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German grey query


Monty Python

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Aye up.

German grey varied from a very dark grey to a blue grey shade. I've used Tamiya XF63 on a few builds and it tends to have a nice bluish hue to it that looks pleasing. You could also lift the colour by misting on various lighter shades of grey. A mate of mine brush painted it onto a Flak 88 kit and got the same results by dry brushing lighter shades on top. Washes and weathering can also change the base colour too.

Regards

Steve

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What scale are you working in? :hmmm:

I believe XF-63 is acceptable as a deepest shade in 1/35 but in 1/72 you will need to lighten it by about 40%. :nerd:

1:35. It's for the AFV Club SW-60 searchlight and trailer. Looking at some walkaround piccies, they seem to have been kept very clean with very little weathering.

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It is a very dark colour so shoot some on a mule with a bit of detail and see how it looks.....Might be worth thinking about some sort of post shading to avoid it looking dead flat and sucking all the life out of the model. :coolio:

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Tamiya's XF-63 is what I would use.

Just to be clear, there was only one shade of dunkelgrau issued to factories for painting equipment. The strong blues you see people modeling is the influence of the Spanish school of painting. If you want to lighten the colour, either before application or afterwards as part of the weathering process, that's your prerogative.

regards,

Jack

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Paint a 1/72 Panzer IV in raw XF-63 and it will look like a lump of coal at normal viewing distance under typical lighting. :mellow:

Don't kid yourself about the degree of standardisation in paint either, these three haven't left the production line yet:

Panzer-III-Ausf-F.jpg

But there are visible differences in both the grey and brown paint.....On the first tank it differs from one end to the other, guess the resevoir was getting a bit short so they topped it up with thinners. :winkgrin:

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That looks like a touched up photo - look at how the front edges of the tracks are outlined with a black line, which leads me to believe the foreground quality is different compared to the rest. Maybe a flash was used, creating a lighter tone - note the underside of the gun barrels of the other two tanks have a cast shadow, while the one in the immediate foreground hardly any. Front tracks also have slight shadow, but not the first panzer.

All I can suggest is a starting point for the base colour, it's up to the individual and their techniques of where they want to go with it.

2cyidl2.jpg

ri9iiq.jpg

t7lwmb.jpg

214v7kw.jpg

negrj5.jpg

regards,

Jack

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All I can suggest is a starting point for the base colour, it's up to the individual and their techniques of where they want to go with it.

Pretty sure that's what I said too. :winkgrin:

I do like that shiny SOMUA, fresh out of the booth and nicely Kleared ready for a flat coat and some weathering.....Think they might have overdone the pigments on that halftrack though. :pipe:

PS - Just musing on what a contrast this is to 'colour arguments' in the wingy-things section.....If we were in there we'd be on page 27 and at each others throats by now! :lol:

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I use Revell enamel nos 78 applied by brush it looks ok to me

At the end of the day its your model use what you think looks close and enjoy the hobby don't get stuck trying to find the perfect colour

it not out there it dose not exist

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Speaking of wingy-things, it has been stated (by noted author Bruce Culver), that the Luftwaffe's RLM 66 Schwartzgrau was the same grey colour. This was used for the cockpit interiors, so if you have this in your paint box, you are good to go.

regards,

Jack

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Speaking of wingy-things, it has been stated (by noted author Bruce Culver), that the Luftwaffe's RLM 66 Schwartzgrau was the same grey colour. This was used for the cockpit interiors, so if you have this in your paint box, you are good to go.

regards,

Jack

I can now tell all my wingy thingy buddies their cockpits are wrong :frantic::wicked:

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
On 16/08/2016 at 2:07 AM, JackG said:

Speaking of wingy-things, it has been stated (by noted author Bruce Culver), that the Luftwaffe's RLM 66 Schwartzgrau was the same grey colour. This was used for the cockpit interiors, so if you have this in your paint box, you are good to go.

regards,

Jack

 

On 9/09/2016 at 9:12 AM, italian intruder said:

best german grey? humbrol 67 for whole life :)

Great, its my go to for RLM66 too.

Steve.

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There will NEVER be universal agreement on "correct" paint shades, so threads like this almost invariably end up just going endlessly round the houses as guys argue the toss and chuck links around to "prove" that they're right.

 

That is until the next guy chimes in saying that the other guy's photo looks colourised / retouched / faded by time / or whatever, and posts up something else to disprove what's gone before (rinse & repeat ad infinitum).

 

My own rule of thumb (take it or leave it) is basically "if it looks right, it is right". And with seemingly everyone & his dog now bringing out paints and paint sets that claim to be the last word in research & accuracy, you are spoiled for choice.

Edited by Stashaholic Steve
for spelling errors
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3 hours ago, Stashaholic Steve said:

There will NEVER be universal agreement on "correct" paint shades, so threads like this almost invariably end up just going endlessly round the houses as guys argue the toss and chuck links around to "prove" that they're right.

 

That is until the next guy chimes in saying that the other guy's photo looks colourised / retouched / faded by time / or whatever, and posts up something else to disprove what's gone before (rinse & repeat ad infinitum).

 

My own rule of thumb (take it or leave it) is basically "if it looks right, it is right". And with seemingly everyone & his dog now bringing out paints and paint sets that claim to be the last word in research & accuracy, you are spoiled for choice.

^This^

Perfect summation of what really isn't an issue.

G

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  • 1 month later...

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