"Pre-faded" black locomotive

[Sharky_McSharknose]

I have an undecorated N scale Life-Like Alco FB2 I plan to paint as NYC all-black (cigar band/early PC era). Since these locos were never repainted again after the cigar band black was applied, they were faded and grungy-looking. The FA2 that goes with it will be painted as PC 1350, which did receive fresh black paint and red-and-white worm logos... before it broke down for good a day later. 

For the B-unit, would I be better off using something like Tru-Color Grimy Black or Weathered Black as a base coat, or should I stick to good ol' basic Black and fade it afterwards?

[wvgca]

you might be better off with a dark gray as a base coat .. and -lightly- weather from there ...
would show the detail better ..

[Cajonpassfan]

Yeah, black black is tough under our lighting conditions: I prefer to start with something a tad lighter, like charcoal? It still needs to be glossy, for decaling, before being weathered. YMMV.
Otto K.

[nickelplate759]

I'd go with Tru Color weathered black rather than grimy black. The grimy black seems to have some other brownish tones in it.

[Bryn]

For aged Milwaukee Road black I use Tamiya's "Rubber Black", you can see a photo of it before I weathered it here;

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=48770.0

[SAH]

I used to use grimy black for black rolling stock.  That's what "they" said you should do, but the result bugged me for some reason.  Enough so that I repainted my NKP SD9 shown below.  I like the black version weathered down to gray to bring out the details much better.

Grimy Black base coat:


Black base coat:

[Sharky_McSharknose]

Thanks for the replies. I have Black, Grimy Black, and Weathered Black on hand. I'll paint up some scrap styrene to make color swatches before I hit the FB2 with paint.

I also need to figure out how to unglue the glazing from the shells. I've had poor results with masking off glazed parts.

[Santa Fe Guy]

To mask your windows try Humbrol Mask-all. You carefully paint it on, let it dry then spray.
Once you have finished all of your spraying just peal it out and you have crisp clean windows.

[Sharky_McSharknose]

To mask your windows try Humbrol Mask-all. You carefully paint it on, let it dry then spray.
Once you have finished all of your spraying just peal it out and you have crisp clean windows.

Thanks for the info, I'll look out for that stuff at my semi-local hobby shop.

I was able to remove all of the glazing by very carefully cutting the glue or prying the window pieces with an Xacto chisel blade and a toothpick. No damage to the glazing and only some superficial scratches on the inside of the shell. I will post photos of my "color swatches" when I paint them to give others an idea of what the different shades of black will look like.

[peteski]

Problem with viewing color swatches on a computer monitor is that everybody will see a different shade. It all depends on the  brand and model of their monitor and video card, the video drivers, the contrast/brightness/color temperature setting of their monitor, and several other variables.   

[MK]

You mean you don't calibrate your monitor?    And don't forget ambient light. 

[peteski]

You mean you don't calibrate your monitor?    And don't forget ambient light. 

Only if Sharky calibrates his camera or scanner to the same standard, and I did mention "several other variables". 

Wise a$$-hat! 

[MK]

LOL!!!!!