Colourcoats AMT-11 & AMT-12

[ckw]

I was delighted to get an email from Sovereign Hobbies a couple of weeks ago to say that AMT-12 was finally available. I've been waiting for this to build my Eduard La-7.

 

Have just finished spraying with AMT-7, AMT-11 and AMT-12 and I have to say I am rather surprised at how dark AMT-11 and AMT-12 are according to Colourcoats. In fact I would say that the lighter AMT-11 is actually a pretty good match for  AMT-12 in the various artwork I've seen, while the AMT-12 is very dark - sort of RLM 66 dark.

 

Now I'm no expert on Soviet WWII colours, and I know this is an area of much speculation and controversy. Are the Colourcoats shades the result of recent research? I have no grounds for doubting CC, but the colours are very much different to what I expected!

 

Colin

[Graham Boak]

That's how dark the surviving examples of this paint are in the records.  It is not only Colourcoats that match their paints to this, the same is true of AKAN.  There has been some speculation that this has been caused by the aging process, and I would agree that both AMT-11 and 12 appear considerably darker than they seem in period photographs.  (Treat all artwork with respect but some doubt.)  AFAIK the matter is still controversial rather than having reached any final settlement.  It should be added for all paints, that dark colours are often darker on the chip than they appear in photographs, and this is possibly because you see the reflected light levels rather than the genuine shade.  From personal experience a colour is often darker when you stick your nose up next to it than it is standing (say) a wings-length away.

[ckw]

Useful information - thanks. I've often considered applying scale colour techniques which might provide a better "perceived" result in this case. Never really bothered me with RAF/Luftwaffe/USA colors, but I did have a similar experience using French AF colours some time back (this time with Xtracolor paints)

 

Colin

[Graham Boak]

Something also worth mentioning in this context is that colours often look darker when wet than when dry.  Probably because the rain (or whatever) washes away the dust that lightens the appearance.

[Stew Dapple]

it's not just a question of photographs and moisture, AMT-11 and particularly AMT-12 were extremely susceptible to fading due to both exposure and the passage of time, and, unfortunately, not at a uniform or even a similar rate. This site gives indicative chips of the average colours but bear in mind that no two aircraft would necessarily weather in the same way unless they were in the same place for the same period of time... and even then it is not guaranteed - the photos show a great deal of variation regarding the actual colours.

 

The Colourcoats paints are matched to colour chips that provide what should be the factory finish, as to interpret the amount and effect of fading is simply not possible due to the possible variations noted above and in previous posts, and the subjective nature of the perception of colours by the individual/camera/type of film used/weather etc.

 

As I understand it, at this point there is no definitive standard for 'in-service' aircraft colours and this is likely to remain the case for the same reasons.

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[spitfire]

AMT 11 and AMT 12 are dark, here is some photos of the French NN Yak3 being stripped back to the original paint, the usual cautions about photos and lighting apply but you can see how dark the colours are.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis