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Which paints?


Sunny

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I am starting from scratch as just getting back into scale modelling. I plan on buying all new paints but not sure which ones to get.  My first build will be the Italeri Hemtt gun truck.

 

I already plan to get the following:

 

 

Outside:

1) mig Black primer

2) Tamiya XF -59 Dessert Yellow (Base)

3) XF 55 deck tan (highlights)

4) XF 79 - Deck brown (shadows)

5) Vallejo Pale sand (manual highlights)

6) Mig US modern Vehicles set (weathering , wash)

7) Vallejo Steel grey (to spray under the areas i want to use chipping medium)

 

 

Other bits:

1) chipping medium

2) AK rust effect colour set

 

 

My question is, could anyone recommend a good some colours for the interior?  All the example photos i have seen do not show it, and the instructions are not great.  Are there any sets i can use?? with an olive green?

 

is there anything else I should get (while i am ordering?) . Any help is much appreciated so i'm not veering too much off course! Thanks in advance

 

 

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Modern US armoured vehicles generally have 'Sea Foam Green' interiors (their tanks generally have white interiors) but their softskins tend to have NATO Green interiors from memory - even those operating in desert environments.

 

Different paint companies claim to offer 'accurate' colour matches but since the precise shade of that 'accurate' colour varies from manufacturer to manufacturer it is clear that a lot of them have different interpretations of the same shade. On a real vehicle, paint will start to wear and fade as soon as it is exposed to the real world, so the difference between a factory-fresh paint and one that has seen a couple of years of real-world use can be significant.

 

I would recommend that you find a range of paints that you like and stick with them. Learn how they behave and develop your techniques around those characteristics. I use almost exclusively Tamiya paints, not because they are any better than other brands but simply because I've been using them for so long that I'm entirely comfortable with how they behave and my ability to manipulate them to get the results I want. 

 

Pick the colours and techniques that work for you, rather than trying to follow a rigid style or fashion, just because someone says you should. There is no better reference than studying lots of photos of real vehicles (HEMMTs in your case) and understanding how those vehicles weather and fade over time, rather than trying to impose an artistic style that may be inappropriate for the subject.

 

Also, don't rely on what the paint manufacturer calls the paint shade. It may seem to have no relevance to your project but will be perfect for your needs. Good matches for Sea Foam Green for example are Tamiya's XF-21 (Sky), or XF-71 (IJN Cockpit Green), both of which are aircraft colours.

 

If you are set on 'chipping' then remember that the materials used on many modern vehicles include composites rather than just metal so the underlying material may not look like bare metal. Different metals behave in different ways when exposed to air so they won't all be 'shiny', Again. you need to understand the vehicle you are building and the materials used to build it.

Paint technology (even as far back as WWII) means that it is rare for paint to 'lift' unless poorly applied in the first place. It might wear away on high-use areas, or fade over time, but rarely 'chips'. Despite that, it is an artistic style that is popular with armour modellers.

 

Regards,

John

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2 minutes ago, Sunny said:

Could you recommend some? I was just about to order! 

Well, in this day and age with people applying washes and filters, you need something that will not be attacked by the spirit base. I've not had a lot of luck with acrylic varnishes, mainly because the thinners used tended to clog my airbrush. But I've just tried two new (to me) items and have been very pleased with the results. For gloss vanish I used Vellejo acrylic gloss varnish in an aerosol can. It sprays a little thick, but ti's OK. At least the finish was very glossy. For the matt, I used Alclad ll Klear Kote flat with very good results. It's flat with just a hint of a sheen. I've also got Alclad's gloss coat but I haven't tried that yet. The beauty of the Alclad product is that you don't have to thin it for spraying.

HTH's.

 

John.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I've used, and still do, Halfords clear acrylic lacquer as a gloss coat, it takes enamel based washes etc fine. And good old Humbrol matt varnish still works for me, both straight from the aerosol. 

 

Good luck

Darryl 

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