Thursday, February 14, 2019

Howard Rotovator Orange

While waiting on the next set of test etches for the K12 loco I've been figuring out what paints to use to finish the model. I know that the locos were originally painted in something called "Howard Rotovator Orange" and apparently the closes match Alan Keef Ltd could find to that paint in a standard scheme is RAL 2004.

A number of ranges of model paint include an orange which is supposedly RAL 2004, and while I did contemplate airbrushing the model, it turned out I already had an aerosol can of Humbrol 18 Orange Gloss in stock which also turns out to be RAL 2004.

While I don't have the final model yet, I do have the first one I built that has the wrong bonnet side panels so I decided to practice on that.


A few minutes stood outside the back door sorted both the orange and the black for the chassis. The rest of the details, and the cab interior, were then brush painted. It's not quite as bright as the photo makes out and a little gentle weathering will help tone it down further, but I'm really quite happy with that.

6 comments:

  1. Looks good. A bit of grime will sort it.

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  2. There was a well known 7 1/4" loco built from a Howard rotovator.It is an odd colour they used, and one that appears to fade quickly to a lighter one

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    1. Yes, I've struggled with the colour mostly because looking at old photos it seems so varied, I'm guessing because it faded so quickly. Shame this one probably won't fade in the same way.

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    2. I suspect some preserved rotovators are in much better than new condition! This doesn't look a bad match.

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  3. It rather makes me think of an old Datsun colour.

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    1. My parents Datsun was a lovely custard yellow colour

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