Color Difference.

quote:

Originally posted by Virginian:
I recently acquired two new GP60 locomotives in the Santa Fe warbonnet colors. One MTH Premier and one Atlas O Masterline. I was struck by how different the red was between these 2. At first glance I felt like the MTH color was correct and that the Atlas color was too dark. But when I look at real locomotives on line it is hard to tell which one got the color right.

Any opinions (here we go)on who got the color right and who got it wrong? I love both of them but running them next to each other would look a little silly....they are that different.

Thanks, as always, for you opinion!

Wyndham

Even looking online, it will depend on your monitor on how the color looks on the prototype images.

Red particularly, is subject to fading by sun, weather and cleaning chemicals.

MTH and Atlas may both have the red "right." It totally depends on what they used for a reference. Even an EMD color chip will look different indoors than outdoors. When I looked at a paint chip for what EMD called "Aluminum" for CB&Q F-units, it looked tan or beige indoors and very light gray-nearly white outdoors.

Add the type of lighting you're looking at the model under and the color can drift one way or the other.

Color is subjective. Ask any 5 Pennsy enthusiasts about Dark Locomotive Green Enamle or Tuscan Red and you'll get multiple answers to make your head spin.

Rusty

quote:

Originally posted by Virginian:
I love both of them but running them next to each other would look a little silly....they are that different.

Why would they look silly? In the real world, very few locomotives appear exactly alike in their colors. Unless they were both washed at exactly the same time and experienced exactly the same weather, any two locomotives will look different because one will be dirtier than the other.

Even when clean, there may be variations in color because of different mixes in the paint used.

Rich...I hear you. I would agree if they were weathered, or if even one was weathered that they would look more real but running brand new locomotives with colors that different is what I was referring to. I will post a pic so you can see the difference, but imagine two locomotives rolling off the assembly line and looking that different.

It isn't a big deal, just curiosity got me to thinking. I have noticed every now and then that unique colors (Maersk blue, for example) are sometimes very different depending on the manufacturer. But Santa Fe red would seem to me to almost be a primary color.

Anyway, I will post a pic when I get home....let me know what you think.

Thanks!!

quote:

but imagine two locomotives rolling off the assembly line and looking that different.

I'm sure it happened. They couldn't scan a paint chip on a computer and have it matched exactly back then.

I have no idea about the Santa Fe, but this same question has come up with other roads (Southern and GM&O), and when we finally got to the bottom of it, the answer was, either could be correct depending on what shop maintained an engine.

quote:

Originally posted by OGR Webmaster:

quote:

Originally posted by Virginian:
I love both of them but running them next to each other would look a little silly....they are that different.

Why would they look silly? In the real world, very few locomotives appear exactly alike in their colors. Unless they were both washed at exactly the same time and experienced exactly the same weather, any two locomotives will look different because one will be dirtier than the other.

Even when clean, there may be variations in color because of different mixes in the paint used.

Rich is right,

Railroads like any other big company only use on their locomotives the best paint..........low bid will buy.

David

quote:

Originally posted by DPC:
Railroads like any other big company only use on their locomotives the best paint..........low bid will buy.

David

And whatever is handy on the day they have to paint a locomotive. This aspect of locomotive construction and maintenance is not nearly as structured as you might think it is.

There are color mismatches in products today. Take a look at Coca Cola products, for example. There are differences in the reds in Coke cans, cartons, bottles, signs, trucks, etc. I am sure with so many suppliers all over the world, it would be cost prohibitive to monitor and ensure colors are exactly the same, especially on different materials.