I have been looking at other layouts and been considering a change to my fascia. It has been a tan since the very beginning Some layouts look great with a black fascia… But I am not sure about black, maybe a dark brown?
I have always gone for black fascias, it is a clear demarcation and doesn't show mucky finger marks like tans do.
I have been leaning towards the brown myself. I thought about painting it Southern Pacific Lark Gray, and someone suggested using the railroad's primary color, but that would be a lot of red. Multiple people have suggested Hunter Green, but this is Southern California, and it wouldn't look right.
Just a thought, but I was thinking that a shade of PE red would look nice, perhaps with an orange stripe along the length. Since your railroad is of modest size, the color wouldn't overwhelm the room and it'd reflect your road's theme in an authentic way.
How about fuchsia? A fuchsia fascia has a nice ring to it. "Fuchsia is a vivid purplish red color, named after the flower of the fuchsia plant, which took its name from the 16th century German botanist Leonhart Fuchs. The color fuchsia was first introduced as the color of a new aniline dye called fuchsine, patented in 1859 by the French chemist Francois-Emmanuel Verguin" And that is probably more than anyone wanted to know about fuchsia. On a more pertinent note black has been used historically in theatrical plays to focus the audience's attention away from areas not pertinent to the actual play.
now that is a great picture of Downtown Long Beach that I don't think that I have ever seen. I have also made a replica of that dash sign,and it is hanging over my layout. I have thought about what you recommend with silver trim and a silver track diagram...
I like the photo too, so much to be seen in it. I think that's a Nash Rambler station wagon to the left.
I had black on my last layout and think it worked very well. Hard to go wrong with black. Pretty much will work with anything. On my new layout, going to try something different and if I don't like it, will go back to black. I am going to try a forest green with black trim which I am hoping will work out well.
Black or dark brown stands out more, tan blends in too much in my opinion. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Maybe it's the photo, or maybe it's just me, but when I look at the Black one, my eyes are immediately drawn to the black. The dark tan does the same but less, and the lighter and does not to me seem to dominate. It may be because the black is high gloss, I wouldn't want any facia to be gloss. When I had a layout, it was a very slightly lighter that medium tan, and dead flat. It drew no attention. It was so that although I had white lettering identifying the various stations (Cajon, Summit, Devore, Barstow) those were not noticed by many visitors. I never had any problems with fingerprints, but I was never open to the public. The white rub on letters survived to the end.
my artistic daughter looked at the shelves that support the layout and she suggested that I use that shade of gray...
I like to use Forrest Green for my fascia, Black would be my second choice. The track diagram will be painted on the fascia with red for the mainline, yellow for passing tracks, green for sidings and violet for the yard. Joe
Maybe it's a regional thing, but I've takes some layout tours here in the geographical center of the USA, I have NEVER seen a black facia. Virtually all are flat tan or green. The satin black might look better if flat, but I don't think I'd like it a bit better. But it is your railroad...
