Best Paint for GWR Loco Crew

[Chriswilliams47]

Hi Everyone,

 

I'm trying to find the right colour paint for my GWR loco crew (I'm aiming for WW2 era) would any one have a make/number they would recommend? I've tried a few but so far they just don't look right.

 

Much appreciated,

 

Chris

[Miss Prism]

I've tried a few but so far they just don't look right.

 

Tell us why.

[Wellyboots]

I assume that the GWR in that period used dark blue cotton for footplate crew's clothing, if that is the case then there won't be one colour unless it was new and had never been washed. Heavily soiled clothes would have been boil washed with washing soda to remove the dirt, this would have caused a gradual loss of dye in the process. Colour photos from the BR era show a range of shades from Dark Blue to very light grey with just a hint of blue, so I would assume that a similar range would have been seen in the clothing of GWR footplate crews. To recreate this start with a dark blue and add light grey to fade it, although for extreme fading start with light grey and add a little of the blue. In the past I've used Humbrol Oxford Blue with one of their light greys but for the most recent ones I've used Vallejo Model Color Prussian Blue again with a light grey.

[JZ]

I use a mix of blues for loco crew. From Navy through to a light blue/grey, similar to RAF blue. Don't always use the same shade for trousers and jacket, mix it up a bit. Shirts were generally white, but best use a pale grey as they didn't stay clean for long. Also the firemen often wore a neckerchief/bandana.