SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE LADY IN CRIMSON
‘New girl’ Duchess of Sutherland looks bright in its new crimson coat – but is it ‘right’?
Red. It’s a funny colour, huh? If you’ve ever owned a car that’s gradually turned pink you’ll know why – and there’s perhaps no more chameleon-like shade than Crimson Lake.
“We’ve seen it in loads of different lighting and it is so variable,” Heritage Painting’s Ian Hewitt said of the newly made-over Duchess of Sutherland, which has spent roughly eight years in either LMS black or BR green. (You’ll have seen the result on the cover of last issue – personally, I reckon it looks stunning).
For if there’s one thing that’s sure to get gricers talking, it’s liveries – and No. 6233’s attention-grabbing emergence from its overhaul chrysalis has certainly done that. Is it, some have even dared suggest… too bright? As Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust Chairman Graham Oulsnam acknowledged when I raised the point: “You’re not the first person to ask.” However, Point One is this: the Stanier ‘Pacific’s’ paint job is expected to darken over time – just as happened last time out, as you can see from the pictures taken over the years. That is a natural process: at the moment, the paint is gleaming through fresh varnish – and there’s a lack of the tiny particles of dirt that work into the paintwork as the engine is cleaned, to develop a patina over the years.
If you want an example of what a difference simple use can make, just look at how different the shades of green of ‘A4s’ Nos. 60008 Dwight D. Eisenhower and 60009 Union of South Africa appeared to be while at the National Railway Museum’s ‘Great Gathering’ celebrations of 2013; ‘Nine’ seemed a lot darker. Yet Ian Hewitt says that the paint applied to the two ‘Streaks’ was (you’ve guessed it)… the same.
VaRIaTIONs IN COlOuR
As for how people perceive Crimson Lake: “It depends on the light of the day, and what people’s references of it are as well,” says Ian.
“I think people’s recollections of what an engine should be are somewhat different.”
Complicating that is that there are, Ian says, different variations of ‘Lake’ – that which has been employed on the ‘Princess Coronation’ is the one Heritage Painting has used “for years.”
Yet the debate about shades goes beyond the version of red used by the LMS.
“You always did get variations, even in BR days. The Southern Region green that Clan Line
carries is different to the green that the Western used, or the deep bronze green of the Midland.
“With the manufacturers we use, those paints go back through BR days and beyond.”
“I think it’s one of those discussions that can go on and on. To be honest – at the end of the day we are the applicators!”
None of which is actually the main issue, from Ian’s point of view. That, he says, is “that the client was happy!”
●● Just a coat of paint? For those tempted to dismiss such things as unimportant, consider this: taking into account primer, undercoat and varnish, No. 6233’s latest makeover soaked up no fewer than ten layers, amounting to around 20 gallons. Then factor in half as much again of white spirit, and half that amount in things such as thinners. Not to mention yards of gold leaf lining. Total man-hours spent on the project… probably around 600.