sapperastro

What varnish is it? Perhaps the white spirit may be a little too harsh. Or the varnish isn't totally compatible. When using enamels, I usually use Liquitex acrylic gloss varnish over the enamel, Decals, add weathering, etc, and then humbrol matt cote over the gloss varnish at the end

Too much matting agent. Either try thinning it down even further (after thoroughly mixing it) or, according to what I have read elsewhere, there is a 'new formula' version just out (which states this on the bottle) which contains less matting agent and does work.

Hi all, Just wondering what I should do regarding decals on metal finish. I have read plenty of comments to the effect that you shouldn't use varnish on metallic paint, if so, how would I seal in decals?

I don't really airbrush much these days, preferring to continue my quest for perfecting brush painting. When I did (and still do every now and again) I usually spray enamels with my full darth vader getup and extractor fan. I find enamels are incredibly easy to mix and spray, giving a brilliant coverage that is tough as nails. I have never had any problems with clogging, tip drying, or cleaning out an airbrush. Even when I have had dried enamel the mineral spirits have done the job with an overnight soaking. My go to brand for enamel these days, with airbrush or hairy stick are the brilliant Sovereign Colourcoats enamels, with the odd Tamiya and Humbrol enamel. In contrast, the acrylics usually have required all sorts of additives included in the mix to keep things moving along, and cleaning needs to be done straight away. That being said, the Tamiya acrylic does spray very nicely, and is easily cleaned with the IPA mix, which also resoftens the paint no matter how dry it is (which is also why this paint isn't so hot for brush painting). It does require mixing for correct colours though. Mr Hobby Aqueous has some great colours, and sprays along similar lines to tamiya...unfortunately, I have a problem where unless I use their own brands of varnish, the colours change quite a bit, so I had to stop using them for that reason. Revell Aqua so far has been excellent for both brush and spray for me, though again, mixing is a requirement for exact colours if you care for that sort of thing. Aqua can be a dog to clean off should it dry on something where you don't want it, as it adheres incredibly well (almost on par with enamel when it is fully dry). Humbrol Acrylic, for me, has been too full of grit most of the time to allow it to spray. Unless they have changed the formula, I wouldn't waste my time. Vallejo has a great range, and is also quite easy for brush and spray, but it seems to have very poor adherence and I have more than one bottle go 'off'. A lot of people praise the dropper bottles, but I cannot stand them. Give me something I can mix easily any day. In contrast to many, I never shake paint, only stir it thoroughly. The best thing to do is "suck it and see" and don't buy in to one brand of paint until you have tried them all. Get a couple of each brand that takes your fancy (or is easily obtainable) and study up on their use, then give it a go. There is nothing worse than buying a tonne of some paint that is recommended to you, and finding it doesn't really work for you.

It sounds like the paint is kaput. I have had ancient water based acrylics go the same way before and nothing I have attempted has saved them.

Franky, I have googled it, and it is another possibility with a few additions. It is 902 you are talking about? My friend is still waiting for lifecolor stocks to appear in a shop over here, while Vallejo is reasonably easy to get hold of.

Thanks Stu. Much appreciated.

Hello all, Sorry for all the questions lately. Going to put in a colourcoats order soon, and thought I would tag the colours for my airfix zero on to the order (provided creative has the colours in stock....). The Humbrol callouts are; 75 Bronze green upper. 90 Beige green underside. Mix of coal black and midnight blue for cowling. And just for the hell of it I will check here to see if my Curtiss Hawk AVG would require the new US Sky equivalent that has just gone on the market? The Humbrol call out for the underside is 28 Camo grey.

Ah, so what you are saying regarding the P-51 in question is that it is US equivalents for Ocean Grey/Dark Green/Medium Sea Grey, the predominant RAF/Commonwealth scheme for mainland Europe at that stage? I had Humbrol 27, Colourcoats ACUS12 and Humbrol 129 lined up for my RAAF 3rd Squadron build, and this thread threw doubt over me.

The grey forces are legion. Everywhere I look, they are there, telling me 'IT IS GREY! GREY!!' So, a few questions here... 1) What sources allowed you to come up with this colour as the correct tint? I am only asking this because when I have suggested otherwise elsewhere, the grey forces have almost threatened to do bodily harm to me I need some ammo here. 2) Was this colour used under all aircraft that were lend leased to the British Commonwealth? for example http://www.3squadron.org.au/subpages/Mustangs/3 Sqn P-51K P3.htm Note that they mention "Light Grey" at this website too.

What reasons were put forward by people (including yourself Graham) for wanting Satin? I myself find both Satin and Matt to thin and brush on easily, compared to Gloss. Thanks for the book link too Graham. I have been hunting around to see if it is cheaper anywhere else, but may have to bite the bullet. I have always enjoyed creating models and dioramas from the Greece/Crete campaign.

Jamie, the references you just gave are a start, but sadly inadequate. As an example, there is a small section about armour that covers dunkelgelb and lists the colourcoats code...and thats it. There is no listing for, say, British armour in 1944 France, or (and this is expecting too much I know) a listing for the colours used by allied tanks in greece 1940. It doesn't even state that Dunkelgelb, while used as a base, was also paired with a reddish brown and green camouflage pattern (including the colourcoats codes and names for them). The naval is a bit better, and I will be making use of them, but it seems like they were started but never finished. Could be a great reference if they ever were completed.

The coloursets are good. Don't get me wrong, but they don't help with the fundamentals. The coloursets would be excellent as a suggestion ie; "Using colourcoats X,Y and Z to complete your 1940s RAF Fighter command aircraft, these colours can be bought separately, or as colourset 1" If you give me the colours used on the Bismarck for example, while I might be able to guess where a few of them go, I may get some of them wrong because I have just been told the colours. If you said Colour X is used on the lower hull, with Colour Z is used on the upper hull, this helps. Not sure if I am making myself clear. It is easy for many other manufacturers to get away without worrying about it too much, because various kit manufacturers have callouts, even though I think it is silly of them as well. If I wanted to just use Revell colours for example, but bought an Airfix Lancaster, without revell supplying a colour mix chart that at least covers often used colours, they shoot themselves in the foot. Does this make things a bit clearer? '

Just a thought here. I was bumbling around through my stash here, and had a few old Heller ships that i am thinking of putting to the bench. One of these, a French destroyer Surcouf, has rather vague colour listings, so i looked through the Colourcoats website and my vision grew hazy looking at all of the Naval colours available, and the fact that I didn't know where to start. I know I could ask on here, but I wondered if you have ever thought about perhaps constructing colour codes for your paint, where, as a quick and easy example, a spitfire from 1940 would use Dark Green/Dark Earth with a Sky underside. Alternatives include Sky Blue/Eau de Nil/ etc. Or A Matilda from the western desert would use Slate, Silver grey and Portland stone etc. Even a generalised verison that covers all subjects in a given service in a given period would be a great start. As it is, as I know a fair bit about Aircraft colours, I can pretty much blindly buy colourcoats for them, but knowing bugger all for naval subjects, I am a newby when it comes to these colours and while no kit manufacturer lists colourcoats, it becomes a necessity to contact fellow modellers or even deluge yourself with questions. Anyway, just a thought.

While painting today I noticed something odd; There I had a Colourcoats tin standing next to a Humbrol enamel tin, and I noticed the Colourcoats tin is wider than the Humbrol tin, and also contains a lot more volume too, with the Colourcoats tin being almost overfull, and the Humbrol being just over half full ( many of the newer Humbrols are like this). Both are the same height. So it made me think; what paints actually contain the correct amount of paint? In this case, do the Humbrols strictly adhere to 14ml while Colourcoats gives extra? Or is Humbrol creaming a little off the top here? Small bickies no doubt, but when you are looking at such small amounts, it can make a difference.

I was just about to come in and say Colourcoats is just what the doctor ordered....Or should I say Wizard...

The coloured tin lids have been off for decades. The new Azure blue is a case in point; it looks like the old, dark greyish blue, but when you open it up and paint, totally different. I know the colourcoats lids are actually painted with the paint itself so you can usually get a good idea of what the coat will look like, but humbrol, revell, etc all are a 'suck it and see'.

Might be a possibility laser...perhaps a dash of white...

PLC; I have read the big Azure blue thread started by John, which is where I gained the knowledge of the three, perfect Azure blues on the market. Every Azure blue was tested in that thread, and none of the acrylics quite matched up. After that thread, I am pretty positive there are no cans of worms left to open John;, I agree, I will have to let him know and give him a hand with it. I will use a brushout of the Humbrol to see if we can make a match. Hang on, hasn't there been an airfix starter kit of desert airforce aircraft? If so, does anyone know if there is a Humbrol acrylic minipot of Azure blue included?

Hello all, I have had a question from a friend of mine regarding the elusive Azure Blue from the RAF and assorted commonwealth aircraft in the Med. He is a dyed in the wool Acrylic user, and my efforts to get him to bite the bullet and use the new Humbrol recipe (Colourcoats and PP enamels are either not available here period, or in the case of CC, the new Azure blue still isn't in stock here, which means the new blue swoop Humbrol is my only option, which luckily has been an excellent tin of paint so far) have all failed. I was going to suggest trying a newer pot of Humbrol Acrylic, but I have no idea if they changed the formula, and if so, how would anyone know it is changed? So, Acrylic people, are there any paint companies that put out the genuine article for Azure blue in acrylics now? Any that have changed formula since the Great Azure Blue thread?

Ah, if only it were available down here...I suspect another 6 months before it reaches these shores, and here I was ready to use Humbrol US Gull grey on my P-51. Damn you man! Damn you! Now I have to decide whether to shelve the 'Stang....

I know this is an older thread, but i have very good results with the clear gloss varnish, brushed in thin coats (don't slather it on so it pools everywhere). Haven't tried the matt version, but a review recently on amazon re the product says there is a new and improved version that works (and has that sticker on the bottle) and his description says that you can tell the new from the older by the amount of 'white gunk' in the bottle (the new version having much less). From the sound of it, it is simply a case of having too much matting agent for the carrier in the container. This goes for any brand. With matt varnishes, I have had Humbrol Acrylic and Enamel, Revell Acrylic and enamel, Vallejo, matt cote, etc etc. All of them required intensive thinning before use, to varying degrees. As an example, my Humbrol acrylic required thinning to the degree I could have had two pots full to the brim before it was ready to brush on without a snowstorm. Good for saving money, but bad for those that just want a stir and paint recipe. If anyone here is using them 'from the bottle' without thinning, you will get the Russian Snowstorm effect. So before you throw anything out, try decanting some and thinning, to various degrees, while brushing them over a piece of glossed scrap. Once you have the perfect recipe, you will have not problems. This has been the same for all of the Matt/Satin varnishes I have tried without fail. Naturally, before taking any out to be thinned, do stir the bejesus out of it until the white matting agent is thoroughly mixed in.

Yes indeed. I have those decals here and they are the set which is going on the finished model. As stated on the website you linked to, the exact scheme is not known due to the dearth of pictures for the aircraft, which is actually good as it allows me some artistic license. Looking forward to forging ahead now. Thanks again mate.

Thank you Steve! I cannot believe I missed that page earlier when I was looking through the website.Thanks again for making my modeling life much easier mate.

Wow, thanks for all the info guys, much appreciated. I am really looking forward to this one. And thank you very much for the pictures Steve. Regards, Greg Edit; Steve, it is the older 'CV-P' which I believe was a 'loop' pattern. The new plane that the pilot flew was in the metal finish, of which there are plenty of pictures (but not the one I plan to do).