What was supposed to be the actual Frisco caboose "color" say from WWII to the Mandarin/White era? Seems to me they were originally "browner" than red, then became almost "pink" just before the Mandarin period. Also when did the grabs and hand rails change from black to yellow? Thanks, Tom
I'm not even sure what you would call it, but I was given permission to take the marker light brackets off of a steel cupola wood caboose at Lindenwood that they were scrapping. It's pretty close to what I would call Box Car red or Freight Car red. I stumbled into the Duplicolor sandable red primer and found it to be a dead on match. As for the yellow stuff, I would say '48-49 maybe. I model '43 and don't do it. I never cared that much for it, even though it's a safety feature.
I would have called it boxcar red--It looked like to me it was the same as the boxcars. But I sort of thought that the "color" got "redder" or "pinker" later on--50's, 60's, early 70's? Or was that a just product of older paint jobs fading? Thanks, Tom
Perhaps another thread in the making, Tom, but I've always found this effect interesting on some of the color photos and slides I've seen. I'd have to assume that this effect also occurred prior to the widespread use of color photos? A recent MR article on FEC switchers by Jim Six used ATSF Red w/a bit of reefer white to represent red paint that has been exposed to the elements; I thought it captured the pinkish hue rather nicely, FWIW.
May be a "photo" thing alright, but they were "darker" earlier on and "lighter" or "pinker" later?? When the film was better and newer. Beats me. Tom
You know, I think this is like mandarin orange. There are a dozens, maybe hundreds of shades due to film, lighting, weathering, etc. Life is so short I have decided to get the best advice I can get and then stick with one color. With mandarin orange, the color used by Atlas on it's Frisco locomotives is dead on with the orange used by Overland on it's International cabooses. Any locomotive or caboose painting I do in the future will be to match this shade of orange. With the wood cabooses, it's Duplicolor Primer. I love it. I am going to use Reefer Yellow for the grabs unless Don has another recommendation. Thanks. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Reefer Yellow should be as good as anything Rick. I get away with not painting mine because of the year I'm modeling. I like them better all red anyway. I think Joe Pennington or somebody said the grabs, etc, were also black for a while.