Howdy,
For the 168, the period of significance for the rehabilitation is 1916. During this period, the jacket would have been "American Iron," a domestic stand in for "Russia Iron." We will finish the jacketing using a chemical process to most closely resemble "American Iron." This finish is very similar to Russia Iron other than it was not planished. Having handled actual historic samples of American Iron, the color is a greyish hue with a touch of blue as in the photo below. All said and done, this locomotive will be quite striking!
Best,
Stathi
Photo of a model shamelessly lifted via google
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2017 11:17AM by porterno2.