Russian Black paint

There has been talk about a paint color called "Russian Black" in the past on this forum. Several D&RGW specifications call for the color.

Today I found an original manufacturers paint chip from 1895. It is included in a Masury paint catalog held by the Library of Congress.

The color is a black with strong greenish, slight blueness, no brown cast visable in strong light only... in anything other than strong light it would be black... if dirty it would be dirty black.

My notes say it's lighter than "Quaker Green M", very dark olive green under very bright light.

The Library of Congress rare book room does not allow photograpy or coping... They do offer a copy service, but I suspect the results will not show color. To see the greenish tint I had to go to a window, and look at the chip from various angles...

For all intents "Russian Black" is a bright glossy black. If I was painting a model I would use glossy black with a few drops of Great Northern Sky blue and a few drops of a medium green. Alternately I would paint the engine glossy black, then add the green and blue to the clear coat... then decal then clear coat without the added color.

Good Luck

Randy Hees
WWW.SPCRR.ORG
www.PacificNG.Com
www.RYPN.org