New brass Milwaukee Bipolar EP-2 clinic- part 2

[peteski]

Trying to match color from old color photos or photos reproduced in books is futile.  I would say pick a color that you like and go with it. And if some "expert" complains that is is the wrong shade, give them a finger!     

I suspect that even the paint used railroads had certain variations from batch to batch.
If you can't find Tru-Colro match to some color you think you want to use, you might have to do a custom mix.  Just write down the formula  for future use. I have done custom mixes to match paint on existing model, and I  did a pretty good job.  But since you are paintign the entire model, you have a bit more of a leeway.

[u18b]

Pete,
A few specifics.

Here is the plan I have devised.  Masking is an issue with this loco.   It is almost impossible to mask well around details.  So to avoid this, here is what I was planning.

I will paint everything all orange first (etched bare brass with no primer).

I will then mask the orange and paint all the rest red.  Red on top of orange should maintain the brightest red.

Then I will mask the red and paint the remainder gray (mostly the roof).  I know that paint on the roof could get a little thick, but I want the gray to be even.  However, I will go a bit lighter on the orange and the red on the roof.

Thus decal color matching will be needed with the orange stripe below the windows.  I could try to mask it, but the curve on the ends will just not look good- decals are the way I want to go.  So we want the final orange on the decal (sitting on red) to be the same orange as below at the bottom sill.

Also, there is red on the pinstriping edge on the silver.   That's a challenge because it lays over red and orange.  When over red, it sort of disappears.  I drew the decals with this red over the underlying silver- so that whether the pinstripe is over orange or red, it will appear the same.

[peteski]

While I have some options for orange shades using Alps inks, that is fairly limited.  And using Alps CYMK halftones is not an option because the Alps halftones are rather coarse (compared to any modern ink jet printer).  You don't want the orange to look like bunch of CYMK dots or lines.



Even at 190lpi, in N scale (especially in closeup photos), the halftone pattern would be visible.

We sort of got away with the 190lpi halftone purple inside the MILWAUKEE lettering in the last set of decals because those color areas were so small.

I would make more sense if I sent you some samples of oranges I can print as solid colors, and you match the paint to that.

Also, if any of the non-metallic (translucent) inks are printed over metallic inks, the color will have metallic sheen.  I can try to print a layer of white undercoat over the silver where the red ink will be printed, but I might have ink adhesion issues.  Matching the Alps red to the painted red might also be difficult.  The images I see on the screen show the red more like dark orange rather than the reds Alps prints.  Or is the red pinstripe a brighter red?

[u18b]

Orange.  OK.  We will go with sample of stock colors and see what happens.

Pinstripe.  It appears to be the same color as the red.  Streamstyle Graphics made theirs rather brownish (maroon).  But they should be more red.

We only have two photos to go by.




When I printed out on paper last night and placed the silver stripe with red pinstripe on the EP-2, the pinstripe seemed a bit wide.
I'll send you the corel draw file and you look at it.  I think I have a good deal of tweaking to go- which is normal, I'm sure.  If we can make the pin stripe pretty narrow, then exact color matching is probably no big deal.

[peteski]

The thinnest line Alps prints is 0.0016" (600dpi, single print element), but  more realistically I would go with 0.0032" or thicker.

[u18b]

File sent.

I'll experiment with thickness.

[Sokramiketes]

Some thoughts from a Milwaukee modeler circa 1949.  And I'll use the Kato 1952 Olympian set as a baseline for comments, if you have those cars around.

Tru Color orange is fine.  Kato is more red, but I'm not sure it should be.  I like it a bit more muted.

Tru Color maroon is very red/purple.  I mix in D&RGW freight car color (brown) to bring it in line when matching to the Kato shade.  I've added a lot of maroon letterboards to Kato cars to backdate them.

Gray, I use Testors Dark Aircraft Gray.  It's a touch lighter than your images, but looks great (nice and warm) and takes great weathering.

Also, while earlier lettering was gold leaf, you're into the dulux gold era here.  You actually want that rich yellow-orange look of dulux gold instead of metalic.  That's why it's so clear in the photos too.   

[u18b]

Some thoughts from a Milwaukee modeler circa 1949.  And I'll use the Kato 1952 Olympian set as a baseline for comments, if you have those cars around.

Tru Color orange is fine.  Kato is more red, but I'm not sure it should be.  I like it a bit more muted.

Tru Color maroon is very red/purple.  I mix in D&RGW freight car color (brown) to bring it in line when matching to the Kato shade.  I've added a lot of maroon letterboards to Kato cars to backdate them.

Gray, I use Testors Dark Aircraft Gray.  It's a touch lighter than your images, but looks great (nice and warm) and takes great weathering.

Also, while earlier lettering was gold leaf, you're into the dulux gold era here.  You actually want that rich yellow-orange look of dulux gold instead of metalic.  That's why it's so clear in the photos too.

@Sokramiketes ,
Do you have a product number for the gray.  I'm having trouble finding it.  I see Aircraft Gray.  And F16 gray. and a lot of others.  Do you have a number?
Thanks

[Sokramiketes]

Color code 1226?

https://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-Hobbies/Model-Kits/Paint-Brushes/Flat-Dark-Aircraft-Gray-Testors-Spray-Enamel/p/1243

[Sokramiketes]

Here's a fully painted example of these colors in action:

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