AMMO by Mig has released a new line of acrylic paints for railroad modelers called the Rail Center. There are 41 railroad specific colors in the series, with twelve box sets:

• Ammo.R-1000 Spanish Renfe Locomotives
• Ammo.R-1001 Dutch Locomotives
• Ammo.R-1002 British Locomotives
• Ammo.R-1003 German DB Locomotives
• Ammo.R-1004 German DR Locomotives
• Ammo.R-1005 Germany DRG-DB Steam Locomotives
• Ammo.R-1006 Via Rail Canada Locomotives
• Ammo.R-1007 Classic American Railroad Companies – Locomotives Vol. 1
• Ammo.R-1008 Classic American Railroad Companies – Locomotives Vol. 2
• Ammo.R-1009 British Freight Cars
• Ammo.R-1010 American Freight Cars
• Ammo.R-1011 German Freight Cars

The paints depart from the familiar Ammo by Mig 17ml eye drop containers and are packaged in 15ml cylinders with stirring balls.

This new release from prolific AMMO by Mig Jimenez, is Classic American Railroad Companies – Locomotives Vol. 1. The paint comes in 15ml plastic bottles, complete with a stirring ball, in a sturdy cardboard box. The following paints are included:

• AMMO.R-0002 RAIL CENTER Engine Black
• AMMO.R-0003 RAIL CENTER White
• AMMO.R-0011 RAIL CENTER Reefer Yellow
• AMMO.R-0021 RAIL CENTER Medium Blue
• AMMO.R-0022 RAIL CENTER Red
• AMMO.R-0034 RAIL CENTER Pale Greenish Grey

While no railroad company is mentioned on the box art or website, there are prominent photos of CSX engines in their livery. CSX has had 15 different liveries over their history, not counting sub-lines or other repaints. This livery appears to be based on the Dark Future Blue and yellow (YN2 and YN3 schemes) and red and white (Pride in Service scheme honoring first responders).

I am a fan of AMMO acrylic paints and am very impressed with this paint set. While advanced modelers and painters can mix their own colors, basic modelers like myself prefer the easy off-the-shelf solution provided in this set. These new RAIL CENTER paint sets are designed for easy use, without resorting to mixing paints to get the color. The paints are also odorless and non-toxic.

With this review, I did research on the actual colors used by CSX and found the usual comments about factory application, wear, repainting, etc. The included colors can be used for several railroad companies. Mig RAIL CENTER recommends using their AMMO.R-0500 RAIL CENTER acrylic thinner, but I had no problem with another thinner. For this review, I primed a sheet of plastic with gray primer, then shot the color directly without thinner (please see the accompanying photos for the result). These paints spray and brush paint well and look good. The possibilities are amazing, as is this paint set.

Profuse thanks to AMMO by Mig Jimenez and IPMS-USA for providing the review sample.