Over the years there has been many discussions and debates about N&W Tuscan Red used on the J, K2a, passenger cars and some of the early hood deisels. After trying many colors over the years, and even custom mixing colors, I have never been happy with the result. Today I have found a color that I feel is very close to the original Tuscan Red. Rustoleum makes a color called Claret Wine in their Paint For Plastic line. It is close to the color Broadway Limited used for their J class, and it is much lighter than the almost purple color that MTH uses.
I found some at home depot. I will post some pictures of my K2a with this color once it has cured fully. The test card I sprayed looked very promising, and I am very excited about the color!
I am not good at colours so please forgive me if I am way out. Is the N&W anything like the C.P.R Tuscan? If so there should be lots of C.P.R. tuscan at the LHS. If it is close it should be easier to alter the hobby paint than Home Depot paint.
I have tried custom mixing, but I could never get the look I was after. So I started looking outside the hobby at regular spray paints to see if there was a color that matched up well. Here is the finished result-
That is the K2a I painted today. I think it is pretty close, right out of the can. MTH’s color is just too purple, BLI’s is pretty close, and Bachman is way too red. I think the color matches up well to my pullman sleeper that I feel is close to the right color.
I know the frustration of trying to find just the right color. I went through that with a Great Northern dome car a couple of years ago and tried a number of greens until I finally settled on Pullman green. As for your project. I personally feel that the color is a medium maroon. It sure would have made things a lot simpler if N&W had just called it that instead of tuscan… Anyways, looking good.
I know what you mean Tracklayer! I love the empire builder, especially with the F units on the point, but the color for the green is usually different from manufacturer to manufacturer in our hobby. Some of the names the railroads used to describe the color’s can be misleading as well. The color I used photographs like the original color, and washes out in pictures. It does look darker in person. I guess Tuscan sounded more exotic [:)] .
I recall a funny comment by the late John Armstrong on the topic of freelancing versus prototype modeling – something like: “Does anyone really know what color Tuscan Red is? If not, end of problem. More worrisome question – will someone know next year?”
So if I were to use the Rustoleum paint in making/painting the a-tank (water tender), that 611 trailed the last half of the 1994 season (debut at the 1994 NRHS), would that look okay. How could I get the font for the decals that NS used on that tender and the newly rebuilt excusion cars. Thanks
However, keep in mind that there were occasions on the N&W that the red paint on locomotives and cars did not match, a fact that is confirmed by film. Not only by fading, but the change in the Tuscan red paint in the 1950’s, as well as other factors. lois
Not entirely on topic, but collateral to it- I recently came across a Krylon Fusion spray can- Mandarin Orange- that is a very close approximation of GN Orange- actually, the same as when I held up a painted (primered) swatch of it next to an existing GN of recent vintage. and a Rustoleum dark forest green was virtually identical to GN Empire Green.
Michael’s Crafts also has a line of “art” spray paints (in the same aisle as their liquid art paint tubes) which might also be a resource for some railroad colors!
While we may not get the scientifically correct exact match for many colors, perhaps- as others have found- there are alternatives out there. Keep your eyes open
Thankfully, the "spray can’ business is not yet being regulated to death…
