Engine paint for Kelvins

[MtB]

Various bits of my engine are needing touching up/painting to match the existing green. What sort of paint is it likely to be please? I'm guessing it's unlikely to be Dulux from Homebase :-)

 

And what shade of green is my Kelvin likely to be painted?

 

 

Thanks....

[koukouvagia]

Various bits of my engine are needing touching up/painting to match the existing green. What sort of paint is it likely to be please? I'm guessing it's unlikely to be Dulux from Homebase :-)

 

And what shade of green is my Kelvin likely to be painted?

 

 

There have been endless arguments on the exact shade of Kelvin Green. When I needed to touch mine up I just undid one of the nuts and took it to one of those paint shops that can match any colour by computer. My Kelvin may not be authentic green, but at least I found a colour the same as the rest of the engine..

Edited August 2, 2011 by koukouvagia

[rjasmith]

Various bits of my engine are needing touching up/painting to match the existing green. What sort of paint is it likely to be please? I'm guessing it's unlikely to be Dulux from Homebase :-)

 

And what shade of green is my Kelvin likely to be painted?

 

 

Thanks....

 

As KK has said, I think there are a number of variations of the "proper" green (there are also red ones and blue ones about!).

 

Seawards asked me what colour I wanted on our K2 and I asked them to use "whatever you think the proper green colour is supposed to be".

 

They used Trimite Pine Green which is shade RAL 6028. I think it can also be known as Pine Tree Green and if you believe anything in Wikipedia this colour name has been around since 1923 so may have been well known to the Bergius Co.

 

However don't try to get the Trimite stuff - it's impossible unless you want a million gallons. I hate talking to industrial paint firms they get very shirty once they realise you only want a few litres.

 

I think Kelvin Diesels in Glasgow will sell you a can but when last heard of it was rather pricey!

 

I just went to the local paint shop and ordered up some reasonable quality polyurethane gloss mixed to RAL 6028. I've used this to paint ancilliaries like the steel bed members for the engine and things like alternator brackets, Day tank etc. Seems to match the engine colour OK.

 

One day I may even use it to repaint the engine itself. So long as it has a good resistance to diesel and oil, it shouldn't need to be too good at heat resistance so long as the engine stays at the regulation 60 deg C (sorry 140 deg F!)

 

Richard

 

Oops - edited to get the RAL no. right!

Edited August 1, 2011 by rjasmith

[GBBS]

mike, try bs226 mid brunswick green. Fairly sure that's the colour of your engine. Dave

[steamraiser2]

Send a small sample of the required colour to Rapid Paint in Birmingham, a decent sized fleck is enough, and they will match it very accurately. Tell them that you need engine enamel. Can't recommend them enough. We use it on all our restored engines and its first class.

[rjasmith]

mike, try bs226 mid brunswick green. Fairly sure that's the colour of your engine. Dave

 

Ah yes I have also wondered if the Kelvin green might be a BS 381C colour. This is an old colour standard that tended to be used for "specific purposes" and was a great favourite of the RN, the electrical supply industry (my old stamping ground), the railways the GPO etc.

 

So the correct shade for Mike would be BS 381C Shade 226 Mid Brunswick Green (sorry to be pedantic!)

 

CEGB/National Grid was fond of painting equipment cubicles in BS 381C shade 631 Light Admiralty Grey Semi Gloss whereas GPO Exchange equipment was always BS381C shade 384 Light Straw!

 

Nobody needs to know this but it's just given me a little nostalgia moment!

 

Richard

[MtB]

Thanks Dave and Richard and SR2.

 

This is consistent with the suspected history of my engine rebuild.

 

The movement of the injector pump has been getting worse recently prompting me (as detailed in the other thread) to remove the pump stool and find out why. The pump stool on this engine is clearly not an original Kelvin part (the original being cast iron) but a flimsy fabricated substitute with the deck plate fixed to the web with five countersunk socket-head capscrews (two of which the heads had snapped off, by the way, explaining the worsening stability of the injector pump).

 

These capscrews turned out to be imperial, having 5/32" Allen sockets in the head so I conclude this pump stool was fabricated prior to 1972 when metrication in engineering took place (IIRC). This would be consistent with the pump stool (along with the rest of the engine) being painted an old BS381C standard colour.

 

Mike

 

P.S. I was wondering what colour I should use to touch up all my spare National Grid equipment cubicles too, so thanks for that one Richard

 

P.P.S. I now have a nice fat triangular fillet of 10mm steel welded onto the stool bracing the deck to the web. The top of the injector pump now only wobbles a little bit, just like it always used to. Hmmmm....

Edited August 2, 2011 by Mike the Boilerman

[TWO]

Dear All

I have been chasing up Kelvin Green paint and the Stationary Engine Parts Company have been very helpful with the following email

 

we have been in touch with British Polar Engines which is what remains of

>> the Kelvin business and have discovered what the original shade of green

>> paint was that was used on the Kelvin engines.

>>

>> It is a colour in its own right, a special mix if you like so does not

>> equate to any British standard or RAL colour but we now know exactly what

>> it

 

They are mixing a batch up for me and it is now available on their website My link

 

hope this is of some use to anyone interested