now offers us a wider range of alternatives than the simple enamel / acrylic choice I was used to.

 

The shop only has a tiny range of railway stuff, which may be relevant - it’s mainly ship and plane modelling.

Edited January 26, 2021 by Keith Addenbrooke

[warbonnetuk]

If you are happy airbrushing lacquers then N Scale American Trains stock Tru-Color paints. Although their on-hand stock are limited they are happy to order any colour from the range if you are happy to wait a couple of weeks.

 

No connection other than being a satified customer of said shop and user of said paint product

 

https://www.nscaleamericantrains.co.uk/en/337_tru-color-paint

 

Dan

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by warbonnetuk