Help Matching Paint on EMD Demo Unit
#1
Hey guys,

I need to match the paint on this EMD Demo unit i just got in the mail this afternoon. Its a Athearn Genesis (older run) so i have to apply the details myself, and well i need to paint the grab irons to match the colors of the unit. Whats going to be the easiest way to do this?

I need to match the deep red, dark gray, and silver colors for the grab irons....

Here is a pic of the unit:

[Image: EMDView1.jpg]

[Image: EMDView2.jpg]

[Image: EMDView3.jpg]
Josh Mader

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#2
Trucklover Wrote:Hey guys,

I need to match the paint on this EMD Demo unit i just got in the mail this afternoon. Its a Athearn Genesis (older run) so i have to apply the details myself, and well i need to paint the grab irons to match the colors of the unit. Whats going to be the easiest way to do this?


Probably with a paint brush. Goldth
Tom Carter
Railroad Training Services
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Stockton, CA
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#3
Tom Wrote:
Trucklover Wrote:Hey guys,

I need to match the paint on this EMD Demo unit i just got in the mail this afternoon. Its a Athearn Genesis (older run) so i have to apply the details myself, and well i need to paint the grab irons to match the colors of the unit. Whats going to be the easiest way to do this?


Probably with a paint brush. Goldth

LOL well i knew that part Misngth
Josh Mader

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#4
Josh:

I'm no expert, but my first question is... Are you going to weather the loco? If you are, then the paint you choose for the rails doesn't have to be an exact match. The weathering will blend it all together.

What kind of paint are you going to use?
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#5
Gary S Wrote:Josh:

I'm no expert, but my first question is... Are you going to weather the loco? If you are, then the paint you choose for the rails doesn't have to be an exact match. The weathering will blend it all together.

What kind of paint are you going to use?

Gary, thats an excellent question, and the answer is Yes, i will be eventually weathering the unit to match the prototype unit. So you make a good point lol

I want to use either Polly Scale or Floquil, ive used these before in the past and find both to be good quality paints. I am willing to try other model paints if someone makes a closer match to the colors i need though.... I wish they would just make a "EMD Red", "EMD Gray", and "EMD Silver", and just do that for every railroad LOL, but i think its a little too much to ask from anyone company out there as there are so many different railroads with so many different colors
Josh Mader

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#6
In my modeling, I use "almost exclusively" the cheapie dollar-a-bottle acrylic craft paints. So it is easy to have a huge supply of colors to use for mixing to match an existing color I need. I guess it isn't quite as easy to stockpile various colors of the PolyScale or Floquil due to cost?
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#7
Gary S Wrote:In my modeling, I use "almost exclusively" the cheapie dollar-a-bottle acrylic craft paints. So it is easy to have a huge supply of colors to use for mixing to match an existing color I need. I guess it isn't quite as easy to stockpile various colors of the PolyScale or Floquil due to cost?

I havnt done it yet, but when i need new colors that i dont have, ill just order them at get them at cost through my dealer discount, so for me, cost of the paint isnt really an issue. However, i know where your coming from, the retail prices for the tiny model paint bottles are ridiculous!
Josh Mader

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#8
Josh you don't have to, The Demo unit has black side irons and white front/back irons

[Image: EMDSD70M.jpg]
Tom

Model Conrail

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#9
WOAH!!!! Eek Eek

The "Prototype Company" didn't want to "match the colors" either!! Icon_lol Icon_lol
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#10
ngauger Wrote:WOAH!!!! Eek Eek

The "Prototype Company" didn't want to "match the colors" either!! Icon_lol Icon_lol

LOL

There are some grabs that are painted red, like the ones on the tops of the cab.... I guess i could just do all the grabs and railings black, and then do some the railings on the front and rear white Misngth

BTW, nice shot of #7004, i have a bunch of #7001
Josh Mader

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#11
Part of the problem for matching Demonstrator paint schemes is that neither EMD or GE have a standard color. Every new demonstrator model they build is different than the last model, so it means that matching the paint is an all new proposition each time they come out with a new one. Then the question comes up, how many model railroaders are going to paint a model in the demonstrator paint scheme? Fortunately in this case as Tom Mustang pointed out, you just need white and black to paint the grabs on this version.
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#12
Check another photo while I check my vision, but that unit looks to be "Black" from the walkway down - trucks included ! Maybe it's just reflection, 'cause EMD don't use "Dul-Cote". Bob C.
James Thurber - "It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."
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#13
Notice that, apart from the frame colors, the model isn't in quite the same scheme - check the position of the number and logos. I guess one is a demonstrator and the other is for lease service?
Fan of late and early Conrail... also 40s-50s PRR, 70s ATSF, BN and SP, 70s-80s eastern CN, pre-merger-era UP, heavy electric operations in general, dieselized narrow gauge, era 3/4 DB and DR, EFVM and Brazilian railroads in general... too many to list!
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#14
Triplex Wrote:Notice that, apart from the frame colors, the model isn't in quite the same scheme - check the position of the number and logos. I guess one is a demonstrator and the other is for lease service?

If I remember correctly, when EMD came out with those units, the SP had a bunch of new EMDs with mechanical or electrical problems. I think EMD took a bunch of SP's units back for refurbishment and sent those units out in the demonstrator paint scheme as loaners while the SP units were being repaired.
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#15
Okay so i came up with a solution to my paint matching problem lol

I painted the grabs on the front of the cab and the rear of the unit ATSF silver, the color is close enough to the silver thats on the unit now so you cant really tell, especially from far away. For the grabs on the top of the cab hood and the cab itself, i painted all those grabs black. I think it looks pretty good, and now i will install and paint the side handrails black. Once im done with that, ill install and paint the front and rear handrails, painting them all white. It is similar to the proto unit #7001 but not exactly dead on, just close enough for my standards anyways Misngth
Josh Mader

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