Luftwaffe paint.

[B-17engineer]

OK. So, tomorrow I will go to the shop. It is 3.30 (I called) For a jar. Since I have a gift certificate and some of my own money I will by 12 paints. The 10 RLM's, Interior Green and probably just a testors enamel yellow... so that comes out to 39.60. Without our darn 7% tax. Then I have 30 dollars and 40 cents to buy sandpaper and possibly a self healing mat.

Here is the shops website.

Hobby Shop, Model Train Sets | Maplewood, NJ

[Airframes]

You can save a couple of Dollars by mixing your own Interior Green Harrison. A dark green or olive drab camouflage green, with yellow added, will give a good representation of the colour, and can be altered to simulate the varying shades, and also the Bronze Green used on some US aircraft interiors. Just a thought.
Apart from a few basic Luftwaffe or RAF colours, I rarely buy dedicated 'camouflage' colour paints, prefering to mix my own to suit the scale, period, wear and tear etc. I mainly have a stock of the basic colours, black, white, red, yellow, blue,etc, plus some of the 'side' shades, for example a 'rust' type of red, which can be used with other colours to make varying shades of camouflage red-browns, rust, burnt steel etc etc.

[B-17engineer]

Thanks Terry! Wojtek, was telling me though it comes in handy. When I go tomorrow I'll rethink, because I don't know if they'll even have all of them

[kgambit]

Harrison,

If you have the time, would you check out their stock of Gunze Sangyo paints? I'm trying to fing the Tire Black Acrylic and can not find it ANYWHERE.

[B-17engineer]

Sure! Would you like me to buy you a bottle? I don't have a problem

[kgambit]

Originally Posted by B-17engineer

Sure! Would you like me to buy you a bottle? I don't have a problem

Got your message. Many thanks. Check your pms.

[Airframes]

Dwight, if you can't get Tyre Black, mix as required for shade/colour. If you want a slight sheen to the finished 'tyre' then satin black can be used, although I tend to use matt black, with a semi-matt clear coat to finish. Here's the method I use.
Add a couple of spots of matt white to the black, to produce a very dark grey, and then a spot or two of dark earth or tan, again matt paint. This produces a nice 'rubber' effect and can, of course, be varied by the addition or subtraction of the above colours. The tread area can be painted or drybrushed as required, in a varying shade, to simulate any dust/mud etc, depending on the area in which the model is being depicted.
Having basic colours 'in stock' for mixing saves buying a tin/bottle of paint just for one relatively small job, which can 'go off' due to infrequent use.

[kgambit]

Problem solved! I just got 3 bottles of GS Aqeuos Tire Black and 1 bottle of Steel. Right after you posted that, I found a hobby shop in the UK that had them. They just arrived today!

[Airframes]

Hells teeth! That was bl**dy quick! I'm still waiting for something ordered two weeks ago, within the UK! Darned British Postal strikes!

[kgambit]

Originally Posted by Airframes

Hells teeth! That was bl**dy quick! I'm still waiting for something ordered two weeks ago, within the UK! Darned British Postal strikes!

I was surprised as well. I didn't expect it for at least another week, and probably longer.

[vikingBerserker]

Terry, I'm curious. When you mix paint do you follow a "recipe" or do you just go by your eye?

[Airframes]

I normally just go by eye, depending on the colour of course. If it's a 'known' colour, for example RLM76, then I'll mix it as close as possible to a reliable example. I also allow for the 'scale effect', where the smaller the scale of the model, the lighter the paint mix might be. Generally, I use the 'Engineer's Rule' - 'If it looks right, it is right' !!
If mixing for a specific purpose, for example weathering/dirt/fading of a base camouflage colour, then this will be mixed lighter or darker as required, and cockpit colours are nearly always mixed lighter, as using the 'real' shade on, say, a 1/48th scale Spitfire would give a finish that is far to dark for the scale.

[vikingBerserker]

Thanks, and that's impressive!

I just bought a copy of Osprey Masterclass - Airbrushing and FInishing Scale Models where it mentioned the scale effect you described. I'd never heard of it and was going to ask you about it. I'm glad I asked before painting my GB's.

[Airframes]

You're welcome Dave. That's what makes me giggle when some people argue the toss about exact colour shade matching to the original colours! If, for example, you took a tin of real U.S. Olive Drab 41, and painted a 1/48th scale P47 with it, it would look way, way too dark. So, in this case, a mix to match the actual, original colour, would be totally wrong! Also, on a slight tangent, the shade can also be affected by such things as the batch of paint used (on the real aircraft), the factory where it was painted, whether it was a brand new aircraft, straight out of the factory, where it's based, and for how long etc etc., and that's before we talk about the effects of weather, dirt, chipping, natural fading etc.

[stona]

I guess there are different ways af achieving the same thing. I tend to start with a colour that is a good match for what I want and then alter it to suit. As Airframes says this is almost always by lightening the shade to take account of the scale effect. I can do this by adding a drop or two of the relevant colour (often white) to the paint cup. By adding more or topping up the original colour I can achieve many variations with minimal mixing. This saves me mixing batches of paint externally and then adjusting them. That's just my lazy way.A good friend only uses Tamiya paints and mixes everything to suit, there is no right or wrong way!
The downside is I do keep a stock of decently matched RLM,RAF and to a lesser extent USAAF colours.
I like the engineer's rule - absolutely right.
Cheers
Steve