Playing with paint schemes

[sirenwerks]

First, as delivered C424 scheme:





Possible second as-delivered scheme - loose the lettering, enlarge and move logo to cab side, and replace cab-side number with large number on long hood ala BN.


New image - lose red/black bottom for all grey with black top, large black "MIDLAND" on long hood, and keep small cab number.  Or same with large cab number on long hood with "MIDLAND" and logo on cab side.  An all red scheme would require dark yellow lettering, which means I lose capacity to print my own decals.  But I'll play with the idea to see where it goes.

[wcfn100]

Well, ALCO designers would have liked it.   



Jason

[Miles]

I love the most recent version of your C424 paint job. Your RS3's look very era-appropriate and believable. The herald on the nose makes it. Also, thank you for using tasteful colors and not MS Paint default hues. That red is such a period shade, as is the gray/cream. Well done.

[sirenwerks]

Well, ALCO designers would have liked it.   



Jason

Deja vu, kinda.  Looking at this I am thinking I should tone down the lettering and logo some, shrink it maybe.  It looks like I might be trying to fill voids with these elements, making them as big as possible to be seen 'better'.  In doing so I am probably not respecting their real size and overpowering the color fields in the process.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

One other thing to think about while considering colors: we all like photos of models. You want something that photos well too.

It's one of the things that bums me out about railfanning NS. Black diesels are kinda blah in photos unless they're decently beaten up or it's snowing.

It's also one of the reasons I like modeling the muted colors of winter: blue CR diesels look great in it.

Think about how the colors you go with will photo on a layout.

[squirrelhunter]

Grey is/was a prominent RR color. But the problem is they are all much darker shades, L&N/UP/SP, all used grey partly because it doesn't show dirt as well. KCS and WM used white, which oddly enough held up reasonably well. But they used bright white.

I still think the cream/grey you are using would be ok in a transition era setting, but once the RR saw how dirty it looked on those oily Alcos, I think they would have moved to darker shade or a different color that showed less dirt/oil. Or go KCS style and use white, and keep the engines well washed.

[sirenwerks]

I still think the cream/grey you are using would be ok in a transition era setting, but once the RR saw how dirty it looked on those oily Alcos, I think they would have moved to darker shade or a different color that showed less dirt/oil.

I'm not sure what you're seeing on your screen.  The grey I have in mind is akin to EL's grey in shade, only a warmer hue.  In case you don't understand the concept of warm and cold greys, warm leans more towards brown and cold leans more towards blue. 


If anything, a warm grey will hide dirt, which tends to be brownish, more than a cold grey.  Nothing will hide all dirt, even black, because it all depends on what type of dirt we're talking about.  Summer dust?  Winter snow wash?  Oil stains?  Exhaust blow?


The closest model paint I find, and granted I will need to do some experimenting with it to make sure it's right, is Vallejo's Stone Grey 70.884.  EL's late scheme  had plenty of Alcos and grey was prominent, but I never really notice the dirt because it's such a beautiful paint scheme.  That's where I am headed - an attractive (but not in a girly way), believable scheme.  If I had multitudes of spare time, I'd teach myself to weather an illustration up, but I barely have time to do the clean hack versions.  Ooh, that should be my next project... A caboose...

[wazzou]

@sirenwerks
Every monitor or device I've viewed the images on, they appear more of a cream color than a gray.

[wcfn100]

@sirenwerks
Every monitor or device I've viewed the images on, they appear more of a cream color than a gray.

Same here.

Jason

[sirenwerks]

Not sure what to do about that.  Definitely showing as a light taupe-y grey on the three computers I work on and my ancillary devices.  Here's the Sherwin Williams version

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It's funny, that definitely looks more taupe than gray to me.

I KNOW it's gray, based on the data in Photoshop, but man... it looks almost tan on the monitor.

[wazzou]

What he said. 

[wcfn100]

I assume it's due to not being a 'web safe' color, but i'm not sure what's going on.

What's the link to the Sherwin Williams page (not just the swatch)?


This is what PS kicks back for web safe.



Jason

[peteski]

I assume it's due to not being a 'web safe' color, but i'm not sure what's going on.

What's the link to the Sherwin Williams page (not just the swatch)?


This is what PS kicks back for web safe.



Jason

The above looks like cool (slate?) gray on my screen. The other color in the discussion looks much warmer.  Not quite tan, but definitely warm gray.  BTW, I thought that color names like "taupe" or "mauve" were only used by women, not by crusty model railroaders. 

We all know that not only computer monitors work using additive color method, the calibration and color matching is all over the place. That is on PCs - who knows it there is even such ting as color calibration on non-PC devices such as smart phones or tablets.

[sirenwerks]

Do I need to make sure my colors are 508 compliant too?