I have started building several Hartford kits and a Grizzly Mountain rotary snow plow. I want to paint them in the D&RGW MOW red oxide color. Since Testors has discontinued the Poly Scale and Floquil line, it is difficult finding sufficient quantities of the paint. Does anyone know of good color match in the spray can paints or a good source of the paint without large shipping costs?
Many folks use ruddy brown primer from Krylon or whatever brand their local hardware store carries. The shades vary slightly from brand to brand, but all reasonably close to the various shades of “oxide red” that the railroads used through. I don’t know that any are an exact match for the Floquil color, but the price is right and historically, paint shades on the prototype (particularly 20s - 50s) weren’t as consistent as we modelers tend to paint. Formulations changed, weather took its toll, etc.
You might try Scalecoat II to see if that has something workable. They do have a few shades of boxcar red, though I can’t quickly locate paint chip samples on their web site to compare them.
http://www.weavermodels.com/page11.html
Later,
K
That Krylon Ruddy Brown that Kevin mentioned is a nice colour that seems to say RR. I have also used Rustoleum flat brown on my work train that is also pleasing.
Another option is to find a color chip close to what you want and have Lowes or Home Depot make a small bottle from the sample. Its water base but sprays on nice and if you hit it with a clear flat or semi-gross it works great.