Niles Project ~ Yellow and Brown Paint for #109

After its last paint job was deemed unacceptable, the Point Loma car was stripped of its paint and is now ready for a new paint job.

While the Pine-Sol did a splendid job removing the paint, it left gooey, sticky boogerballs behind that where a real pain to remove. Scrubbing the model with Dawn dish soap on an old toothbrush helped a lot, but in the process I managed to loose a hand rail. So a new one had to be fashioned with brass wire.

Repaired, Cleaned, Sterilized, and Ready for painting.

Primed (Floquil Primer)

Interior painted with my Mahogany mix. (50/50 mix of Floquil Roof Brown with So. Freight Car Brown)

Masked

Exterior Paint (10 parts Floquil Railbox Yellow with 1 part So. Freight Car Brown)

Masked for Roof paint (Floquil Mud).

Detail painting (window sashes and bumpers(?)) with my Mahogany mix.


The Point Loma car is on the bottom. Compare this photo with the above photo and you can see that the new color is much more reasonable. Now it is the SD&SE car (center) that looks too yellow! Also compare with the photo of the original paint and I think I've pretty much nailed SDERy Yellow. Yes sir! Pretty much nailed it!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ Continuing Quest for Golden Yellow

Knowing the color is one thing. Replicating the color, that's another thing!

Splitting hairs at this point. The color slide of the SDERy work truck reveals a more brownish yellow. So I'm experimenting with mixing Floquils Southern Freight Car Brown with Railbox Yellow and CNW Yellow. The mix on the lower left (above) really caught my eye. Lets try that.

Hmm! Might be too yellow. At top is the Birney painted with Scalecoat colors. Next is #105 combine in Floquils CSX New Image Gold. Third is #107 sporting a 50/50 mix of New Image Gold and Railbox Yellow. But the Point Loma car on the bottom... It might be too yellow. Its a gorgeous shade of yellow though. But its more yellow than the Birney which is too yellow. But I tell ya... Its a very pleasing mustard yellow. But it needs to be a more of a golden yellow. You know... No matter how much I like it... its just the wrong color. Yeah, I don't think its quite right. Well... I really hate to do this, but...

... into the Pine Sol it goes. Its heart breaking. Such a beautiful paint job. But its just the wrong color, no doubt about it. Its gotta go. Damn. A lot of work down the drain. No wonder it takes me forever to accomplish something. Yes sir, It's no wonder.

Dandy

SDERy Yellow Caught on Color Film!

For the first time ever, I have come across the infamous yellow in a color photograph.

The San Diego Electric Railway streetcars wore their golden yellow and mahogany paint scheme from the companies inception (1892) to about 1931. Kodachrome wouldn't come out on the market until 1936. So as a result, nothing exists in the way of color photographs of the old paint scheme.

While looking around on eBay I came across this photo of SDERy 408 in the experimental orange paint scheme SDERy was trying out in the 1940s. I almost dismissed the photograph until I noticed that curved white line in the street. It warns of the overhang of the cars while making a turn. Ah, there is a turnout there. Going where? Oh hey, that's the car barn on the right. And whats that parked out front? The company truck!...

...still painted in the original company colors! There it is folks! Photographic evidence of SDERy "Mission Yellow" and "Mahogany Brown". Oh I'm so going to nail this color. Yes sir! Nail it!

Dandy