Bob... thanks for the info and the great pic!...I suspected as much about the use of the FEFs in 1957; mine will fit right in helper service for a UP streamliner (much the same as any ATSF steam I acquire-only in helper service up to Mountainair in the summer of 1957)[ It will make for a very nice and interesting lashup! Thanks again, ~Bruce
I have to disagree with the assessment of no variations on the paint shades. I shot the 844 and small consist back in Oct 2013 and you can definitely tell the shade different between Lynn Nystrom and Reed Jackson cars. Also, the "patches" where they have renamed the cars are also evident and you can see different shades as well. I wish I had taken a better shot of the color variations but at the time I wasn't as concerned as I had become in the last year or so. You can also see the color difference on the north side of the cars as they entered Kansas City Union Station trackage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gINrMrxk6bg (And yes this is my first post, but I'm sure more to come.)
Welcome aboard Espee, Thanks for throwing in your two cents. Going back to Bob G's post, I concur. I set trackside one afternoon a number of years back and counted 14 or was it 15 different shades of UP Armour Yellow. So, now that means I need to mix 15 shades of Armour yellow, for my UP consist of passenger cars. Yikes! What's a nuts and bolts, rivet counting MR supposed to do?
Thanks for the welcome. Ya, I watched the debate about the shades of yellow on numerous boards and found it funny how the debate that all the cars were the same. Now I will say that some of the Kato shades very apparent when put next to each other, and seems like even more so when in some lighting. I still plan to mix and match my couple of COLA cars and other UP sets with the excursion train. I can live with the inconsistency of the colors just as much as even pairing the 844 with excursion set as they are two totally different time-frames.
Espee, welcome to TB and that is a real nice video. What I see are various stages of fading. They could have all been the same color and sheen with some not liking the elements as well as others did. I think different shades would be very prototypical. Question for anyone - does the UP paint these heritage fleet cars, tenders, and locos with a two part Emron paint? I know the company I retired from painted all delivery tankers and boxes with Emron because it held up to the elements quite well and maintained the shine for quite a while. Just curious, heck there may be newer, better formulas for paint today. Carl
Don't know about today's mixes of paints. The leaded paints have all but disappeared and most of the paints going on buildings, cars, and locomtives are water based. With regard to different shades of Armour Yellow. Two cars out of the shops in the same train with fresh paint were obviously different in coloration and saturation. So, to those who think it can't happen...well... I'll leave you to your own conclusion. Hasn't anyone bought paint from the paint store? One guy mixes it for you and you go home and apply it. Then you run out and there's that one wall still waiting to be painted. You go back to buy one more gallon... Another fella mixes it and they aren't the same shade. What that hasn't happened to you fine folk out there? Even vintage pictures and videos I have of passenger trains on the UP mainline, it can be noted different shades of color. True!
I do that now when ever I make up a UP passenger train. Everything from lemon yellow to orange yellow to various shades of faded yellow. Looks just like the passenger trains tied in behind the FEF 3's, Challengers and Big Boys of UP vintage. See nothing wrong with that.
So are we saying that to be correct Kato should paint every UP car they make a random shade of yellow? There must be an official specification for what Armour Yellow looks like, I'm sure UP never in the long history of the paint scheme just sent someone down to the local hardware store to get 100 gallons of 'yellow that looks something like this'.
I think Rick has a valid point in that different batches of paint, even from the exact same place, can and do display differentiation. Especially in the days before computer controlled manufacturing, the formula of so many parts this to so many parts that could easily be affected by imprecision in measuring. Simply seeing the same color with even the slightest variation in prototype pictures proves that it does happen.
Ah, the old paint discussion rears it ugly head again. I had a great uncle who worked in the B&O paint shop, and he almost laughed himself out of his chair when I told him about all the paint debates in model railroading. His language was a bit too colorful to post the quote. It should suffice it to say a fair number of B&O box cars and other rolling stock were painted with automotive paints from the local dealerships because their regular supplier was late in delivery so they had to make it up as best they could. This is in addition to the same comments posted above about the variance from one batch to another. So can we put the color debates to rest......... It should boil down to you like it, you buy it. If you don't you let it go
I hope this means we can all give Kato a break and quit whining about their COLA set. In fact, it sounds like Kato's mistake was in painting every car the SAME COLOR. [;-)]
They did what? An abomination. We can't have the cars the same color of paint. Now I really am going to have to mix 14 or was it 15 different shades of yellow and repaint those cars. I said in my best sarcastic voice. Did you figure out what I meant? I think Eagle covered it nicely and summed it up correctly. The minute you think you have it figured out, you are about to learn you don't. True! The more I learn, the more I learn I don't know. :startled: Also true!
And I've learned that I know even less than I did 24 hours ago. Of course, I'll have forgotten this by tomorrow.
But I bet they would have been hauled kicking and screaming to the president's office to explain if they used that approach for painting B&O's crack passenger cars. Unless we have color accurate photos of every car and locomotive taken every month or so of its life to show what shade of paint was on it at the time and how much it had weathered since its last paint job I think model manufacturers should stick to the official specification colors.
Boy, I sure wish we could tell who people are responding to on these boards. Other boards I participate on state "...in response to (NAME)".
I'm more concerned with the fact that even though I have Pre-Ordered the entire set, there is no guarantee that I am actually going to get anything at all. My retailer has placed orders with both his both USA & UK suppliers, and neither know if they're going to be able to honour his orders or not. Perhaps this is KATO's version of the National Lottery
