Hmmmm, where do I start ? I have just purchased an Atlas SD60 in EMD demonstrator colours and I really like that colour scheme. I plan to repaint some other locos into the EMD Demo blue and white and would like to confirm whether the blue used on the SD60's is the same blue used on earlier EMD demonstrators let's say right back to SD45's. ?? Also from what I've seen Oakway Leasing SD60's look to be a different, lighter, shade of blue. Is this correct or did they just fade badly ? I know film cameras could return quite different shades of a colour dependant upon camera / lens / film / developing, but there seems to be some large differences with digital photography also.
Scalecoat has EMD Demonstrator Blue on their website, and Tru-Color makes two shades, 'late' blue and metallic blue. The metallic blue looks more like the color used on early models like the F-units and BL-2. The Train Of Tomorrow may be a similar or same color, it's noticeably more of a 'midnight' or 'navy' blue. The SD60s and other blue units like the GP60, GP59, and probably the SD45 all seem to be in pretty much the same blue and white scheme. I would assume they are all using the same shade of blue. Scaletrains made a demonstrator in HO scale, and I know they match to Tru-color, so the 'late' demonstrator blue is probably the one you are looking for. I have also heard of people using Conrail blue and adding a few drops of white to make it a bit lighter in hue. If you are trying to match an existing model, you may need to go this route, who knows how close Atlas is to the Tru-Color or Scalecoat shade. I had never really considered demonstrator vs leasing blue, but I think they are the same. Oakway was a shell or paper company for EMD, and from what I just read on a few other forums, they are the same paint. I doubt EMD would come up with a new color unless they had to.
I'm probably not going to buy the Atlas Oakway SD60 because it appears to be painted in the significantly faded blue , , I really like weathered models all the same. I will paint some Oakway SD60's "as delivered" with fresh blue. I will be buying some tungsten carbide to ballast them down though. While typing this I realised there will be another factor in doing Oakway paint schemes ... the decal manufacturer ! Here is a photo of the Demonstrator I'm expecting in tomorrows post. ...... aaaaaaand my only photo of an Oakway SD60 , sorry about the quality but it was nearly a mile away and no time for me to even stand still before it went behind a hill.
Microscale makes a sheet for the demonstrator units, which you may be able to repurpose for the lease units. The lease units have a simplified paint scheme, so you don't need the black pinstripes that separate the blue and white. The only issue I see is the EMD logo. It seems like the Oakway units have a larger logo compared to the demonstrator. The Microscale sheet only has one size, so I'm not sure how you would go about finding a slightly scaled up version. That Atlas model is interesting too. I think it may be the lighting in your photo, because the Trovestar reference photo makes it seem like the blue is a lot closer to the Oakway color than your comparison here. link: https://www.trovestar.com/generic/zoom.php?id=170804 I think this is more evidence that it's safe to use the same color on both the lease and demonstrator units.
I had sort of planned to use Demo decals but you make a good point on sizes. The answer is for me to go down the custom printed decal path. I can get the blue matched by printing on paper first but I still have to print a whole A4 page. That project may cover many different sets of decals for different locos / paint jobs. The blue looks to be highly affected by more or less light. I'm going to have to focus on the positive side of the shade of blue , , it has changed / faded on the demos and Oakways allowing it to be not one only exact shade.
Hi Bill , please forgive me but what is the full name of RMJ ? It sound like an article I could learn from.
Trainlife has the Rail Model Journal archived online: https://trainlife.com/pages/rail-model-journal-magazine-archive Hopefully it's not against the rules of the forum to post this link, since Trainlife is technically a retailer, but I think this archive is a valuable resource. Some editions have an index of previous topics, but I always forget which ones include it, so I end up clicking random ones until I find it. I have read through a lot of them, and there are lots of interesting articles. I would describe RMJ as a cross between Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman. It combines topics on scenery and layout design, which MR is known for, but also has lots of kitbashing and rolling stock projects like RMC.
Railmodel Journal. A sadly missed publication that was often a good source of prototype modeling information.
I said I wasn't going to buy the Oakway locos ...................... buuuuuuuuuuuut ! I got two to make absolutely certain and obviously the blues are the same as Mr Trainiac said. I have been able to get totally different shades of blue simply by photographing these 3 locos in different light so it appears the colour is highly susceptible appearing different once filmed. In this photo they look much darker than how they look while sitting immediately under my computer screen.
