Garden Railway Forum

Matching on rolling stock seems to be an often asked question on the forum.
I am happy to try and compile a definitive list but I need your help.
If anyone has information on any the colours used on commercially produced stock please can they PM me and I will start a Sticky Thread. I will contact R/H and Accucraft in the new year and see if they can give me some more information. But in the meantime any information would be useful.

Paint colour for real railways would also be very handy.

A paint code is better to have than just a name as some colours are available in differing shades. (eg B/L British racing green)

Roundhouse paint details (BS and RAL numbers) are listed on the "Locomotives" page of their web site.

Thanks Tony.

Colour matching Roundhouse locos may depend on when they were built as some of their shades changed from automotive paints to RAL colours and might therefore differ.

My Maroon Lady Anne is a 2007 build and was painted Rover Damask Red according to Roundhouse. The current Roundhouse Maroon is RAL 3004. I've haven't needed to attempt any repainting or touch ups so I can't say if there is a difference in shades.

Paint colour changes over time with use, sunlight, contact with chemicals etc.

Ian

You are not wrong there, Ian. Damask Red is a different colour to RAL3004.

As many of you will be aware, I build tenders for Roundhouse Millies and Berties and the biggest issue I have with them is matching the paint colour to that carried by the loco. Black is not a problem, but some of the others really are. For example, I was recently asked to build one for a BS105 Oxford Blue Millie and the owner kindly supplied a part of his loco for colour matching purposes. I have BS105 Oxford Blue in stock but did the two match? No. Not even close, and I spent a long time trying to achieve the perfect match. Fortunately I was successful. I have since made arrangements with Roundhouse to paint my (non-black) tender bodies where they need to match an existing loco.

I have seen the same variance in shade with other supposedly standard colours, and I am at a loss to explain why they vary so much.

Tony,

Paint matching is, in my experience extremely difficult. Even standard colours may not match for one or more reasons.

UV can affect paint, as can chemicals. When repainting or touching up paint may not match depending on the shade and colour and type of paint being used.

For example Red is a translucent paint and painting red over grey, red or black primer can give different results.

Another example of colour changing is the use of varnish. Some varnishes will change white to a cream colour!

I think the best way to acheive a paint match for touch-ups is to use the car body repairers technique of blending the colours by feathering.

Ian