Backdrop Blues

I'd like to thank the person who decided we should be able to buy smaller 7oz. paint cups to test our eyes on a larger section of wall than those massively unreliable paint swatches.  If I were forced to decide on a color based on the sample card, I surely would have been disappointed once I put it on the wall.  On something as visible and "in-your-face" as a backdrop, I feel it is one of the most important elements of layout design to select a color that is minimally offensive.  Color preference can be a subjective thing, but I think that if you keep the shade comfortably within the margins of subtlety you should be safe.  With that in mind, I plucked about 46 swatches off the wall at Menards to take home to begin my selection process.  Spending maybe an hour one evening, I whittled the pile down into six colors that I thought would be decent for my backdrop.  For about $3 each, I was able to bring home five of the colors I'd selected (one she couldn't mix properly because the ratio of tint to base was so small that one drop would have been too much). 

Dutch Boy paint samples from Menards.  At a little over 7oz. these provide

a great (and affordable) way to test backdrop colors on a good sized section of wall.

 I separated the wall into five sections about 16" wide on which to place the colors side by side, separated by a 3/4" masking tape line, then I started to apply the colors.  It's amazing to me that when I chose the colors, I thought all of them would be really close contenders.  It became obvious on at least two of them within 10 seconds of rolling on the color that they would not be my selection.  

Several colors applied to the wall.

 

After all the colors had dried I was able to step back and consider how I felt about them.  I posed some structures and cars in front of them... moved them around... moved them again.  I wasn't in a hurry either, so I tried to just spend a few minutes standing in front of them every day when I happened to be in the basement.  

 

 I quickly narrowed my options to the two colors above the salmon-colored Potash 

covered hopper.  The photo probably doesn't really show the true color here, but

it's pretty close.

 In the midst of this I also started engineering a valance and then also invited a few local modeler friends over to seek their opinions on the valance and the colors.  They agreed that the three colors to the right were all flawed in one way or another.  Too purple, too green, too blue...

 

For those interested in the technical details the colors (all Dutch Boy Platinum Eggshell) 

from left to right are:

136-2DB - Erie Skies

137-1DB - Arielle

237-2DB - Fresh Air

134-2DB - Vandy Blue

137-2DB - Blue Crab Claw

 

As a group we were split down the middle on the left two colors.  My personal preference is the far left "Erie Skies" color.  When I stand in front of the second from the left "Arielle" it almost looks like there is no color, especially if i were to lose the white stripes and other colors for reference.  I feel like it may appear as if the wall weren't painted at all... which I suppose could be desirable in some respects.  But as I sit here typing this and look out the window, the sky appears a deeper shade of blue than any of the colors on the wall.  Still I think the subtle approach is best and I will arrive at a decision on one or the other color soon.

 

So, the moral of the story is this:  If you are in the same position of trying to pick a color, do NOT pick one in the store looking at one square inch of sample card.  If I had done that, I likely would have picked one of the colors to the right, which when applied full size on the wall pretty much looked like Hell... Blue Hell.  It doesn't have to be full-on analysis paralysis, but take the time to pick a few and spend the ten bucks on samples first just to be sure.  I would also urge you to err on the lighter side, as these (or most, really) colors appear substantially darker when applied to a larger area.