Modeling MoPac "Eagle River" Pullman 6-6-4 (Part 4) - The Blue and the Gray... (Again)

So we're restarting the painting on the 'Eagle River' again this time... I didn't like my custom mixed colors from Part 3 of this blog series.  

My first attempts at mixing my own "Eagle Gray" and "Eagle Blue"... and too light of "MoPac Gray."

And less than 48 hours after I shot the blue onto the model in the previous post... I found that Tru-Color makes the right MoPac colors that I was having the most trouble with mixing myself.  (Sigh) So we try it again!  Hopefully this will be the last time for this model!

Intrusive Thoughts...

I don't know why, but every time I see the 'Eagle River' like this... I think it's a B&O car?!  

Walthers B&O 'Centabella', a Pullman HW 8-1-2 Sleeper.

Maybe I should see what the 'Grand Canyon' looks like with a wondering B&O sleeper in the consist with the MoPac 6-6-4 and Shadowlined Santa Fe cars next to it... they might clash.

MoPac Eagle and B&O Pullman together in Saint Louis Union Station MO C1957 Postcard AB22 - Ebay photo, ended auction

Or maybe I do know, after researching and finding this photo before I started my "Eagle River" 6-6-4 project... I wonder if the MoPac E-unit here is really fading that much, or if the "Eagle Blue" really was that light in color...

Underbodies are Black...

Well, back to the modeling at hand!

Time to paint and mask the underbody black before we get started!

I painted the interior sides of the skirts, the underframe, etc Engine Black... and I can weather it down later with washes, etc.  As most of this stuff is already hidden behind the skirts, I don't mind that it will mostly be a unseen black silhouette.

Masking the interior and roof openings.

Sadly, I found out later that I missed a few spots... so I'll have to touch up the interior where some blue misted into the interior.  Ooops.

Masking the interior and roof openings.

I probably should have taken more time to put down a layer of masking tape across the actual top of the interior... and the small windows at both ends... but I didn't bother this time.

... Carsides are Eagle Gray...

Remasked body and repainted the 'Eagle Gray' from Tru-Color.

I painted the whole carside with the 'Eagle Gray' as I wanted to tone down how dark and saturated the "Eagle Blue" will be.

Remasked body and repainted the 'Eagle Gray' from Tru-Color.

So I made sure to get a good coat on the window band and on the skirting, with a medium coverage on the letterboard and lower side panels, which will be repainted blue again shortly.

Masked off the "Eagle Gray" and ready for the "Eagle Blue".

The Tru-Color, like my experience with StarBrand in warm weather dries quickly and I'm able to mask over it without any issues.  Tamyia tape again does the honors of not pulling up the new painted areas.

Masked off the "Eagle Gray" and ready for the "Eagle Blue".

I again didn't try to put the masking right up against the Trim Molding, but allowed the edge of the paint color to land 'somewhere' in the middle of the molding.  This will be dealt with later, after I get the base colors down.

... And then the Blue...

The other change I'm making this time is that I noticed "The Eagle" cars post-1948 had the blue letterboard all the way up to the roofline, with the Yellow stripe immediately below the edge of the roof.  Where as the as-built photos show the "MoPac Gray" coming about 4" down the side of the car, with the yellow stripe crossing the upper berth windows on the 6-6-4 and going across the door, below the door's drip rail.  Later scheme cars had the yellow stripe completely above the door as well.  So I'm painting the entire letterboard blue this time around!

Left side of the Eagle River, with "Eagle Blue" stripes applied.

I went ahead and shot all the "Eagle Blue" areas of the car.  This took a few passes to get good consistent coverage and a nice sheen on the paint.  

Right side of the Eagle River, with "Eagle Blue" stripes applied.

I'd rather do multiple passes than get the paint on too thick in one or two passes.

... And the Trucks...

The black (dark gray) trucks show the contrast to the "Eagle Gray" skirting.

Why not start reassembly... Here's the trucks and she's back on her own wheels! 

Some of the underbody equipment covers extend below the skirting, but are still painted "Eagle Gray".

The only parts of the underframe that are really visible are the generator and the water tank hanging down, and both are mounted on the car's centerline, very far away from the light.

... And the Roof...

Left side of the completed colors on the car.

I remixed my 'roof color' which is my 'best guess' at what "MoPac Gray" is.  It came from a mix of SP Lark Gray, and some MoPac Hopper Gray.  I was actually surprised how much Lark Gray was needed to darken it enough to be darker than the "Eagle Gray" on the window bands and skirting.

Right side of the completed colors on the car.

I suppose the roof and end gray could be darker... but I can leave that for when I do some light weathering to those parts of the car, which will tend to darken them somewhat with soot and road grime between the cars, which doesn't get cleaned by the automatic car washers.

In Closing

The completed colors, showing the end of the car as well.

I believe this color mix will work... the various photos of "MoPac Gray" that I've seen, especially when compared to the "Eagle Gray", doesn't seem to be that much darker... more the difference in not being 'cream colored', but maybe even a hint of blue, which I noticed in the "MoPac Hopper Gray" from Tru-Color.  However, the Hopper Gray was FAR too light in color to be used on the roof and ends of the car.

The other side showing the new colors off... the car looks weird without the Aluminum and Yellow stripes!

Next up will be the Aluminum Trim Molding, and the "Eagle Yellow" stripes at the roof line and lower trim molding with Black pinstripes above the upper stripe and below the lower stripe.  I'm still debating if I want to mask and spray the Gloss Aluminum, like I used on the Santa Fe Shadowline cars... or if I want to use something else... I'm thinking I'll use the Gloss Alumium, as it turned out really well on the Santa Fe cars so far.

Here's the bottles of Tru-Color that I used on this car, it's easy to see how much too light the MP "Hopper Gray" is compared to the "Eagle Gray", when I added the paint dots to the top of the bottles.

The "Eagle Yellow" will also have to be masked and shot on the lower stripe for sure... and I'll probably just do the same for the upper stripe.  I am considering shooting an undercoat of either straight "White" or maybe the "DRGW MOW Gray" first, which should give a consistent light color undercoat for the new "Eagle Yellow" color.  I'm still a bit surprised how much more orange-tan the "Eagle Yellow" actually is, but it does fit with this color pallet very nicely and compliments it more than one would first think.

I'm also looking into decal options for this car... so more on that hunt later!

Jason Hill

Related Articles:

I've done a number of Walthers 6-6-4 sleepers, as well as other arrangements of their cars.  Here's the two recent ones that I've been working on...

Santa Fe's 6-6-4  "Surprise Valley" in Shadowline scheme

SFE "Surprise Valley" Pullman 6-6-4 Shadowline Sleeper (Part 1) - Painting & Decaling Right Side

Starting my long-time planned project to make a Shadowline 6-6-4.

SFE "Surprise Valley" Pullman 6-6-4 Shadowline Sleeper (Part 2) - Decaling Left Side & Reassembly - 

Continuing the Shadowline 6-6-4 project with more decaling!

MoPac's 6-6-4 "Eagle River" in The Eagle scheme

Modeling MoPac "Eagle River" Pullman 6-6-4 (Part 1) - Research and Fluting - Starting into my MoPac 6-6-4 project.

Modeling MoPac "Eagle River" Pullman 6-6-4 (Part 2) - Finish Molding & Masking - Getting the 'Eagle River' ready for paint!

Modeling MoPac "Eagle River" Pullman 6-6-4 (Part 3) - Painting, Or Not? - Like with all good investigations, before the painting... It's best to color-sand the witness!  Also I had to finish the lower trim molding before painting.

Modeling MoPac "Eagle River" Pullman 6-6-4 (Part 4) - The Blue and the Gray... (Again) - I didn't like my custom mixed colors and I found that Tru-Color makes the right MoPac colors that I was having the most trouble with mixing myself.  So we try it again!