Query re Belgian Sea King SAR scheme - recommendations for replicating the sand colour

[spruecutter]

Hi - I am currently building a Belgian Sea King Mk 48. I really like the sand & spinach SAR scheme but I am finding it very challenging to find a good match for the sand colour (BS 361 Light Stone).

 

The DACO decal sheet recommends Humbrol 148 + "a bit of yellow" for BS 361 - but it does not look right to me compared to my photo references. I have tried Hataka C237 which is their interpretation of BS 361 but that looks way off.

 

If anyone has any recommendations for replicating the sand colour, I would love to hear from them.

 

By the way, MRP-376 looks to be a great match for Olive Green BS 220.

 

Cheers

 

Richard C.

[thorfinn]

I did the same scheme for the Sweet 1/144 kit in Tamiya acrylics (with a by-eye mix of mostly buff with a few drops of white and yellow), but have no idea in currently available enamels.

 

It's kind of a question of "pick your photograph and match it." In common with many tan/brown camouflage colors, its actual appearance (even on the same airframe) can seem to vary widely based on given lighting conditions at any particular time. Some photos do seem to show a distinctive yellowish cast...while others appear tan, buff, or even a light brown.

 

BTW...I found the following interesting description in an entry on the Belgian Sea Kings on aeroresource.co.uk:

"Throughout its service career, the distinctive sand camouflage scheme worn by the Sea King fleet has intrigued the aviation community. The reason for this is understood to be due to the airframes originally being destined for the Egyptian Air Force; an order that was later cancelled. Belgium took the airframes making only minor amendments to the original paint scheme by adding the orange dayglow areas. It is fair to say this scheme was certainly one of the more striking SAR colour schemes ever worn."

 

Cheers

[janneman36]

I think you can use Xtracolor X821 (BS381 no61) that looks good to my eye..maybe a tad of white mixed in ….

 

http://misc.kitreview.com/tools/xtracolourcauntergp_1.htm

 

 

[825]

15 hours ago, janneman36 said:

I think you can use Xtracolor X821 (BS381 no61) that looks good to my eye..maybe a tad of white mixed in ….

 

http://misc.kitreview.com/tools/xtracolourcauntergp_1.htm

 

 

I'm building a Wessex in a similar scheme and Xtracrylix Light Stone (BS361) looks about right. I think it's meant to be an Armour paint as its prefixed 'Brit Gulf Armour' but BS361 was specified for the Wessex in the 1960s Green and Light Stone scheme. 

[spruecutter]

Thanks chaps for your comments! @thorfinn @janneman36 @825

 

I will definitely take a look at Xtracrylix Light Stone X1813. On my To Do list is the Italeri 1/48 Wessex in the 1960s Sand and Spinach scheme.

 

I also came across this BM thread on Light Stone this morning. 

 

[spruecutter]

I checked my stock of Xtracolor paints and found that I had a tin of X813 left over when I built a 1/35 Challenger c.15 years ago.

 

I did a test spray this morning. The spoon on the left is X813 straight from the tin, the one on the right has been lightened with a little bit of white. I think it's the closest I am going to get and it looks right. I agree with you @thorfinn that with any tan / desert sand colour a lot depends on the photo that you are looking at: bright sun vs overcast conditions, morning vs afternoon. Even the computer screen has an influence - for example even the 2 spoons below look slightly different on my laptop screen compared to the monitor screen!

 

 

Anyway, life is too short to fret unduly! I am going to use the slightly lightened version of X813. It's a definite improvement on the other colours that I tried.

- Tamiya XF-60 too dark even when lightened

- Revell Beige 314 too creamy

- MRP-337 Light Stone BS61 not quote right even when lightened

- MRP-080 Desert Tan too brown

- MRP-244 Tan hint of pink 

 

I will probably still do a light wash over the base colour to lighten it further still.

 

 

Thanks for your help @thorfinn @janneman36 @825

 

Cheers

 

Richard C

Edited March 28, 2022 by spruecutter

[janneman36]

That is a nice experiment and I agree on that X813 in being close👍👍👍

Love to see that Seaking finished 😉

These are pictures I took last year in Belgium and if you look closely you can see different touchups.

 

 

 

cheers, Jan

[spruecutter]

Nice photos @janneman36

 

It's such a great scheme and assuming no major hiccups, I will post a picture of the finished build on BM.

 

No doubt I will end up painting more spoons to try and get a good match to the orange... 🙂

[Paulaero]

Hope that's the correct Mk of Spoon your using ??? 😂