Help Matching Paint on EMD Demo Unit

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Trucklover

Trucklover

BNSF SD70MAC's
Hey guys,

I need to match the paint on this EMD Demo unit i just got in the mail this afternoon. Its a Athearn Genesis (older run) so i have to apply the details myself, and well i need to paint the grab irons to match the colors of the unit. Whats going to be the easiest way to do this?

I need to match the deep red, dark gray, and silver colors for the grab irons....

Here is a pic of the unit:

EMDView1.jpg


EMDView2.jpg


EMDView3.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Josh I had a similar problem matching EMD demo blue for a GP60 and ended up mixing up some Conrail blue and bright white until it matched. From the looks of your pic I would start with SP Lark dark gray and add either white to lighten it until it matched or if it needs to be darker than pure SP Lark dark gray then start with maybe a base of NYC dark gray and add white to lighten it also. Put some gray base into a small mixing bottle and add a little white at a time and test brush it onto a scrap to check the match. Same for the red but I can't offer a base color as a suggestion except for possibly Caboose red and add white to lighten or black to darken as needed for the match. Floquil antique silver or maybe platinum mist might be a close match for the silver band. My EMD blue wasn't 100% match, maybe 1/2 shade off but on the handrails it doesn't show up as a mismatch. If you dull coat the paint after it cures that can change the hue slightly too.
 
Thanks for the tips Mike. Looking at the proto photo for this unit, it appears that the grabs are all silver/white and black, so i have those on hand, and well i just went ahead and painted them black on the hood/roof and ATSF silver on the front of the cab and the rear of the unit. The ATSF silver is pretty close match. The handrails on the unit are white on the front and rear of the unit, and either gray or black (cant quite tell, have to find a better shot of the unit then the one i found real quick with google lol)

Ill post some pictures up when im done :D
 


Josh, are the grabs supposed to match the colors, or are the one color on the prototype?
 
Here are a couple pics of the painted Grab Irons on the front and top of the cab, and the rear of the unit. I still have not done the handrails, i know i know, im slacking lol. Been at work all day :rolleyes:

SL373686.jpg


SL373687.jpg




**Looking back at the first pic, it looks like i need to do a bit of touchups on the black grabs on the front of the unit, i can still see a bit of silver here and there LOL. Will fix that pronto :D
 
Looks good from here Josh. Nice looking unit. I ought to move my railroad up beyond the early 60's so I can add one of those. ;)
 
NH Mike said:
Looks good from here Josh. Nice looking unit. I ought to move my railroad up beyond the early 60's so I can add one of those. ;)
Click to expand...


Thanks Mike :D

I have to say, the SD70M and the SD70MAC are 2 of my favorite locomotives, but i think my all time favorite has to be the massive SD90/43MAC. I dont think i could ever backdate and model anything else earlier then the early 1990's, i would be missing the beasts of the modern age too much LOL

BTW, some more shots coming up in a few mins, just finished painting the side handrails, the front and rear handrails out side right now drying...
 


Nice work, Josh. I'm curious, though. It appears that the 7006 has a black underframe and side sill. Did EMD have two different paint schemes for the SD-70M demonstrators?
 
Yes, EMD had several for the SD70M's.

Nos. 7000-7002 were Burgundy, Silver & Dark Gray, with Silver trucks and a Burgandy tank. These 3 units have the distinction of having the SD60M cab, with the nose door on the Conductors side.
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1648113

Nos. 7003-7017/7020 were Burgundy, Silver & Dark Gray, with Black trucks and fuel tanks. These had the new, Engineer's side nose door.
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1280929

Nos. 7018-7019/7021-7024 were Burgundy, with black under frames, and the Engineer's side nose door.
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1485579
 
UP2CSX said:
Nice work, Josh. I'm curious, though. It appears that the 7006 has a black underframe and side sill. Did EMD have two different paint schemes for the SD-70M demonstrators?
Click to expand...


Thanks Jim :D

Yes, as Josh mentioned above, there were several different paint alterations to the EMD paint schemes as they were produced. My unit should have had gray handrails, however, i liked the look of the black handrails, and since i had already altered the color of some of the grabs, i figured, what the heck why not customize it a little more LOL.

What im not sure of is if my unit (#7001) is currently being leased to a railroad, or it is still in the original EMD paint with no patches or anything. All the pictures i have seen of her have been original paint, with no sign of lease, so does this mean EMD has kept it on its roster for continued demo? :confused:
 
Trucklover said:
What im not sure of is if my unit (#7001) is currently being leased to a railroad, or it is still in the original EMD paint with no patches or anything. All the pictures i have seen of her have been original paint, with no sign of lease, so does this mean EMD has kept it on its roster for continued demo? :confused:
Click to expand...
All of the EMD SD70M's are now CSX. I had a chart of the scheme's they're currently in, lemme see if I can find it again.
 


Thanks for the links Josh, I did a little research a couple nights ago after I had posted my question and discovered that CSX owned it, I wasnt aware that CSX now owned all of them though lol
 
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