• Modelers Alliance has updated the forum software on our website. We have migrated all post, content and user accounts but we could not migrate the passwords.
    This requires that you manually reset your password.
    Please click here, http://modelersalliance.org/forums/login to go to logon page and use the "Forgot your Password" option.

Mixing paint

F

Fireball

New member
Right off the bat, I hope this is the right spot. The majority of all my paints are testor's enamels and acrylics. I am also fairly new at mixing paint. My question, is there a guide or chart for mixing paint? For example, the underside of an aircraft is going to be aircraft gray, I've got a couple RLM's, a gull gray, engine gray, light gray and so forth. Without buying some aircraft gray what combination would I mix to get that color or shade?
Inexperienced,

Fireball out
 
A lot of the mixing is going to be eyeballing it. Pick a shade close to what you want and then add a bit of whatever colours. Using black or white isnt the best way from what I have found to make the paint darker or lighter although they will work. Instead I use darker or lighter greys. If you are looking for a particular colour combination google is the easiest way. Having said that it can also be frustrating. IPMS Stockholm has an incredible paint chart and advice for various subjects. It has some paint mixes. https://www.ipmsstockholm.se/home/urbans-color-reference-charts-part-i/
Other than that all I can advise is experiment. BTW I use small sot glasses to mix my paint and any left over I store in repurposed tamiya bottles or eyedrop bottles. Lable them and keep like regular paint although they do not last as long in my experience.
James

One handy mixture Laura provided here at the beginning of the site is instead of using black to paint a cockpit or aircraft or whatever, add a bit of flesh to it. It still looks black, just not so dark and you can still use black to shade it.
Hope that helps.
James
 
My thoughts are that colors are variable.

B-24s went to Africa painted Tan and Green and ended up pink and gray-ish. Colors varied by manufacturer and when and where they were made. They also varied by who was painting them in the field.

Unless you are building professionally, eyeball it and use what you have. There are a couple of folks making ModelMaster/Testors type/style enamels: TruNorth and MCW (Massilon, Oh). I have tried both and they are pretty good.

Just my $0.38 worth.
 
Thanks, it's not a commissioned museum piece its my ocd. Perfection is the bane of my existence.
I will try that TruNorth and MCW.

Fireball out
 
Perfection is the enemy of the good.

Give MCW a call. They can mix just about any color.
 
Yes it is. In Tibet, as in many other cultures, as perfect as their creations may seem there is always a small imperfection purposely done. They believe in only one perfect entity and its not the here and now.

Fireball out
 
jknaus said:
A lot of the mixing is going to be eyeballing it. Pick a shade close to what you want and then add a bit of whatever colours. Using black or white isnt the best way from what I have found to make the paint darker or lighter although they will work. Instead I use darker or lighter greys. If you are looking for a particular colour combination google is the easiest way. Having said that it can also be frustrating. IPMS Stockholm has an incredible paint chart and advice for various subjects. It has some paint mixes. https://www.ipmsstockholm.se/home/urbans-color-reference-charts-part-i/
Other than that all I can advise is experiment. BTW I use small sot glasses to mix my paint and any left over I store in repurposed tamiya bottles or eyedrop bottles. Lable them and keep like regular paint although they do not last as long in my experience.
James

One handy mixture Laura provided here at the beginning of the site is instead of using black to paint a cockpit or aircraft or whatever, add a bit of flesh to it. It still looks black, just not so dark and you can still use black to shade it.
Hope that helps.
James
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. I have that chart in my favorites now.

Fireball out
 
I use the iModelKit app on my phone in conjunction w/ a digital postal scale. It's accuracy is going to vary a bit depending on the accuracy of the samples in the system, but more times than not I've found them to be good enough to my eye. The biggest benefit is the ability to store the mixes for future reference, and using the scale means you should be able to get very close to that same mix later if you find yourself in a position to have to mix a second batch. I've had the app long enough that I don't recall if it was a freebie, or if I had to pay a couple bucks for it. I don't think if was much if anything though.

Disclaimer: I'm no professional, and my "good enough" may not be the same as yours.
 
Thanks for the tip. I will check it out. By the way I may not be considered an armature but a pro, definitely not. My OCD can sometimes get the best of me.
Fireball out
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top