I just took my new Rapido SW1200 in the blackbird scheme out of the box, and my first reaction was, “Oh %#*&, they botched the gray”. Has anyone else had that reaction? The gray is so dark it reminds me of the early Walthers P2K GP7s, only the Rapido gray may be even darker. I can’t compare because I immediately repainted the gray on the Walthers model with Model Flex CB&Q Gray. If I had seen this model in a hobby shop, I would never have bought it, no matter how good the tooling might be. I HATE preorders! This makes the fifth or sixth shade of CB&Q blackbird gray on my roster, an no manufacturer is consistent between runs, so without a standard, they’re all shooting in the dark. Most are missing the mark.
This is a plea for BRHS to develop and issue a color standard for model manufacturers to match as they plan models to be painted in the blackbird scheme. I shouldn’t have to repaint brand new models because the manufacturers didn’t do their homework. Are you listening, Rapido!
Nelson Moyer