Hello Need help for paint mixes for the MKT Frisco texas special Passenger cars. Would like to use Floquil railroad colors. Non watere base. Need the red and Maroon lower skirting. Thanks William
Howdy, I was searching for the Texas Special maroon color on pilot and skirts, but didn't find it. I've settled on Floquil signal red for the red, but still don't know what to use for the maroon. Does anyone have a recommendation? Best, mike
An acceptable color (at least to me) is Floquil Wisconsin Central maroon. I'm sorry, but I can't locate the SKU number on the bottle. However, it is a solvent-based paint so you can airbrush it using ordinary lacquer thinner. I use about a 50-50 mix paint and thinner. Greg Stout
Something to remember--The Texas Special and Meteor maroon skirts for the most part only lasted to the first repaintings. There are a lot of early 50's color shots of Texas Special and Meteor equipment that, by that time, have red skirts. I don't have any "paint shop" records as such, all my information is from examining photos. Good photos in Ray George's Katy In Color, Steve Goen's Miss Katy In Texas and the TRRA Texas Special issue. In Greg Stout's TRRA In Color book, the Texas Special equipment in the 1950 photos on pages 11 and 13 already have their skirts repainted red. As for manufacturers, the skirts on the HO Texas Special and Meteor sets by Hallmark and Overland have slightly different "maroons" on their skirts. Tom T
Howdy, Thanks Tom and Greg. I read that the skirts didn't stay maroon long if attached at all, but I am modeling the Texas Special in 1948, so it would have looked fairly new. I read the TRRA's book, but will queue up the MKT books and get some more perspective. In the mean time, Greg, I'll use Wisconsin Central Maroon. Best, mike
Don't go wild on this maroon color! Remember the Vanishing Vistas pic of Frisco Texas Special E7 SLSF 2000 new at EMD ..... the color of the maroon was only a few shades darker than that of the red on the main body. FYI, the Bruce Meyer article, "The Texas Special Painting Guide", in the November, 1983 issue of Mainline Modeler lists the red as DuPont Duco MC 2460 DK 860 Cardinal Red, and the maroon as DuPont Duco MC 51823 DK 960 Light Maroon if that is of any help. Once the E7's and the trainsets got a little grime on them, it was hard to tell a difference. Ken
The red below the "pier panels" (Battery boxes etc.) on the HW cars painted red and silver was the same red used on the other red areas, but "darkened with a little black." That according to the Frisco Museum article on the "Red And Gray Camouflage" paint scheme. Not sure if that translated to the lightweights?? Tom
