Playing with paint schemes

[sirenwerks]

Actually, I was thinking of the slogan "We don't monkey around."  Droll, so droll...

[Virginia Atlantic]

Thanks for the feedback.  I see where you're coming from but the one thing that makes me shy away from the red scheme, ability to print my own black decals aside, is that so many other roads in the area used a shade of red as primary.  PRR and LV being the biggest PA-local 'abusers'. 


And there are arguments to be made for the grey, personal aesthetics aside.  CB&Q used grey successfully, with red on hood units and as primary color on F units.  There are also  regional examples of use of such a lighter color, NYS&W and LV's 6 axle Alcos being the most memorable to me.  Plus, IMO, it gives a bit of a southern flare to a line invading the north and the scheme overall is unique to the region while winking at others.  That being said, I plan on exploring both paths further on a larger Century and on both units with some lettering to complete the schemes.

You're very welcome.  Figured being a professional paint scheme designer would come in handy eventually!   

I completely get your logic, and am glad to see you're thinking it through thoroughly.  Given your passion for the project, I think you'll make great choices, no matter which way you go.  Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

[sirenwerks]

As delivered scheme gets lettering...





Keeping it simple, thought a logo on the cab would be overkill with the full lettering.  Nose logo really doesn't work with the brake wheel on one end either.  At this point in the game, the railroad may not be thinking about rebranding itself to a simpler name anyway, too much pride to take anything away from the name.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I like that. I would avoid using gray, go with a warm beige/cream. Maybe a nice fall foliage brown/red for the body.

What if you did muted palate altogether? Orange-brown for the car body, muted green for the stripe, bordered by cream pinstripes?

[eric220]

That screws with my timing of schemes but rewriting history is easy enough.

Don't I know it! 

[sirenwerks]

The C424s are rolling out of the paint shop.  No lettering yet though...





The C424s won't get the passenger grey scheme obviously.

[sirenwerks]

Doing some more experimenting with Gimp, trying to figure out how to bring detail lines over lettering and came up with these two late scheme box cars as an outcome of my lessons:





Oh, and came up with a generic slogan... "Reliable Freight".  Gosh, what does that say about passenger service?



I'm kinda proud of my little rip at the C&O with that last one.  I imagine them in a little competition down south...


Tomorrow's my first anniversary, so no more work on this until next week...

[nkalanaga]

By the 1960s passenger service on most roads was an afterthought anyway.  Even those roads that still took some pride in their passenger service seldom advertised it on the freight cars.

That "Reliable Freight" slogan would be especially ironic after 1968, given the merger and collapse of the competition in your chosen area.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I like em.

I don't know if Gimp does it the same way Photoshop does, but here's how I do it.
When starting a new drawing, I select all the white, and make a new layer out of it, via "cut". I then lock the visibility on it and the layer I cut it from.
Then I make copies of the white layer, and paint on them.

When I add lettering, I do it as separate layer that's above the paint, but behind the outline.

It's how I did all of these: https://picasaweb.google.com/103328750375507168249/OldRRPaintshopImages?authkey=Gv1sRgCPC4zpCD2b2upAE

[sirenwerks]

That's how I did. Selected the black by color and slapped it onto another layer over the lettering.  Now I need to figure out how to set, eventually, the text to make masters for decals. I don't think Gimp is gonna work for that and Word is clumsy.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Nope. You really want something vector based, like Illustrator, or Indesign.

[sirenwerks]

I guess I'll be playing with Inkscape a lot soon then.  I have no software budget. It's gotta be freeware so I can afford child care.

[johnb]

That opens to a whole new list, AD&N, SP&S...

Other roads displaying three names without would be ACL and FEC.


Jason

How about four words and an ampersant?

[DeltaBravo]

Round two...


First, pictured are only RS3s because that particular unit will feature heavily in the 1969-1971 roster and, thus, will have survived through all paint scheme iterations featured here.  Second, with that in mind, try to think about how these schemes would look on larger, more modern locos like the other mainstay of my fleet, the C424, as well as C420s, RS11s, and the C415 if it ever gets printed in Shapways.  Maybe even some six axle belchers.


I took previous critiques about more traditional color use and stripe placement in mind and came up with the following (#1), which represents the as-delivered 1950 scheme:


The first iteration of the as-delivered scheme, #2, comes about the time tail fins are hitting the streets, 1957, and gets a little bolder and more hot rod:


Then we have two options, going red or going grey.  Honestly, I'm leaning towards grey because black lettering will work on it and it's easier to make black decals.  The grey line first... 


In 1961, corporate decides the less expensive grey color of the scheme should take precedence and we get #3A, simply a version of #2:



And then in 1966, with cost cutting hitting railroads, we get a even more draconian version in #3B, black roof for freight units, and #3C, red roof for passenger service:




A solid grey "scheme" could come in the early seventies but I don't think I need to picture it here.


As an alternative to the development in grey, we have the red line.  In 1961, corporate does away with grey completely for a bold Deramus-inspired look for freight units (passenger units maintain scheme #2) with the #4A:



Then, in 1966, the shop forces go completely lazy and come up with #4B for freight and passenger units:

I also reworked the as-delivered Chesapeake Piedmont Midland logo to better graphically point towards the eventual adoption of "Midland" only moniker:




And now have two versions of a more modern logo, the square #5 and round #6, not sure which I like better:








Note, the logos need a consistent red that works with the dark red featured in the paint scheme.


Let the critique begin...

So I am late to this party, but I like the 1957 and the 1961 schemes the best. I agree with a lot of the folks here and stay away from the light colors.

[sirenwerks]

I am still not so sure about avoiding the grey.  A couple other roads came to mind recently that used it.  It was THE primary color on late L&N units (the Family Lines too, albeit a much darker shade).  Monon's IU-inspired scheme featured a two-tone gray with red motif.  Wabash, even if it was a warm gray, with blue.  WM used white in the circus scheme in a major way.  Oh, and UP still uses gray and so did, until the latest corporate image change, CSX.  Gray/grey is undeniably prominent in RR paint schemes past and present.  It may not be favored, but it is undeniably out there. 


While I am developing this scheme I am trying to decide between two very different locales to model that I waffle between - either an anthracite region focus or the Delmarva peninsula (replacing the PRR in the region, not competing with it).  I am trying to develop a scheme that will simultaneously set the CPM apart from the Lehigh Valley, yet seem familiar enough to fit in, if I chose that area; or work in an area that is unfamiliar to many that, except for the Philly region, feels very south of the Mason-Dixon at times. 


It wouldn't be a factor if I focused on the CPM's devised southern-most lines to Richmond and the western Carolinas, where red schemes weren't as prominent.  But even there a dominant red scheme might be mistaken for N&W subsidiary, rather than competitor.


I definitely appreciate the feedback and there's a part of me that hopes I can convince y'all it's graphically the right way to go.     I am working on putting my money where my mouth is right now, on some new C424 images.