Tim, not following you on this. Car colors come in thousands of different shades, hues, and one-off's. So what exactly does being "prototypical" really mean in this case? As long as a vehicle is in the basic colors, can you really argue that it's not proto? - snip -
Cheers,
Brian
I think I know where Tim is going with this. He has expressed an interest in having a model of my Volvo 245 on his layout - and has already acquired an N-scale model of a Volvo 245 from a Shapeways seller. He has a problem, however, as his layout is set in 1977 and my 245 is a 1982 model. The Shapeways 245 could probably pass as a 1977 model as it has the single 7" diameter headlights rather than the paired rectangular headlights of the '81 and later cars and the narrower taillight cluster of the earlier cars. However, my car's colour is "Red Cinnebar", aka "Tomato Red" (code 173) which was not available in the 1977 model year. So, does he paint the model in a relatively bright red to give the appearance of my car or does he use the only red that is correct for a 1977 Volvo 245 - a burgundy (maroon) colour (code 120)? Prototype modelling does have its pitfalls!
Of course, he could always scrap the idea of having "my Volvo" on his layout and find an N-scale 1972 Datsun 510 wagon and paint it "Moss Green" with a white vinyl top and roof rack. That was the car I drove in 1977 and, in fact, I actually made the trip to Chetwynd and Dawson Creek in it (although 2 years prior to his modelling era).
Cheers,
