Graham T Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Got a couple of Italian subjects to do but my stock of Italian paints is, well, nil. I've found this: lifecolor-wwii-italian-royal-air-force-set-1-22ml-lc-cs19.html but it doesn't contain all the necessary colours which are: Verde Mimetico 2 Bruno Mimetico 2 Grigio Mimetico Verde Mimetico 3 Giallo Mimetico 3 Verde Olivia Scuro 2 Nocciola Chiaro 4 Any ideas? I'd prefer enamels but understand that my choice will probably be limited to Acrylics. As an aside, what do the numbers 2,3 & 4 relate too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VG 33 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Hi Here are some answers : Link Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Best online description for Italian aircraft colours; http://www.stormomagazine.com/RegiaAeronauticaColorsinWWII_3a.htm For enamels, wouldn't Sovereign carry them - they took over from White Ensign; https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/collections/regia-aeronautica-italian-air-force regards, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 1 hour ago, JackG said: Best online description for Italian aircraft colours; http://www.stormomagazine.com/RegiaAeronauticaColorsinWWII_3a.htm For enamels, wouldn't Sovereign carry them - they took over from White Ensign; https://www.sovereignhobbies.co.uk/collections/regia-aeronautica-italian-air-force regards, Jack Hi Jack, our Italian air force range in enamel is as follows: ACRA01 - Giallo Mimentico 1 QUICK VIEW ACRA02 - Giallo Mimetico 2 ACRA03 - Giallo Mimetico 3 ACRA04 - Giallo Mimentico 4 ACRA05 - Verde Mimetico 1 ACRA06 - Verde Mimetico 2 ACRA07 - Verde Mimetico 3 ACRA08 - Verde Mimetico 53192 ACRA09 - Verde Oliva Scuro 2 ACRA10 - Nocciola Chiaro ACRA11 - Marrone Mimetico 1 ACRA12 - Marrone Mimetico 2 ACRA14 - Grigio Mimetico ACRA16 - Grigio Azzuro Scuro ACRA17 - Bianco Avorio 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPuente54 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 I believe that Misterkit in Italy offers about 28-30 colors for the WW2 Regia Aeronautica; they are, however, acrylics. There was a book on WW2 Italian RA/AF camo. schemes published in the '90s. The downside is that it is OOP, and in Italian; though the actual drawings of the various schemes and the paint(s) colors were in Italian and English. The title is: "Colori Escheme Mimetici Bella Regia Aeronautica". You can find a photo of the cover on the Pacific Coast Models website. Sadly, they do not have the book in stock at all. Oh, it also included paint chips of all the colors used by the RAI. You might find copies available from all the usual suspects(evilbay, Amazon, etc.); I don't know that for certain. I might have the spelling incorrect for the title; the photo of the book's cover is small; my eyes aren't what they used to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 I am a through and through enamel paint man and for Italian subjects I use mostly Sovereign Colourcoats, though there are some very close matches available in Humbrol. The Humbrol matches are listed in Regia Aeronautica Caccia and Assalto 1940-1941 Part 1, as mentioned above the Stormo website is also a treasure trove of information with Colourcoats, Humbrol, and FS numbers as well. Cheers Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham T Posted May 22, 2017 Author Share Posted May 22, 2017 Thanks for the replies, I'll work through the options! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 The link posted above by Jack explains well the reason behind the numbers used to describe Italian WW2 paints, and the presence of 2 numbering systems, one "invented" by researchers for the different colours of the "serie mimetica" and one for the officially numbered colours of the Tavola 10. Today we know even more about the colours used and therefore some of the info included in the linked page has been surpassed by more recent research. In particular the interior paints are now better known and we know that not only there were also a grey primer and a yellowish one together with the green ones, but grey paints were used in cockpits much more often than previously thought. This grey could both be a primer but also a coat painted over the green primer. Another error (that some publications have passed on without checking) is that the so-called "verde anticorrosione" has been proposed for any type of surface... however these colours, as the name implies, were used to protect aluminum alloys from corrosion, so they were not used on other materials. That the S.79 didn't have Verde Anticorrosione is not an exception because SIAI didn't like the colour, simply this aircraft had a mixed metal/fabric fuselage and the primers for these materials were not in green, and so happened for other types. Some of the schemes proposed in the link have also been disproved over the years, in particular the use of the green-on-green scheme on the CR.42 In any case the work mentioned in the link was the basis for all other research on the colours used by the Regia Aeronautica in WW2, it may contain some errors but it was a massive effort and most is still valid today many years after the publication of the first edition of the volume. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Giorgio - very informative response, thank you. The Stormo site looks to still be active, at least their forum indicates this. Wonder why they have not bothered to update the information? regards, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPuente54 Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 You learn something new everyday. Previously, I figured that the numbers after the color meant that it was introduced after a previous one(i.e. Mimetico Verde 2 came after Mimetico Verde 1, etc.); I, and now others here, discover that the numbers refer to the paint company that makes it! Definitely excellent information to know, as is the Stormo website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davide Calzolari Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 giorgio N u always great! by davide from bologna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davide Calzolari Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 On 22/5/2017 at 7:43 PM, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said: ACRA01 - Giallo Mimentico 1 QUICK VIEW ACRA02 - Giallo Mimetico 2 ACRA03 - Giallo Mimetico 3 ACRA04 - Giallo Mimentico 4 ACRA05 - Verde Mimetico 1 ACRA06 - Verde Mimetico 2 ACRA07 - Verde Mimetico 3 ACRA08 - Verde Mimetico 53192 ACRA09 - Verde Oliva Scuro 2 ACRA10 - Nocciola Chiaro ACRA11 - Marrone Mimetico 1 ACRA12 - Marrone Mimetico 2 ACRA14 - Grigio Mimetico ACRA16 - Grigio Azzuro Scuro ACRA17 - Bianco Avorio as italian i'd say to take this cheaps with a certain caution... "bianco avorio" for example in english means "ivory white"..for u all that one in the cheap it's a white?i suppose not... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 (edited) Bianco Avorio was not a true white but more of a light cream. The chip shown may be too dark and brown, but a chip on a computer monitor would hardly be the right way to judge a paint. I would suggest searching for the Vitochart, a collection of chips painted during the War by an Italian enthusiast who got them painted using the actual paints on the production lines. Later this chart was printed and sold. Edited May 26, 2017 by Giorgio N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 14 hours ago, italian intruder said: as italian i'd say to take this cheaps with a certain caution... "bianco avorio" for example in english means "ivory white"..for u all that one in the cheap it's a white?i suppose not... Hi, italian intruder, Ivory is a creamish White. The chip has an exaggerated tan colour; it is rather like... a vanilla icecream colour! (describing colours in words for us non-graphic-or-colour-industry people is so difficult). But the rest are pretty close as chips in computer screens go. Fernando Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davide Calzolari Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davide Calzolari Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 ...but even acra10 "nocciola chiaro "(that in italian means "light tan"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) is far that one is all than tan type is completely far from the original tone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davide Calzolari Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 (edited) as seen the italian is absolutely not the language more known in the universe, a little help: verde = green nocciola = nearly /circa a Tan giallo = yellow bianco = white marrone = brown grigio = grey/gray azzurro = azure Edited June 1, 2017 by Davide Calzolari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 There are always limitations with sRGB and computer screens. Light colours tend to look rather intense when rendered and darker colours end up looking somewhat greyer than in reality. Of course, rendered against a pure white R255 G255 B255 background only makes the contrast harsher still. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Regarding colour intensity when viewed on the computer screen, relative eye level also has an affect with LCD screens. There is a noticeable difference when the image (or in this case a colour chip) is at the bottom (lighter) of the screen compared to when in the middle or upper part (darkest). regards, Jack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 It'impossible to judge a chip without having this right before the eyes, buy a tin, try it and then judge. Nocciola means hazelnut, it's not a light Tan. The Italian ww2 colour is often stated as close to fs 30279 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davide Calzolari Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 well giorgio,the u,.s tan in vietnam was enough similar to a "hazelnut" tone (when weathered)- when factory fresh i agree was more "pink type" (cfr tan) but the R.A italian wwII nocciola chiaro was a kind of hazelnut,i've to agree, yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 On 23/5/2017 at 6:02 PM, JackG said: Giorgio - very informative response, thank you. The Stormo site looks to still be active, at least their forum indicates this. Wonder why they have not bothered to update the information? regards, Jack All the more recent information seems at the moment to be spread across posts on the web, books on individual types and so on. It would be great to see a new volume dedicated to WW2 Italian colours with all the most recent findings. Mind, there's still a lot of debate on many topics and new info is found continuously. 41 minutes ago, italian intruder said: well giorgio,the u,.s tan in vietnam was enough similar to a "hazelnut" tone (when weathered)- when factory fresh i agree was more "pink type" (cfr tan) but the R.A italian wwII nocciola chiaro was a kind of hazelnut,i've to agree, yes The US colour in Vietnam however is not a light tan. It can be described as a tan colour, and I agree that the Italian Nocciola is not too different (but IMHO different enough that using FS 30219 may not make the more dedicated modellers happy), but it's not a light tan. That some manufacturers of modelling paint use this name is another story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 I can confirm that Nocciola is hazelnut - I had superb gelati Nocciola in Turin last Friday. .. I have a rather ancient Italian book on RA camouflage which probably was self-published some time in the late 70s or so. I'll look up the title when at home - I'd be interested to learn whether it is hopeless. If not, I may have to learn Italian. .. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 It is this book, published by the Ravenna modelling Club and authored by Signori Degl'Innocenti and Postiglioni. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 3 hours ago, tempestfan said: It is this book, published by the Ravenna modelling Club and authored by Signori Degl'Innocenti and Postiglioni. This book was the start of most serious research on the subject, so it's not useless at all ! In fact, most of the information on the Stormo website page linked above comes from this book and its second edition (dated 1997). Clearly, as you have the first edition, some of the information contained may have been surpassed by more recent findings, however it's a good book to have for a modeller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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