Painting Suter sternwheeler - George Britnell, HELP!

[Eddy Matthews]

George,

I'm about at the stage where I need to start painting the Suter, and wondered if you could help with the colours?

I have your photos, and I can see that the hull is black with a basically white superstructure, but the main deck is a sort of light blue, and there is red trim around the deck edges etc etc.

Can you advise on what shade of blue and what red I need to use please? If you could refer to Humbrol colors (or similar modelling paints) it will be easier to get the right one rather than attempting to describe it!

[gbritnell]

Hi Eddy,
I just saw your message and I'll try and do a lookup on Humbrol colors and get back with you. The colors were taken from a handtinted photo that was published in the book that I read. I'm assuming that if someone went to the trouble of handtinting the photo they would have used something close to the original. The hull and edge of the main deck is black. All of the superstructure is white. The paddlewheel and the rear wall of the vessel is orange. The paddlewheel also has yellow trim on the rings. The deck tops are infact blue, but they are several shades darker than the photos that I have posted. The trim around each of the upper decks is a bright red. The smokestacks are black with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers emblems at the top. The lettering on the rear wall and sides is black and done in a block style printing. The lettering on the pilothouse is white on a red trim band. The style is a fancy serif type lettering. As stated, I will try to get a list of Humbol colors and get back with you.
George

[thewharfonline]

Just a note..not all handtinting is the correct colours

For instance the Murray in many postcards that were hand tinted was made blue...which isn't exactly correct

Tinting was often made just to make the picture have a bit of a wow fctor before colour photos came into peoples lives

it was often used int he portrait industry (as in people portraits) to slightly liven up dresspatters or buttons or hat rims!

So accuracy was not always correct!
(Photography is a career I've been in all my life...family business!)

Anyway theres my hand fro the day!  

Cya round

[gbritnell]

Eddy,
I found a good site with the Humbrol colors shown and picked out the colors that come close to what I used.

French Blue #14
Bright Red   #19
Orange       #18
Yellow        #69

My only suggestion would be to brighten up the orange a little by adding some yellow to it.
I hope this helps
George

[Eddy Matthews]

That's superb George thanks!

The French blue is a LOT darker than it appears on the photos of your model - I assume that's just the photos that are distorting the colour?

[gbritnell]

Eddy,
 I realize that the French Blue is alot darker but I couldn't find anything in the Humbrol chart that was close. You could add a little White to it to lighten it up some. As I said, the photos that I have posted are much lighter than the actual color.
 George

The following message was posted on Paddleducks, by Eddy Matthews  
That's superb George thanks!

The French blue is a LOT darker than it appears on the photos of your model - I assume that's just the photos that are distorting the colour?


 
Regards
Eddy

Exported by Paddleducks Mail System.

[Eddy Matthews]

Hi George,

I also noticed that the colours you've selected are gloss - Since the blue in particular is primarily on the decks, would it be better to use a matt paint? I can't imagine that the decks would be gloss as they would be very slippery when wet...

[gbritnell]

Eddy,
 I'm sure you're right about that. I just figured that if the model got wet it would be easier to wipe down if the paint had a little gloss to it. Maybe something like a semi-gloss.
 George

Hi George,

I also noticed that the colours you've selected are gloss - Since the blue in particular is primarily on the decks, would it be better to use a matt paint? I can't imagine that the decks would be gloss as they would be very slippery when wet...

Regards
Eddy

[Walter Snowdon]

Eddy, give some thought to using model railway paints. They are generaly of better quality than most model paints and come in a much larger range of colours, and more importantly they come in a satin finish, approaching semi matt and are much better for handling, resisting greasy fingers and the odd splash of lager. Your best local stockist is the model railway shop beside the Civic theatre in Yarm Road, darlington.( You can park outsde). I have used railway paints for many years and am amazed by the vast range of colours and shades available. Reagards, Walter.

[Eddy Matthews]

Eddy, give some thought to using model railway paints.

Now he tells me! When I've just come upstairs after painting the matt blue decks etc on the Suter :-)

Oh well, I'll have to try the model railway paints on my next model Walter!

[Eddy Matthews]

The Suter build continues - Now with the main paintwork done, The blue decks look very dark in these photos, but they aren't quite as dark in real life.

Hopefully next week will see me with a bit more spare time to make some real progress on some of the finer detail, and maybe even getting down to sorting out the drive system - I've been putting that off for long enough now!!

[Khephre]

She's looking great Eddy. Well done.

[gbritnell]

Looks great Eddy. It takes on a whole different character when you start putting paint on it. I can't wait to see it finished. Keep up the good work.
George

[Eddy Matthews]

Thanks George and Tony - Yes it certainly does change character totally when the paint is applied! Apart from liking the boat generally, it was the colour scheme that really attracted me to it and made me want to build it in the first place - Since I'm totally colourblind, the contrast in colours makes it really stand out!

Hence all the questions asking about the colours - No point sending me a colour photo, it may as well be in black and white to me! :-) Though it actually does have it's plus side - I can tell even slight differences in tone, even though I can't tell you what colour it is!

And before anyone asks, I GO when the bottom traffic light comes on - So if your country has a different setup to that dont drive when I'm on the road! :-)

[towboatjoe]

I'd have to say the color scheme is different. George do you know when the C of E used this color scheme? All I've ever seen is the typical red decks with almond color cabins.