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I’m currently working on a Northwest Airlines 320 and would like to know if anyone has any suggestions for the red and gray colors. Thanks for your help with this
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Ages ago, Xtracolor had both Northwest red and gray colors. X340 was the code for red and X341 for gray. Honestly, have no idea were to find them and if they are still available.
Cheers,
Ivo
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Since Xtracolor for airliners has essentially vanished, at least in the USA… I have had satisfactory results on the Northwest A319 I built in the ‘bowling shoe’ livery using Testors 1138 Gray and 1103 Red applied by airbrush. Since the Testors line of enamels in 0.25oz jars are on the thick side for brushing, a higher ratio of thinner is essential for airbrushing. Another readily available possibility as a virtual match for NWA red is Model Master 2718 Guards Red.
Todd
PHX
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I have been trying to find the XtraColor paints as well but the red seems to be sold out everywhere and out of production. I believe the grey is still in stock on the airline hobby supplies website.
Recently I did a color comparison for my Palair Fokker 100. I’ll upload a picture of it when I am back home again so you can see for yourself what might be a good match.
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Here are two pictures taking with daylight.
From left to right
XtraColor X217
Revell 34
Revell 330
Humbrol 19
ModelMaster 2718
ModelMaster 2719
50/50 mix of 2718 and 2719I would go with one of the darker reeds for Northwest “bowling shoe” red. I hope it helps.
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From personal experience I can say if you end up with a gray or a red that’s a bit too light, that’s perfectly fine. I very much remember how the reds and grays in the “bowling shoe” scheme slowly bleached out over time as it endured exposure to sunlight. It was a nice scheme when it was fresh, but didn’t look so great the more it weathered. A little variation toward the lighter end is well within bounds.
Jodie Peeler
"In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the issues at stake." - Sayre's Law
Hey HeavyUAL767
If you are in the US send me a PM and I will mail you one each
grey and red Northwest X-340 and X-341Walter
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Hope this links ok! The pic looks darker than real life but this is testors red enamel. Gray is model master acrylic euro 1 gray. I had it and it looked ok to me.
https://www.airlinercafe.com/photo_14798.details
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I’m looking for the best match for bowling shoe red which is available in the U.K. and both this thread and another I’ve seen point to Guard’s Red as the closest shade.
The nearest products then seem to be Model Master 2718 Guards Red or Testors 1103 but these are probably no longer available and nobody would be able to ship them to the U.K. so my next recourse is the nearest equivalent available in Europe/U.K.
An online search doesn’t flag any other products named “Guards Red” (other than Porsche auto paint).
From an online conversion chart it looks like Revell Italian Red might be a possibility but I wondered if anyone this side of the pond had trodden this path before?
I’d be grateful for any suggestions and, failing that, I’ll try mixing paints to match the decals.
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone …
Tom,
I haven’t done a Northwest bowling shoe scheme but did a Northwest delivery scheme Electra. I think I used the brightest/reddest red I could find at the time. I also did a Ferrari car a few years back so spent some time picking a good red. Looking at my paint stash I have three Testors Acryl red bottles. 4632 Guards Red is the brightest, 4631 Italian Red the next, and 4714 Insignia Red the darkest. I’d double check photos and likely pick the middle or darkest red of my three. Good luck. Seems like you have quite a few suggestions.
Ken
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Thanks Ken. I remember you posted photos of your excellent NW models in bowling shoe livery a while back.
I’ll check again on eBay and a few other sites to see if anyone in the U.K. has old stock of either the MM or Testors Guards Red and, failing that, I’ll buy some Italian Red (which is available here from other brands) and lighten it slightly to match the decals.
I’d originally bought Tamiya TS-49 based on someone’s suggestion but, from a test spray on plastic card, it looks way too bright and didn’t behave we’ll possibly due to humidity.
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone …
Apologies Ken,
I looked back on the thread from May last year and it was Challenger350pilot who had posted the photos of the NW bowling shoe 727 and 747 models. You’d contributed to the thread and I remembered it wrongly.
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone …
Hi;
Here’s the link that shows the pair of B727s I finished in 2021. There’s a description of the paint I used included there. Hope this helps some.
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235092619-pair-of-1144-scale-northwest-727s/
And the 747….
Paul
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Hi Paul,
many thanks for the links.
I enjoyed reading about the history of N467US including the DB Cooper legend, which I see refuses to die since they made another documentary last year entitled “I Am DB Cooper”.
Your 727s and 747 are all stunning models and I love the NW liveries but particularly the bowling shoe livery.
I’m building a Hasegawa 747-400 and your paint references are extremely helpful.
I think it was probably your thread that originally pointed me to the TS-49 red and the shade looks perfect on your models however when I test-sprayed it on evergreen card it looked much lighter for some reason, as well as coming out very wet.
I may try to decant some into a jar so I can airbrush it and see if it looks better and sprays well.
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone …
I’m glad the thread could be of some help. I have found that good painting result is always the product of good preparation. I primed all the models with Tamiya gray primer, then a light sanding. The pictures you see were all taken in bright natural sunlight, too. Decanting can be of some help, but I don’t think it will change the shade…base coats, priming, or sanding can do that. I also used the Tamiya polishing compound to remove small imperfections and bring the shine out.
Paul
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Thanks again Paul.
I have the Tamiya primer as well as the fine and finish polishing compounds which I’ve found work well.
I only suggested decanting for airbrushing since doing a test spray from the can didn’t produce a fine spray but actually came out wet. I’m not sure if it was due to humidity or some other factor in the room as I’ve never seen this problem using the airbrush however I’ll experiment more to see if I can identify the issue.
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone …
Adding a .02 on primers. Maybe common knowledge or maybe not. If one wants a bright color (something that “pops”) use white primer. Not so bright use gray primer. Same paint but different primers will give slightly different results.
Ken
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Thanks Ken. I remember receiving that advice shortly after joining the Cafe and have applied it religiously since.
For example, I use black primer for metallic finishes as it definitely improves the lustre.
I’ll experiment with both gray and white primer on plastic card although I think the gray might work best as the TS-49 red still looks slightly lighter when I tested it previously than it appears on Paul’s models for some reason. Multiple coats might help also to get a slightly deeper shade.
There are a lot of variables with paint and I guess it’s a matter of finding what works in your unique situation but this is all helpful advice.
Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone …
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