"fantasy" paint schemes - Printable Version +- (https://bigbluetrains.com) +-- Forum: Mainline (https://bigbluetrains.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=17) +--- Forum: HO Modeling (https://bigbluetrains.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=21) +--- Thread: "fantasy" paint schemes (/showthread.php?tid=9256)

"fantasy" paint schemes - nachoman - 01-05-2021 I get it when manufacturers paint their items with prototypical road names.  For example, there may be a model of a 40 foot boxcar that is specific to a particular railroad that the model manufacturer decides to sell in a dozen different road names.  Usually, they choose an appropriate paint/lettering scheme of a car that is similar to the model they are selling, so in this case they will use the same paint scheme for similar boxcars of that railroad.  The idea is to make their model appeal to a wider market.  Unless you do research, you would never know that the PRR did not have that particular kind of boxcar, because the paint an lettering look believable.   But the "trainset" cars always baffled me.  Why paint a hopper car yellow?  I have never seen a yellow hopper car.  It finally dawned on me - they too are trying to make their products more colorful to appeal to kids (and parents) who appreciate variety.  If they painted all in prototypical paint schemes, most of the cars would be black or oxide red.  My kids like to see the different colors.  A trainset that has a black tank car instead of a red tank car, or a brown boxcar instead of a boxcar that advertises Kellogg's cereal probably isn't going to sell as well.   I have a box of old Bachmann and Tyco cars from when I was a kid.  I decided I am going to upgrade the couplers and wheelsets and use them when I set up tracks on the floor for my kids.  Some of them I am just leaving painted as-is, such as the green Burlington Northern boxcars.  But the yellow and blue hopper cars?  Egad!  they are getting painted black! RE: "fantasy" paint schemes - dave1905 - 01-06-2021 Like these:   RE: "fantasy" paint schemes - nachoman - 01-06-2021 Wow! Great photos, Dave. Is that Pennsy one is in ballast/MOW service, or part of a museum? Just need to find a UP yellow one and I am all set RE: "fantasy" paint schemes - dave1905 - 01-06-2021 Yellow PRR cars are in MOW service. UP MOW cars are in a puke green color.