I would like to find out what “gray” is correct for CB&Q locomotives painted in the Chinese red scheme.
The red is almost orange, or so Sherwin Williams indicates (no, I’m not using it for models).
I can’t seam to find a specification for the gray.
The CB&Q listed it as ‘Chinese Red’, IIRC. The Duco number is 254-4182. The grey on the roof is tougher. UP ‘Harbor Mist Grey’ is too dark, and most ‘M-O-W Grey’ is too light. What is Sherwin Williams using for a ‘base’? The red is a very bright red!
Here is ‘mix’ formula for Floquil paint:
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Aluminum 4 parts R-11 Reefer White
1 part R-12 Light Gray
Red 5 parts R-187 Socony Red
1 part R-11 Reefer White
Gray 9 parts R-150 D&H Gray
&nbs
THis question comes up a bit on the CB&Q list. Even between the “Blackbird” and Chinese Red scheme, the greys appears to be different. I’ve touched up the grey area using SP Lettering Grey mixing is as appropriate to match the manufacturer’s color using white or SP Lark Grey. After weathering, everything blends pretty well.
Rick
Sherwin Williams has this:
Chinese Red SW 0057
I had it color matched at Lowes and although it looks “orangish”, it looks like the same stuff that IRM is using to restore SD24 #504 (see pics at their site).
The original GE drawing (used for the U30B’s & C&S U30C’s), dwg # 41B511706, calls for:
Gray - Lucite Dupont #890-93879
Red - Lucite Dupont #890-93880
White - Lucite Dupont #890-93881
Black - Lucite Dupont #890-67104 (Edging on foot boards)
Black - Dulux Dupont #88-005 (Underframe, Trucks, Fuel tank)
I have an E-mail into them to see what records they might have.
REL
Floquil and Scalecoat2 are the paints I use. I’m oldfashioned I guess but I prefer solvent based paint.
For Floquil CB&Q red I used a mix of 70% SP Daylight Red/30% Caboose Red
Floquil CB&Q Grey was a mix of 50% Refer Grey and 50% SP Lettering Grey
Scalecoat2 makes a CB&Q Red that is reasonably close. I added about 10% SP Daylight red to it.
Scalecoat 2 EL Grey was used for the grey