Just wondering if anybody has these yet and can give a report. I am waiting on the few I ordered. I wonder how close the paint shades are to the Marsilius line that I have. I can wait to mix and match and see how they mate up.
I saw one that Loren had last night. It was compared to Jeff Merril's UP car and the yellow is a different color. The top of the car is more like the real thing, but is very much a different color too. More details on the new ones to follow. I'll try and take pictures of the two together today and post here. David L. at Sacramento - GTE show in another hour.
I got some! ) Just to let everyone know, the colors were matched to the UP Color Chips we got from the company, so they should be close. Joe MTL
I always find it interesting to see how colors match up. The funny thing is in real life you almost never see the same shades of color depending on age and weathering. In some ways I often think subtle differences in paints create a little more realistic look. I like the way the F-7 is different than my GP 7 Not too much, but just enough. Since I have weathered my F-7 it gives a look of an older loco and the Gp 7 looks like it is fresh. Of course I'll start trying to weateher eveything this year.
Joe, I painted three different boxcar withe the same bottle of paint, and they have three different shades of blue. Also, cars that are painted from different shops at differet are going to look different too. I also nfind that same cars with different shades adds to the realism to the cars.
Color is truly relative. The eye really plays tricks. For instance, a large patch of color will look different than a small patch, even if they are the exact color. Also, lighting, temperature, and nearby colors all can cause a color to look different. Then there is that whole underlaying color thing! Yikes! Colors will be different if they are painted on white, gray and black. It can shift the tones. Often manufacturers will 'adjust' paint colors to make them look more like the real thing. This may sound strange, but a dark blue may look almost black on a small model. On a very large model, it may look medium blue. Manufacturers may 'brighten' darker colors for small items or 'darken' colors for larger models. It is subtle, but it will cause trick the eye and make it think the color is spot on. One of my favorite models is an FR Swiss DZeh2/4. The locomotive is painted in the exact same paint as the original. Harald received a small tin of the paint when he was researching the loco. You don't get much more realistic than that! Rob
We received the UP cars in the shop this past week. Personally I think they look great. Hats off to MT. :thumbs_up:
Rob, Don't worry about it. I still can't read a magazine, catalog or flyer without looking for print quality issues. An old girlfriend used to throw away all of the inserts from the Sunday paper before I got to see them. Dan S.
I'm sitting here with a table full of these (literally). Loren made a little dent in shipping them out before leaving for the show in Sacto this weekend. They are a sight to see! I'd like to open some and see how many a Geep or two can pull but... alas, they are not ours to play with. So, if you need any I know a cool guy who sells them. Hey, I'm allowed to put a plug in for my own husband! Karin
The few vendors with any Zscale at the GTE Nashville show didn't have any yet. I did see the blue GT/CV GP9's.
Saw some Thursday at the LHS, they were a special order for another customer. Lucky guy! But lucky me I received by Railbox runner set.
I've been gone for the past few days, but I thought I would add my 2 cents since I know a bit about the subject. First off, the color of the plastic you paint over will effect the final color even with a primer. Some people disagree... come over and I'll prove it to you over and over again. Also the more coats you add the more you change the final color as well. John, that might be the reason your blues came out different shades. My other comment is for Joe, You based the color of a paint chip? How old was the sample and what era is it from? The UP has changed there Yellow 3 times in the past 60 years, oh and the grey has been changed twice. The cars you see today are not the same color as the ones being pulling by FEFs in the 50's. I'm sure you knew this when you guys did the line. The cars you did are the older shades. I already repainted the grey on mine to match today's prototype. Well... the 90's and early 2000's prototypes, since they are being changed again and the newest look is crap IMO.
Joe, you speak the truth. I like similar, but in real life, the colors, hues, and shades often do not match up. Go to any carpet outlet and they will tell you the next batch may be a little bit different. Same with a lot in life. Variety makes it all look more realistic in my book. Loren
I think it's more of personal preference for the UP colors... I am happy enough with the red pinstripes, and the UP Armor Yellow look ok, if not a bit light, but the Harbor Mist Gray has an airy fresh finish, with notes of berries and cream. (20 drops white, 1 drop black, 1 drop red, 1 drop blue to my eye )
Eddie, The colors we matched were the ones used when these units were first introduced. Micro-Trains/Kadee have been collecting this stuff since the 40's so our resources are pretty deep. Once we have the color we agree on, most of them are custom mixed by a company in California via a computer. We miss the color often enough to try and take extra steps to get it right. That said, there are so many factors that effect the finished product, it's sort of like art, "In the Eye of the Beholder". Joe MTL
Question related to the UP passenger cars, because I'm just curious. What locomotive should be pulling those? Because I see that there are no UP loco available from Micro-Train anymore....just asking!
