PRCo PCC Colors

[Frederick J Sauerburger MD]

Ed Lybarger wrote:
  But remember that the color appearance can be affected by the
>lighting and by reflections, etc.

Gentlemen,
This prompted me to pull out the post I made during a similar discussion on
the East Broad Top list:

Yo! Rivet-counters and Tint-tainters!

I don't know much about prototypes, but I'm always amused by discussions of
color on models.  I do remember air-brushing several structures and cars
under the standard fluorescent tube in my spray booth,--then almost
becoming apoplectic when I looked at the model in daylight, on the way to a
MER meeting, and then again under incandescent light in my family room, and
AGAIN in the fluorescent light of a contest room.  All were different!
Also, the Ferroequinological estheticians are now saying that the smaller
the scale, the "gray-er" or "more pale" the colors should be since with a
small model such as "N" scale one is theoretically looking through more air
or atmosphere at a set viewing distance than with an "O" scale model, and
the more air between you and the item, the grayer it looks.  (i.e. distant
mountains are gray vs closer ones.)
Now someone described his PRR models being critiqued for shade of red by a
former PRR employee.  By definition, this guy has to be a geezer (defined
as anyone my age or older) and is looking at things through older eyes.
The crystalline lens in the eye becomes more yellow with age and eventually
turns brown (cataract).  So this guy is comparing his memory of "true"
color through the clear lenses of a 40-something KID with his current
perception of a model's color through his geezer eyes.  Unless he has had
cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation with a UV-absorbing
implant, what he is doing, is looking at things through the equivalent of a
pair of yellow-brown glasses.

Sooo... When people critique color, I want to ask them:  Under what light:
Incandescent? Fluorescent cool white? Warm white? Ott-light true color?
Daylight? 3200K?  3600K?  etc. etc.

...And by this time, I feel like saying WHO CARES! Paint it RED. Make it
look good to you!

Stepping down from the soapbox and back into lurking,

Fred
PRys, West Penn, and EBT.....near Annapolis



So, Fire away!
The Grateful Fred