Marmight Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 Can anyone please tell me the correct yellow shade that UP uses for its yellow colour, either as a Pantone or RGB format so I can match it. I'm experimenting with home produced decals and I want to patch over the UP road names before adding my own...in true short line fashion. I don’t want to paint the names out as the decals will be easier to remove should anyone in the future want to return the loco to a UP one. Thanks Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave1905 Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 (edited) The color is called "Armour Yellow". Don't have a Panatone color number. The challenge is not matching the UP's color, the challenge is matching the model manufacturer's color which may or may not be close to the UP's color. You could probably ask the UP what the standard colors are for UP Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist Grey. Edited August 30, 2021 by dave1905 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmight Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 Thanks Dave, great answer and I think in true Shortline tradition...something very close would do...at least I now know the names of the colour, sorry color... Just found out the RGB code. FC9B33. 252. 151. 51. which is not far out from what I thought it might be. Just a little tweaking to do now. Cheers Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmight Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 Slight correction, it’s more like 255.190.0 Cheers Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 A shortline would at best peel off the red scotchbrite lettering (as per Yakima Central 1299) which might be possible on a model with decal remover or t-cut, or at worst merely strike through it with a spraycan. I've used Railmatch or Precision BR warning yellow paint for repaints, but a renumbering or patching up a factory finish is a different matter, in which case I've started with Tamiya or Railmatch yellow and added a small amount of white, then tried red, orange or flesh colour until a suitable match is found. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted August 30, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 30, 2021 Also I reckon it is extremely unlikely a short line will send someone down to the local hardware store when their new loco arrives to seek out specifically a can of Armour Yellow (or indeed any other Railroad colour) and would most likely use whatever they have got in the shed, so in this instance any shade of yellow would suffice. Even if they did by some chance happen to have a can of the correct Armour Yellow knocking about, the chances are their newly acquired loco would be sufficiently past its last repaint with its previous owner that the main paintwork will have weathered/faded and it would not match anyway. For example, in my line of modelling interest, there seem to be a very large number of different shades of SP grey.... 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike_Walker Posted August 30, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 30, 2021 UP yellow does fade badly after a few years. I've seen locos that are closer to cream than yellow! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmight Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 I would normally think of a shade of grey (gray) to cover the roadname...keep forgetting to write American English...but I saw a recent webcam at Palmer, Mass., where an ex UP engine passed with the UP roadname painted over in a similar shade of yellow and the legend New England Central written in its place. I suspect this was a short term plan as the engine would probably be repainted eventually in G&E corporate livery. As it is, a close representation is what I’m looking for and I think I’ve found it. When I’ve made the decals, I will post a pic of the engine I’m changing. Thanks for the replies. Cheers Martin 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave1905 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Most patches are boxcar red or just plain old yellow because that's what they sell at hardware stores or that's what the railroad uses for painting other stuff safety colors. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 10 hours ago, Marmight said: I would normally think of a shade of grey (gray) to cover the roadname...keep forgetting to write American English...but I saw a recent webcam at Palmer, Mass., where an ex UP engine passed with the UP roadname painted over in a similar shade of yellow and the legend New England Central written in its place. I suspect this was a short term plan as the engine would probably be repainted eventually in G&E corporate livery. As it is, a close representation is what I’m looking for and I think I’ve found it. When I’ve made the decals, I will post a pic of the engine I’m changing. Thanks for the replies. Cheers Martin If it was NECR SW1500 2555 it was certainly a higher quality patch job than usual efforts where the painted area is definitely a different colour. Another option might be part of a Fox transfers yellow blanking patch to obscure the original road name, in past times you could find a part used sheet for 50p in a bargain bin. I wouldn't worry too much about future values if you're thinking of selling the loco on, if anything a nicely renumbered example of a known prototype would be more sought after than yet another factory example that someone will probably already have if they really wanted it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmight Posted August 31, 2021 Author Share Posted August 31, 2021 I’m not sure what engine it was, it wasn’t 2555 but I thought that’s a neat job...perhaps you are right about my thoughts on resales, not that I’m thinking of selling any of my fleet...but you never know. Many thanks for all your thoughts, living in the UK, it can involve a bit of guesswork trying to make things look right. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmight Posted August 31, 2021 Author Share Posted August 31, 2021 (edited) I’ve experimented here with an Atlas F9, still in UP livery. I’ve now got a similar shade to armour yellow and will try that on GP15-1 I have. Edited August 31, 2021 by Marmight 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave1905 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Just for the record, the grey on the roof is the wrong color, which is the problem trying to match prototype to model, especially on older models. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 45 minutes ago, dave1905 said: Just for the record, the grey on the roof is the wrong color, which is the problem trying to match prototype to model, especially on older models. Wrong for Harbor Mist Gray, but I have seen UP equipment from a sunny area fade almost as much. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 13 hours ago, 298 said: Wrong for Harbor Mist Gray, but I have seen UP equipment from a sunny area fade almost as much. Yakima WA? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmight Posted September 1, 2021 Author Share Posted September 1, 2021 It’s a well aged standard Atlas paint job, as it came from the box. All I’ve done is paint out the UP Roadname and replaced it with one of my experimental home made decals. I think it looks good. I’m waiting on a delivery of decal paper and I will attempt the other UP locos I have. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sncf231e Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 I have a small Kalmbach book by Arthur Dubin called "Pullman Paint and Lettering Notebook". It has some ten pages of paint samples. Here is the page showing UP yellow: Of course the color from a book via a photo on your screen might be completely wrong, but I was surprised when looking at it now in the book how orange the color is in comparison with other yellows. Regards Fred 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike_Walker Posted September 1, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 1, 2021 (edited) Armour Yellow is a deep, rich shade of yellow when freshly applied but as I said earlier it does fade badly in some conditions as shown by this pair. So any shade in between would be OK. Santa Fe's yellow also faded badly and don't even mention the effect of sunlight on some batches of BNSF orange applied by GE! CNW used two shades of yellow, the earlier darker shade and the later "Zito Yellow" which was quite pale. Edited April 11, 2022 by Mike_Walker 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted September 1, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 1, 2021 Sorry for the thread diversion here but could someone tell me what 1210 on the right is please? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 9 minutes ago, John M Upton said: Sorry for the thread diversion here but could someone tell me what 1210 on the right is please? SW10 switcher...a re-build, using, amongst other things, the fans and radiator segment of redundant EMD GP9s? https://utahrails.net/articles/up-sw10s.php 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted September 1, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 1, 2021 38 minutes ago, alastairq said: SW10 switcher...a re-build, using, amongst other things, the fans and radiator segment of redundant EMD GP9s? https://utahrails.net/articles/up-sw10s.php Thanks. I thought it looked a bit of a local kitbash.... [Eyes parts bin with an idea] 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmight Posted September 2, 2021 Author Share Posted September 2, 2021 On 01/09/2021 at 14:37, John M Upton said: Thanks. I thought it looked a bit of a local kitbash.... [Eyes parts bin with an idea] Great diversion guys, really like that switcher... Anyway, this is the kind of look I’m after... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 (edited) Looking at RR Picture Archives 722 seems to have had a partial repaint when it was on FEC, possibly using close-enough shades of yellow and gray. As the NEC patches don’t quite match the background I’d be inclined to explore 298’s suggestion of Fox warning panel yellow patch decals. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=164562 Edited September 5, 2021 by doctor quinn Forgot the link 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmight Posted September 10, 2021 Author Share Posted September 10, 2021 (edited) I think I’ve achieved the look I was after, slightly weathered and a bit work worn. Obviously the tin of Dodge Armour Yellow is a different shade to what UP used. Overall, I’m quite satisfied with the result. Edited September 10, 2021 by Marmight 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 Nice collection of O Scale, there. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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