Paint swatches

[JimtheProf]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but is there an on-line page or site that has swatches of LNER and pre-grouping colours - I'd love to see the difference between the various shades of "Apple" green, for example. A site with Precision Paints swatches (or railmatch) would be handy, too, but I can't find one!
Maybe a list of RGB / CMYK colour values, close Pantone colours etc would do - then I could make my own!
Thanks
Jim

[richard]

One reason they're hard to find is that is so difficult to do. Even if it wasn't, people will still claim you have it wrong! In recent years, there's been much debate in the model magazines about the blood & custard used on some model Mark 1 coaches. The manufacturer (Bachmann I think it was?) even went to the original paint panels that the NRM have, but no people who were around remembered they were different!
The reasons for the differences were almost certainly poor colour memory, dirt, and light-fading.

Then, if someone had the colour panels infront of them, it is difficult to map a reflective colour into an emmissive one. This is actually still an area of active research - it is important for computer graphics, as well as digital printing.

Basically no, I don't know of an online source of swatches. I know BRM did some supplements of pre-grouping liveries and coaches a few years back - they might have published them in a voume if you're lucky?


Richard

[JimtheProf]

nc