GWR Railcars - Colours

[Bob Tidbury]

I've done mine in gloss but I'm sure Karhedron will correct me if I'm wrong.
Bob

[BrassMonkey]

I'm sure he will appear soon enough!

Thanks for your help, Bob!

[Karhedron]

I'm sure he will appear soon enough!

Thanks for your help, Bob!

You rang M'Lud? 

Most railway vehicles are painted in a fairly high-gloss finish although this will weather with time.

The real trick is how best to represent this in model form. Gloss does not look convincing on small models because the reflections do not scale properly and spoil the effect of a model being the real thing seen at a distance. For this reason, most RTR manufacturers choose a more satin finish for their models. I actually tend to paint my models with matt varnish when I am finished.

It is one of those odd situations where reproducing the real thing accurately (gloss) does not necessarily produce the most convincing model.

[BrassMonkey]

I have always painted my brass locos in enamel which usually gives them an eggshell finish. I guess it does look quite shiny at the moment. I'll line it and put the decals on, then give it a coat of satin to seal it.

Cheers all!
BM

[BrassMonkey]

Me again...

Not a happy bunny monkey. Looks like I got a bit ahead of myself when masking the Flying Banana and managed to pull a huge chunk of paint away with it...

Anyway a bath in IPA (not the Greene King variety) managed to strip it back to bare plastic and doesn't seem to have marked the 3d print in the slightest. So a repaint. I would still like to repaint in the original chocolate and cream. Can anyone confirm if the lining is gold and black or cream and black?

[Karhedron]

Assuming the Railcars were painted as per the standard coach painting instructions then it should be gold and black (according the painting instructions published in Great Western Way).

Now it is not completely guaranteed that Railcars were painted exactly as per coaches since they were a new thing and I have never seen it categorically stated that they were. However in other respects they seem to have been painted as per contemporary coaching stock so I would expect the same rules to apply.

In the unlikely event that this is wrong, the lack of any colour photos of the prototype from 1933 means it is unlikely anyone will ever be able to prove it. 

[BrassMonkey]

Very true!I was thinking that Gold and black would be more usual especially for those days when things were painted properly...
I'll see what it comes back like after the paint has been reapplied.
So close, yet so far away! :'(

[javlinfaw7]

Colour prints of this period are unreliable as a guide anyway sha,des and tone varie tremendously due to film stock processing and degradation , even monochrome can give a wrong impression of shades

[geoffc]

Page 53 of the OPC book History of GW Diesel Railcars by C W Judge states that No 1 was finished in GWR standard colours, chocolate and cream, with black and gold lining. From photos in the book it would appear that the others were painted in the same style

Geoff