Rock Island E8/9 Paint Colors

Ray

RI Modelers I know have used:
   Santa Fe RED
   Erie Lackawana MAROON.

Scalecraft II products formerly offered the true RI colors in their line, but the company was sold in 2015. The successor owner is now Minuteman Scale Models reachable by e-mail at:  info@minutemanscalemodels.com or by phone at: 978-302-4524.

Tip :  Beware of a maroon color that is too "grape" and a red color that is too "orange." A real RI diesel loco was repainted for a tourist RR, and the owners color-matched a vintage photograph of the train. Unfortunately, the photo dye colors were faded with age.

The "Full Rocket" RI paint scheme was created in 1937 for the TA diesel; it was a classic art deco design.  Decades later, when the RR fell upon hard times, this design was simplied for the sake of economy -- and IMHO ruined.

Good luck with your project! Consider sharing pix of the finished loco on the OGR Forum for RI hobbyists to enjoy.

Mike

The third color seems to be either tan or silver. I much prefer the silver and was quite disappointed when Williams made a RI E-7 and used tan instead of silver.

Here's one for reference, fresh out of the box at EMD:

Rusty

I would try TRU-Color paints. Airbrush only, but dries in 30 minutes. Great for multi color paint jobs. 

That Rock Island Silver is a tough one.  Those who really know say that it was silver, not white, but it did not photograph well.  It had no blue or grey in it.  In any event, it is a very white silver.  You might find someone who can advise you at Rock Island Technical Society 

It might be necessary to join the organization to use the message board, but it would probably be worth it if you get the silver paint perfect on your E8.

Silver is NOT appropriate for the full rocket scheme, unless the locomotive is a pre-war type:  then, the rear sides would be stainless steel.  Actually, the only company that came closest to the real color was Williams.  They did not use tan--it's closer to the artificial aluminum color than anyone else has made.  That's the official color:  artificial aluminum.  I was in the Rock Island Technical Society, now defunct unfortunately, and I've seen the original paint chips used for the color.  Don't be fooled, either, by the Kodachrome shots that make the color look bright white--they have obviously changed color over the years.  I forget what company it was, but there was a model paint company that actually came out with the artificial aluminum color years ago.

Bob

Maroon 246-6957 This is the same color as Erie Lackawanna Maroon.
> Crimson 246-9089 This is the same color as Santa Fe Red. Some
> drawings list 254-9089.
> Aluminum 246-34793 This is the same color as used on CB&Q F
> units and
> Southern diesels. Also some drawings list 254-34793.
> Black 246-2039 and 254-2234

This is from a post on RITS.org, dated about 2004, by Steve Hile, who was as accurate as they come.  He's the one who showed me the original Dupont paint chips.

Bob