hi everyone,
as the titles states, i am looking to do some touch up work on a red lacquer 60's ludwig tom. seems some of the paint has chipped off and exposed the natural wood.
does anyone know the exact color i would need to do this?
if so let me know, and thank you in advance!

you bought those i see oh! well good luck if you take a piece off and send it to mohawk paint they will match it up and ship to u there in desplanes il

yea man i scooped em up! thanks for the suggestion. im in the tri state area so i have a TON of experienced painting places who can match the color for me. in the hopes of originality, i was wondering if anyone knew who provided the paint for ludwig back in the day, to try and score that exact paint and do it myself.

I believe the paint would have been supplied by the Dupont company. You could probably find something similar but I think the duco finishes of that time contained lead.

Why not re-paint the entire drum? Are you wanting to preserve the orginal finish? Looks like the drum will continue to peel and flake. But whatever you do, Gary's plan of taking it to a paint store for a match is your best bet. Good luck, post some pics when yer done please.

Originally Posted by jccabinets

Why not re-paint the entire drum? Are you wanting to preserve the orginal finish? Looks like the drum will continue to peel and flake. But whatever you do, Gary's plan of taking it to a paint store for a match is your best bet. Good luck, post some pics when yer done please.

i agree with jeff

Ditto. Looks like nice wood underneath, and paint should strip off fairly easily. I'd be worried that touch-up paint might seep into the wood - better to strip and do a proper job. Be well worth it on a nice Ludwig tom.

For my day job, I work in the railroad industry and have been associated with locomotive and railcar rehabs that included matching vintage railroad paint schemes. The industry standard was DuPont. I can tell you that those paints, at least for locomotive applications, were a step above the rest. They were thick, durable, sprayed like gold and had and retain a very durable luster and shine. If you are of the hardcore restore type, it might be worth investigating DuPont paints. Just maybe, they might have that something extra in shine and durability that goes beyond the formulations of paint at regular consumer paint stores. Additionally, I was amazed to find that DuPont had meticulous record keeping and actually had formulations on file for paints applied to locos from the 40s and 50s. Who knows, maybe they still have the account records when Ludwig was a client??? I can tell you they will be expensive. Yes, be mindful of the leads......

I agree with Jeff & the rest that suggest a re-do. Also, props to you for your restoration work! I'm not a 'true' train buff, but I do like to see a steam or early diesel locomotive occasionally. Around here, there are loads of steam powered farm and mining equipment. Just saw some last Friday, tons of fun!