Playing with paint schemes

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I like em! Very plausible!

I also like the all red variation better than the all gray variation. I hear you on the decals though.

What color are you planning for the lettering? I think white would look really sharp on the red. Better than the gray.

[jmarley76]

There's something very appealing and Western Maryland-ish about that black/gray(or white)/red scheme, maybe it could be a WM connection or affiliation?

[sirenwerks]

I like em! Very plausible!

I also like the all red variation better than the all gray variation. I hear you on the decals though.

What color are you planning for the lettering? I think white would look really sharp on the red. Better than the gray.

Thanks!  On grey, black; on red, white or dark yellow.  I got my logos color corrected now.  Working on getting a C424 mocked up in the later schemes next, and then some lettering schemes for it and the RS3 in all of the units' variations.

There's something very appealing and Western Maryland-ish about that black/gray(or white)/red scheme, maybe it could be a WM connection or affiliation?

WM connection?  Can't miss it, probably around Baltimore and maybe a second in the Cumberland area.  The schemes riff on a lot of personal favorites, from LV to GBW to MILW to CB&Q and the circus scheme echo just kinda happened.  The WM is where I started my railfanning as a youth watching black and gold BL2 and slug working the yards, so it's appropriate.

[Philip H]

so I like the top herald . . . and I always appreciate a good Deramus nod . . . but honestly I can get into any ofthese schemes.  And I don't think theyd translate well to the Centuries - that much more hood will make the center strips that  much more dominant.

[jmarley76]

The WM is where I started my railfanning as a youth watching black and gold BL2 and slug working the yards, so it's appropriate.

Ah, yes, memory usually heavily influences the creative process! 

[sirenwerks]

so I like the top herald . . . and I always appreciate a good Deramus nod . . . but honestly I can get into any ofthese schemes.  And I don't think theyd translate well to the Centuries - that much more hood will make the center strips that  much more dominant.

All right Mr. Negativity  , what solutions do you bring to the table?


BTW, I'm not done with this unit but here's one view of a C424 in the 1961 scheme:

[sirenwerks]

This is the route I'd suggest.  Reasonable, rational, linear, and makes sense as the road builds up, declines and (by the all-red scheme) is soon to die/be sold off.

These four could very reasonable cover 1950-1975.  I'm not partial to the "grey" schemes, both for a realism angle (roads generally avoided white/grey as often as possible) and for purely personal aesthetic reasons.

Great progress though.

Thanks for the feedback.  I see where you're coming from but the one thing that makes me shy away from the red scheme, ability to print my own black decals aside, is that so many other roads in the area used a shade of red as primary.  PRR and LV being the biggest PA-local 'abusers'. 


And there are arguments to be made for the grey, personal aesthetics aside.  CB&Q used grey successfully, with red on hood units and as primary color on F units.  There are also  regional examples of use of such a lighter color, NYS&W and LV's 6 axle Alcos being the most memorable to me.  Plus, IMO, it gives a bit of a southern flare to a line invading the north and the scheme overall is unique to the region while winking at others.  That being said, I plan on exploring both paths further on a larger Century and on both units with some lettering to complete the schemes.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

What are you using to do the editing?
I have a pretty decent workflow in photoshop for doing these, and I'd be happy to show you.

[eric220]

Have you tried one of these in scheme 2, with the narrower grey band? Of all the schemes that have come up (apart from the CR patch out) that is by far my favorite. It's really got some prototype style class to it.

[JMaurer1]

Move the bottom of the white stripe to line up with the cab steps...this is more 'prototypical' and will make it much easier to paint. Other than that, I love it.

[sirenwerks]

What are you using to do the editing?
I have a pretty decent workflow in photoshop for doing these, and I'd be happy to show you.

Gimp.  But work and a three year old keep getting in the way, damn it.      The hard part last night was that the RS3 GIF and the C424 GIF were different scales and I want to try to line up the striping so it's consistent in a consist.  With the RS3s it took a while to play with all the variations I came up with, three-quarters of which were not presented.

[sirenwerks]

Move the bottom of the white stripe to line up with the cab steps...this is more 'prototypical' and will make it much easier to paint. Other than that, I love it.

But if I do that, the stripes will not line up on different units, which is not so prototypical.  On the C424 I had to paint the side sill red, on the RS3 the side sill is black.  I get that it's easier to line up stripes with body parts, but that's going to make lash-ups look like a squiggle.

[sirenwerks]

Have you tried one of these in scheme 2, with the narrower grey band? Of all the schemes that have come up (apart from the CR patch out) that is by far my favorite. It's really got some prototype style class to it.

I'll try it when I get back home.  That screws with my timing of schemes but rewriting history is easy enough.  The RS11s, which I have'nt gotten to yet, would have that scheme originally since they were available prior to the C424.

[squirrelhunter]

I like all the schemes, and the red progression the best. That said, one way to make the grey scheme work would be to add red safety stripes or solid red on the hood ends. Maybe like the old/original Norfolk Southern scheme for example.

One other idea to add- There was a story mentioned at the last Missouri Pacific Historical Society convention that when MP whet to the solid Jenks blue in 1962, it was due to the fact the US Navy went from painting their aircraft blue to gull grey and white, and Jenks bought the surplus blue paint. Maybe some other RR in the area made a major change to their paint scheme and your RR got a deal on a bunch of excess paint for cheap?

[JMaurer1]

...the route of the chimp!
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