Hello Folks. I need some real help. I'm having a bunch of models made and I was just told that I have to supply the colour codes for the paint. I need either RAL or Pantone codes for PRR "brunswick" green, lettering buff and CN red, black, white. Any help would be much appreciated. -Mark
All of these colors are available commercially from the major hobby paint suppliers (Floquil, Polly Scale, Badger Modelflex, True Line, etc.) It seems unusual that the builder would want Pantone or RAL codes. Is this someone who normally does something other than railroad models?
I hear you, Steve. It came as a real surprise to me too. I even have some of the paints you mentioned in hand, however; the production is being done in Europe and the manufacturers there all refer to the RAL system. Also, there will be 400 models produced. Sending him hundreds of little jars is just not practical or affordable. You can see what I'm getting at here: http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?140213-TT-scale-SW1200-on-the-TTnut-forum
Try this link http://shaw-web.net/rrdata/floqu1.txt Something to keep in mind is most railroad colors do not have a direct pantone match. Something you could do is ...paint a white styrene sheet with the color of your choice and go to a good paint store and have them scan it. It will then give you the color formula that your manufacturer may be able to work from
@ danpik: Thank you for the link; quite useful. I tried your suggestion at the paint store and it seems to be more involved than anticipated. So, I went ahead and ordered a RAL colour book. After taking a look at the selection of models at the hobby shop for comparison, it seems no two manufactures have the same interpretation of any single colour. I am less concerned about an exact match at this point. -Mark
