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Executive Light Grey Available as an acrylic ? And just what is the right shade?


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A number of questions on my perennial bug bear.

 

Can anyone out there recommend a good airbrush'able acrylic paint shade for Executive light grey?

 

Secondly and more importantly I guess. exactly what is the definitive shades pantone/RAL reference?

 

Looking at old pictures of rolling stock and Loco's the shade of light grey used by the various model manufacturers seems to be entirely wrong. Hornby's looks like beige, Dapols old Mk2's seem to use a shade of duck egg green and even old Lima Mk3's and 2's seem to use a more buff colour. Though looking at photos of the real thing, the description executive light grey seems more apt, as the colour itself seems more akin to a light silvery grey. yes I know that not every picture will have been colour balanced etc etc etc. But as so many have said on this forum "look at old photographs".

 

I would like to be able to source a paint colour that is a good match and I can reliably go back to as and when I have another Loco, coach or wagon to repaint. I've trawled through Vajello's site as i particularly like their Model Air paints, but nothing to my eye seems to get close.

 

Any suggestions, any successes. Does anyone actually know what was the BR specification?

 

many thanks in advance.

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Just a quick question (should anyone read this far). are there two variants on the lower colour for Intercity Mainline/Executive/Swallow livery?

 

Getting the feeling that I am opening up a whole new can of worms here....... or just re-opening and old can of worms.

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(Edited to remove misinfomation)

 

Exec Light Grey is a bit of a misnomer, it's more of a beige colour than a true grey.

 

I would argue that the specific BS number for the paint is irrelevant as the exact spec used on a model would appear too dark, although a Pantone reference may help to find a lighter shade in the same series. If you do decide to go down the Vallejo route (they are superb paints), I think you'll have to match to photos as best you can.

 

Swallow livery had a white lower bodyside for locos and HST Power Cars, but the coaching stock was still Exec Light Grey.

 

HTH

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Hello Pugsley and thank you for the reply/contribution.

 

I could only find a listing for the executive dark grey in an acrylic on the Howes website for Railmatch paints. But will investigate further into the availability of the light grey in an acrylic formulation.

 

Have just spent the last couple of hours trawling the internet looking at various pic's of Mk2 & £ coaching stock and trying to work out whether all those enthusiastic photographers just missed all that rolling stock that was painted with a beige/grey or was the paint that BR used so rubbish that it faded instantly!!!

 

Considering that so many people seem to get quite vociferous about colour, it's funny how little seems to be about online to give an indication as to what the correct colour should be.

 

Maybe it's a case of painting to taste. I do have a couple of tinlets of the Phoenix Exec light Grey. But even that in comparison to most photo's seems a little dark, although closer to what Lima and Bachmann have used for their models.

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Sorry for the misinformation, actually Railmatch don't do the Exec Light Grey in the acrylic range - that'll teach me to post from memory without checking!

 

This is quite a good photo, colour wise, but not the best angle for comparisons:

DSC_15777_1

 

Fresh from the paint shop! It has a distinct brown tint to it, more so than Rail Grey for example. I've checked, and there was no BS number for this particular colour, but it really a light buff, rather than grey.

 

This is quite a good image as well:

Inter City 86/2

 

Tamiya buff is a good starting point, but too dark. Mix some white in with it, to taste, and it should be fine.

 

The problem with colour is that it is entirely subjective - two people looking at the same object will perceive the colour slightly differently, even before you add in lighting variations and photographic variations.

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Big thank you again Pugsley!

 

Just had a mooch around the DEMU forum and picked up on a couple of old postings one of which was a BS equivalency for a guess'ti'mate on Exec Light Grey. In a nutshell it kind of confirms my musings in that this really is going to be a case of choosing a close enough match to suit my perceived thought on what the colour should be and hoping I can find a quality acrylic product with good supply.

 

Thanks for the links to the photo's. The fresh from the shop 73 makes interesting viewing in all sorts of ways. Theres a definite hint of beige in there, but comparing it to what should be white within the stripe and the BR double arrows, I'd guess that the image's colour correction is a bit off which would make it even lighter.

 

If I'm honest i find myself veering towards artistic license at an alarming rate. I really can't cope with Hornby's Executive Light Biscuit as I like to call it, it's just too wrong and looking at various picture sources online makes me realise just how wrong the manufacturers seem to be with it.

 

Oh well i guess thats why I find the hobby so consuming. just when you think you've got a handle on it all, something comes in and throws you a curved ball.l

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Not meaning to be picky but the photo of the Class 73 is a post privatisation repaint and I don't reckon much to the executive dark grey (there should be a slightly brown hint to that as well).

 

The following photo does at least show a newly painted RMB during the B.R. period: Mk1 RMB 1860

 

It also shows the marked difference between executive light grey and pearl grey.

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Hi there Flood!!

 

Thank you for the photo link. Picked up on a thread this morning scouring through DEMU site again and found some specific details of BR Colours. So hoping that with a little cross referencing a suitable paint might not be too far away. One posting suggested that a Pantone reference 428 is the correct one, this converts to a RAL code of 9018 which in turn corresponds to Vallejo's Model Colour 70.344 from their Panzer Aces range. Looking at the colour swatches online isn't easy due in the main to the compromise in web colours and all the usual technicals. But it seems promising, so will be ordering up some paint at the weekend. There are some close shades to the one suggested in the Vallejo range so will order those too and see how they look.

 

It still puzzles me greatly just how wrong all of the manufacturers seem to have got this colour, especially Hornby. That said I'm still quietly amazed that considering the prevalence of the livery, that there is not all that much new RTR coaching stock available in it. I know Hornby are set to release a run of swallow liveried MK2D's but if they are going to use the same biscuit colour for the lower sides. I think cost wise I will be better off respraying second hand Dapol models and detailing those (must see about Shawplan's laser cut windows).

 

Have to say that I was only this morning reading with much admiration and interest about your Aberdeen Kirkhill layout in Railway Modeller. I have to say that it is very much my kind of layout and I shall be looking forward to seeing it at the showcase.

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Don't get too excited about the Pantone 428 colour - InterCity print colours were quite different to the colours of paints used, lacking the brown tint.

 

I've knocked this little image up to demonstrate:

 

post-6668-0-43950500-1304531854_thumb.jpg

 

The top two colours are the official print colours. In the program in which I created this image (CorelDraw) you can see the difference between the coated and uncoated specifications quite clearly, but it is much harder to tell in the JPG format above (the uncoated is lighter). Below those are what I believe to be the closest Pantone match to the colour, which you can hopefully convert into a suitable paint. It shows that Hornby weren't actually too far out with 453, it's a bit dark, but the shade itself is pretty close. I couldn't find any that looked just right at 100% opacity for modelling purposes.

 

I hope that's of some use in your quest.

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Once again Pugsley you come up with some worthwhile goods (doff's cap in general direction).

 

My particular annoyance with Hornby's quote on using 453, was that when I had obtained a proper pantone swatch and placed it against my sparkly new Mk3 DVT. The paint shade on the model was darker than the Pantone swatch by a goos amount, but thats another story.

 

Will do a bit more cross referencing with your suggested Pantone colours. It seems a lot of the paint manufacturers such as Vallejo all prefer to use the RAL standard, so converting across is always interesting.

 

Ironically another couple of MK2d's turned up in the post this morning and with the warm weather set to continue for another week or so I'd better get the paint shop geared up for production. I'd forgotten just how much stock I had got lined up for a makeover!!!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Nile,

 

I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on with the Vallejo70.344. I'd be interested to know whether you found any Vallejo paint references for the executive dark grey, and the red (for the stripe)?

Cheers

Thomas

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  • 1 month later...

post-4274-0-94854200-1310227203_thumb.jpg

 

post-4274-0-35189000-1310227225_thumb.jpg

post-4274-0-70922600-1310227258_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

OK Kids! back with another episode.

 

Well the weather is warm and sunny and a railway modellers mind turns to painting. Well it's warm and dry and so much nicer than airbrushing in a cold damp garage.

 

My search for an acrylic paint for Intercity executive light grey (Swallow livery) isn't going well.

 

To recap, the criteria really is the following.

 

That it should be Acrylic based and suitable to airbrush with appropriate thinners.

 

Readily available (the easier the better)

 

Good quality.

 

Off the shelf pigment, not looking to mix 3.75 parts of one with .2 parts of another and soupcon of a third for taste.

 

After deliberation, provide a close match to the colour used on Lima and Bachman RTR stock (the current Hornby rendering of the colour is appalling).

 

 

Well the bad news kids, is I've failed. I am still awaiting a couple of other Vallejo paints but they where my outside bets if honest.

 

However my not so extensive research may be of use to some. In particular those who are building up stock using the current batch of Intercity swallow liveried stock.

 

It turns out that Vallejo's Model Color, 70976 Buff. is pretty damned close to Hornby's representation. I have posted a couple of pic's with my test swatch placed against a MK3 DVT (for reference this was one of the first batch sold). Just to clear up a few details. The paint was applied to a piece of plastic card (an old Hotel room key to be precise) sprayed with Halfords white primer, the primer having being left for 48 hours to dry. The brush was a fairly standard one and none of the paints on the swatch where thinned before application.

 

Similarly and what came as a bit of a surprise. Is that Games Workshops, Citadel Foundation paint, Charadon Granite. Is a pretty close match for the Executive Dark Grey Having that very subtle brown tinge to it. I placed a test swatch against the same Hornby Mk3 DVT and a Bachmann Mk1.

 

Disclaimer time! This is not me saying that these colours are a direct replacement, because they are not. However for someone who is possibly looking to touch up a whole area or respray a carriage to fit in with an existing rake of Hornby MK3's or even respray some of the older Dapol MK2d's to fit in with a mixed rake. These colours would to my eye could certainly work.

 

The Vallejo paint is of particularly good quality it has to be said and seems quite plentiful on line. Most major towns and cities seem to have a Games Workshop, so again should be easy to pick up.

 

The search for the elusive light grey goes on. Will let you know how I get on, but until then I hope this helps someone out.

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  • 2 weeks later...

OK yet another report back on the search for that elusive acrylic colour match.

 

My local and very helpful Games Worskhop called to say that they had a delivery of paint in and remembered that I was after a colour which they where out of stock on when I last visited. So after popping in I thought I'd post some more findings not only on the GW colour but also another Vallejo acrylic colour that turned up for test.

 

Unfortunately it's not great news. But like the previous postings it may help or prove useful to somebody somebody.

 

First the Games workshop colour. It's part of their Citadel Paint range and is called "Bleached Bone" In my picture I've put my test swatch against a Bachmann Mark 1. Unfortunately I was a bit pushed for time and The plastic key card that I used as a base hasn't been properly primed with Halfords white undercoat as in my previous tests. The card itself has been flattened of with some 100 grit abrasive to give a smooth flat keyed surface. Again with the photo's I have taken them on the windowsill in natural light (for the technical amongst you using a Canon 5D with 24-105 'L' series lens). There's no phtotoshopping done either, as out of the camera.

 

The Bleached Bone colour isn't too bad and closer than some of the other Vallejo and Citadel paint's I have tried. However it lacks a certain green/grey component to it for my eye to make it a good match. Interestingly the Phoenix Precision paint isn't a good match either (should really post pic of that) as being a bit too green. But that all said if you where painting a whole rake or repainting a BG for example to fit in with the Bachmann MK1's. With a little weathering I don't think it would be too jarring on the eye. So nipping down to your local Games Workshop and buing a few pots of Citadel Bleached Bone fore the light grey and a few pots of Citadel Charadon Granite for the dark grey, could give you the paint you need to update a GUV, BG or whatever to run with your Bachmann's or as a rake on their own.

 

In the second picture I have taken a test swatch showing Vallejo's Game Color "Dead Flesh" 72035. placed against a Dapol Mk2D. For my tastes the Dapol Intercity livery Exec grey is just too green. But if you are looking for a very good quality Acrylic paint to give as good as possible match to the slightly insipid Dapol colour then this would be my recomendation. Again I wouldn't say that as a patch paint it would be a perfect match, but as a repaint to fit in with a rake of Dapol Mk2's ity would certainly work. Interestingly I found that Revell's Aquacolor Acrylic paint Anthrazit 361 09 is the best match for Dapol's rendering of the Intercity Exec Dark Grey, in fact pretty much cock on, but that is my opinion. So again if you are looking to tidy up an older carriage to fit an existing rake or possibly repaint a blue/grey Mk2 then these colours are easy enough to get a hold of and affordable.

 

 

As mentioned before I have been trying to find an out of the pot match. Am beginning to think that I may have to mix my own colour. The Citadel Colour "Bleached Bone" looks as if it might be the best base to start from, though I'm wondering if a letter to Vallejo might help, who knows if I point out the defficiency in the market they may look at our little corner with a little more interest than their current but limited range of train colours.

 

post-4274-0-95736400-1311335910_thumb.jpg

 

Citadel Bleached Bone paint swatch placed against Bachmann Mk1

 

post-4274-0-44456600-1311335951_thumb.jpg

 

Vallejo Game Color " Dead Flesh" placed against Dapol Mk2D

 

OK yet another report back on the search for that elusive acrylic colour match.

 

My local and very helpful Games Worskhop called to say that they had a delivery of paint in and remembered that I was after a colour which they where out of stock on when I last visited. So after popping in I thought I'd post some more findings not only on the GW colour but also another Vallejo acrylic colour that turned up for test.

 

Unfortunately it's not great news. But like the previous postings it may help or prove useful to somebody somebody.

 

First the Games workshop colour. It's part of their Citadel Paint range and is called "Bleached Bone" In my picture I've put my test swatch against a Bachmann Mark 1. Unfortunately I was a bit pushed for time and The plastic key card that I used as a base hasn't been properly primed with Halfords white undercoat as in my previous tests. The card itself has been flattened of with some 100 grit abrasive to give a smooth flat keyed surface. Again with the photo's I have taken them on the windowsill in natural light (for the technical amongst you using a Canon 5D with 24-105 'L' series lens). There's no phtotoshopping done either, as out of the camera.

 

The Bleached Bone colour isn't too bad and closer than some of the other Vallejo and Citadel paint's I have tried. However it lacks a certain green/grey component to it for my eye to make it a good match. Interestingly the Phoenix Precision paint isn't a good match either (should really post pic of that) as being a bit too green. But that all said if you where painting a whole rake or repainting a BG for example to fit in with the Bachmann MK1's. With a little weathering I don't think it would be too jarring on the eye. So nipping down to your local Games Workshop and buing a few pots of Citadel Bleached Bone fore the light grey and a few pots of Citadel Charadon Granite for the dark grey, could give you the paint you need to update a GUV, BG or whatever to run with your Bachmann's or as a rake on their own.

 

In the second picture I have taken a test swatch showing Vallejo's Game Color "Dead Flesh" 72035. placed against a Dapol Mk2D. For my tastes the Dapol Intercity livery Exec grey is just too green. But if you are looking for a very good quality Acrylic paint to give as good as possible match to the slightly insipid Dapol colour then this would be my recomendation. Again I wouldn't say that as a patch paint it would be a perfect match, but as a repaint to fit in with a rake of Dapol Mk2's ity would certainly work. Interestingly I found that Revell's Aquacolor Acrylic paint Anthrazit 361 09 is the best match for Dapol's rendering of the Intercity Exec Dark Grey, in fact pretty much cock on, but that is my opinion. So again if you are looking to tidy up an older carriage to fit an existing rake or possibly repaint a blue/grey Mk2 then these colours are easy enough to get a hold of and affordable.

 

 

As mentioned before I have been trying to find an out of the pot match. Am beginning to think that I may have to mix my own colour. The Citadel Colour "Bleached Bone" looks as if it might be the best base to start from, though I'm wondering if a letter to Vallejo might help, who knows if I point out the defficiency in the market they may look at our little corner with a little more interest than their current but limited range of train colours.

 

post-4274-0-95736400-1311335910_thumb.jpg

 

Citadel Bleached Bone paint swatch placed against Bachmann Mk1

 

post-4274-0-44456600-1311335951_thumb.jpg

 

Vallejo Game Color " Dead Flesh" placed against Dapol Mk2D

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  • 9 years later...

It varied in real life and the early executive colour was different to the late executive and swallow liveries. However they all got mixed up from time to time.

for example Executive Dark grey to begin with was almost black with a slight purplish brown tint and the lower sides where more pale whitish grey as on the APT. The red was Rail red.

then the revised executive livery could be as above but the darker grey was usually more brownish and the light grey was changed to intercity fawn as on swallow locos but could still vary in shade.

then swallow livery to begin with could be either the same shades as above for the first sets it had the more brown shade grey.

then swallow moved to its own more purple falcon grey and the lower fawn strip initially was paler and then the darker shade become more common. The red stripe on the swallow locos carriages etc was its own shade of red a more darker colour but again Rail red could be used. 
there is also the intercity mainline livery between these two liveries for mixed traffic.

once your eyes are trained to the shade you can see which had what if you have a good photo.

A lot of models get the colours wrong these days the dark greys often too light and the beige is too beige.

id use the paints available as a starting point and mix to suit the subject. 
of course all the usual variables apply lighting film and weathering etc.

But if it looks right it is right :) 

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  • 10 months later...

Hi there.

Someone pointed me towards this thread.

Other than touching up a few spots, I've not used enamels or acrylics for about 10 years now, when I was introduced to Cellulose paints.

The problem I had was that I didn't know what the actual colours being used for British Rail shades were, so I spent a few years doing some research.

In the late 80's and into the 90's, there was a push against depots and works mixing their own paint... and standardised livery diagrams were created to make sure all stock matched.
Not wanting InterCity stripes to be at different heights, all measurements used 'Rail level' as a datum point.

Here's an example for an original version of NSE for the Class 47.

As you can see, the thickness and angles for the stripes are very precise.

B1-C0-8002530.jpg.f65b500d6233cfb4e483dc9626d14706.jpg
 

in addition, the standardisation of liveries included which undercoat to use, how many coats of paint, and how many layers of varnish over the top to achieve the perfect appearance and resistance to the weather and carriage washers.
 


When we look at the real thing, the first thing to realise about railway colours, is that we often look at them in photos and on the internet, but also they may have months and years of use when that photo was taken.

InterCity were very clever to use tan as the bottom shade... it hides the brake dust and other weathering effects in traffic.
But we also have to remember that our perception of a colour may include that weathering.

 

Manufacturers are in a difficult position;
Given everything is made in China, they rely on photos to come up with a shade that looks right.

But this is fraught with problems.
Imagine you're trying to figure out what paint shade was used... and you find a photo on Flickr...

Lets look at the layers of problems.

1: The camera film will have variations depending on the quality of the film
2: Processing of the film depends on how the photo printer was set up.
3: 20 years later, someone scanned their old photos... with the quality of the scanner and how the software interpreted the image to turn it into an image
4: Once it was scanned, they may have put it through Photoshop, or other graphics package.
5: Someone in China is given that photo as a source, and tried to match it with whatever paint shades they have available.

I can certainly say I've seen my own photos come out different... with my old scanner producing images that were far darker than ones on my current printer/scanner device!

So is it really a surprise that some manufacturers can't get paint shades right?


And then we have the changes in livery.

Here's a photo of a InterCity Swallow HST powercar coupled to an InterCity Executive TGS.

Executive Dark Grey has a blue tint to it.
Falcon Grey has a brown tint.

The rest of the livery is the same... Executive Light Grey, Rail Red and an off-white.

Note that red is one of the worst shades for weathering... it bleaches under the sun.
Just look at original Railfreight Distribution logos on class 90's, and how quickly they bleached to a point that you could barely see them by the mid 90's!!

The original NSE Blue (

When we look at this photo, it's important to remember that the rail red on the TGS may be 4 years since it was painted, it's been under the sun for a long time, and it's been through the carriage washer numerous times before this photo was taken.



613180209_InterCitycolourdifferences.jpg.701534755ddec1f0bc1c6ffb33cd593f.jpg


When it comes to Executive Light Grey on models... I think the worst offender is Hornby.

They use a colour that is a creamy yellow, and far too bold.

Here's an example of their Mk3 DVT (first batch) compared with an old Airfix Mk2d I painted with Pantone 452, as used on the real thing.

InterCity comparison.jpg
 

You can see how cream it is!!
 


Bachmann's Executive Light Grey is much better, and very close to the Pantone 452 I use.

Hornby also has problems getting InterCity livery correct.

The red stripe is almost always too red... the thickness of stripes varies, with the white stripe being two-thirds of the thickness of the red, but Hornby has released models with both stripes the same thickness, or the white being  half the size.

In the last year, they changed the Falcon Grey to something with a greenish tint to it, which looks awful!!

For clarification, the paint shades used for InterCity Swallow is:

Falcon Grey: Pantone 412
Rail White: Pantone 441
InterCity Executive Light Grey: Pantone 452
Rail Red: British Standard BS381C/593 'Rail Red'
Warning Panel Yellow: BS4800/08E51.

For old InterCity Executive, replace Falcon Grey for:

InterCity Executive Dark Grey: BS4800/00A13 'Storm Grey'.


Since 'Mainline' livery also uses these shades, it's worth noting that this livery comes in two variations.

'Mainline' livery had already been in use since Jan 1988 with a full yellow end and tiny numbers.
This version used Executive Dark Grey (BS4800/00A13).

However in 1989 there was a project to limit the number of loco liveries to just four types (not including NSE);

'InterCity Swallow' for InterCity express trains.
'Mainline' for mixed traffic work
Subsector 'Railfreight' for freight work
BR General for departmental work (hated, but soon given the yellow stripe to brighten it up).

Mainline was tweaked with a half yellow end (it was hard to keep the windscreen area clean because the carriage washer couldn't clean it fully)
And because they were used for hauling InterCity Swallow (with italic INTERCITY lettering) coaches, such as weekend diversions, etc) they changed to Falcon Grey to match the coaches.


The good news for modellers is that I've given my livery research data to at least two manufacturers, Bachmann and Dapol, both of whom now produce models from that data.... so if you model the British Rail sectorisation era, you probably have models on your layout based on my research.

Bachmann's new Mk2f coaches show the difference in dark greys between InterCity Swallow and InterCity Executive.
If you own a 47834 in Swallow, the dark grey uses their executive dark grey as used on coaches...  but the new upcoming 47/8 will have the browny tint.

Other liveries based on my research from Bachmann are; NSE (both versions), Centro 150 and the Parcels and Jaffa Cake Class 419.


I'll leave you with something interesting I noticed when compiling the data... often paint shades were widely used on different liviers, not just the one they were creating.

Rail Red on InterCity livery, is the same as the red stripe on Class 20's and original 58's (and Classes 26, 31, 37, 47, and 56).

'Poppy' (BS4800/04E53) is used for TPO coaches, the red stripe on NSE, and Railfreight Distribution logos.

'Tartan Blue (BS4800/18E53) used on early NSE livery, is also the same shade of blue for Railfreight Construction, Metals and Petroleum logos!


Cheers

Laura

Edited by UK D&E Railway Modelling
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Evening Laura,

                          Whilst I generally agree with you that using photos to gauge a shade of colour is not a good idea, due to the problems you outlined above, I have found that Precision and Railmatch got their Executive Light Grey's absolutely bob on, whilst Bachmann also got it virtually right - ( not enough difference between them and Precision/Railmatch for it to be a concern )......which is important for Modellers to know.

 

If you're re-spraying a Loco or following on with some weathering, you must get the initial application of colour totally correct, otherwise any weathering you do over it will not look right.

 

The reason I can say with some clarity that Precision et al got it right, is for the very simple reason, that when I volunteered in The Crewe Diesel Group to bring 47 712 back to life in ScotRail colours, 

T & R Williamson were chosen as the 'go to' manufacturer for specialist Railway Paint.

They've been supplying the rail industry from......well, pretty much from when Railways first began.

 

They know what they're talking about and certainly know their onions after supplying BR for all those years.

 

Anyway, what I'm getting at, is that when the paint arrived for the 12" to the Foot scale 712, I took the opportunity to test their shades of paint against leading brands and manufacturers.

 

This is why I now know Precision are called Precision - coz they got it nailed when comparing their colours to the Warning Panel Yellow/Rail Black/Executive Dark Grey/Executive Light Grey/Rail Red and Rail White as supplied by T & R Williamson. Same applies for Railmatch.

Whilst talking about companies getting it right, Steve at Railtec Transfers is also bang on the money with his colours too.

 

Some of the manufacturers on the other hand, as you state above Laura are wildly out with their renderings of the various greys........

 

If you want to get the paintwork correct on yer models and then the weathering to look correct, you MUST choose the correct paints from the right model paint manufacturers!

I really hate to bang the drum here, but it's why Oxford Rail got it so disasterously wrong on both their Exec Dark Grey and Exec Light Grey for their Inter-City liveried Mk3's and then the ScotRail version after that - not enough research into the correct colours.

It matters not one jot whether a colour looks right to a photo or from 10,000ft up an a dark, foggy night, or start bleating that that they painted it to the results of their 'market research' - it's plain and simply wrong - their choice of the two grey's are nowhere near Bachmann, Precision or Railmatch, which is why I'm so confident in what I'm saying.

 

The moral of the story here is to conduct your research, some of which Laura has handily listed above.

But if you want definitive proof as to who got what colour is 'right', you won't go far wrong with choosing Precision or Railmatch in model form.

Fox Transfers also provide a rather handy 'paint guide' at the bottom of their website and list the correct Railmatch numbers, so you know what you're buying is the right and proper shade.

If you don't believe me, hold a bottle of Precision or Railmatch paint against an Oxford Rail MK3 and then a Bachmann MK2F - you'll see what I mean!

 

cheers

 

Andy

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