If you start with a undecorated body, how do you get the right color (as close you can get to the prototype) and decals? Lets take this Rio Grande Zephyr for example. I have seen that the Polly Scale colors have different railroad names, are they close?
Most common colors are available from one manufacturer or the other. Floquil, Polly S , Scalecoat , decals of course are availble from sources everywhere. The Zephyr is common enough I think ? The colors and decals should be available.
Polly Scale, ModelFlex, Scalecoat and Floquil paints all come in railroad-specific colours intended to match such colours. Generally one starts with those paints, sometimes adjusting to get a closer match by mixing in other colours.
Decals are sold for specific road names and specific categories and/or types of equipment. Microscale is the biggest maker of such decals, and there are many smaller manufacturers such as Highball Graphics and Oddballs Decals.
Probably not.
How do you get the right colors and decals? You CAN’T. You take what’s available.
PROBLEM 1: We’re dealing in REFLECTIVE light. Sunlight, Shade, Flood’s, and Florescent, have different base color’s.
PROBLEM 2: Outdoor paint’s FADE and weather with time. Black’s go to Gray’s, Red’s go toward’s Orange, and Yellow’s fade toward White. Santa Fe’s Blue fade’s toward Lavender, for exanple.
When you visit a A YARD sometime, you’ll find similar equipment in different shades - depending on when they were last painted… this aside from accumulated dirt which adds different shades of Gray.
PROBLEM 3: HOW TO MAKE Outdoor scene’s look real INDOOR’S when Oudoor light reflect’s the BLUE sky. Indoor lighting (our layout’s" reflect ORANGE/RED’S.
I learned this lesson when I brought some ACTUAL RR paint home and painted a model with it. Those of us with Darkroom’s use 5 - 10 poin’ts of filtration. FILM maker’s use Gelatin filter’s.
i lie floquil and microscale decals
The companies that make railroad specific paint (Floquil, Scalecoat) have usually researched and matched the paint to the original manufactures paint swatches as close as is possible. I usually trust those two companies. The problem with those paints are that it is only how the locomotive looked straight out of the factory. The paint might not match pictures because the paint fades and gets dirty. Photographs of units can be taken at any point in the fading / dirty phase. The photo might have been taken with the wrong film (daylight vs incandesant vs mercury arc vs floresent etc.) and the film may sit before being developed (especially in a hot car) or developed slightly wrong, all of which will effect the final color on the print or slide.