Achieving a representation interior greens

[phat trev]

I have started to use Humbrol 'Grass Green' from a spray can to get a base for ww2 RAF and USAF interiors in 1/72 when starting builds. My idea is to use the green as a base colour and then alter the colour with with shading to represent the final apperence. Also this should keep the finish quite bright which is something I like. 

 

Does anyone else use a similar method? I started because I could not locate a simple spray can of RAF green at a low cost and without an airbrush, wanted fast but neat coverage.  My next thing to do is to work out how to achieve the relevant colours from this green base. 

https://pin.it/1RnthET

Edited April 12, 2022 by phat trev

[Casey]

I am scared to dig into the rabbit hole of 'interior green' discussions too deep so I will just sum up some facts:

 

Humbrol 80 - Grass Green is rather dark (L39.88, a-9.42, b20.16)

 

Humbrol 78 Cockpit Green is often quoted as a good match. It is lighter and less saturated with values of (L48.42, a-7.65, b7.94).

 

E-paint.co.uk quotes the BS381C 283 Aircraft Grey Green as (L52.55, a-7.86, b10.61) which is indeed not that far off from Humbrol 78 - https://www.e-paint.co.uk/lab-hlc-rgb-lrv-values.asp?cRange=BS+381C&cRef=BS381C+283&cDescription=Aircraft+grey+green.

 

Some sources say FS34226 is also a good match. (L54.53, a-7.04, b6.69) - https://www.e-paint.co.uk/lab-hlc-rgb-lrv-values.asp?cRange=Federal+Standard+595C&cRef=34226&cDescription=NASA+primer

 

I may be bit silly there but Army Painter "Army Green" spray can primer measured L45.1, a-7.0, b13.0 on my spectrophotometer and it was reasonably priced...

Edited April 12, 2022 by Casey

[dogsbody]

My collection of WW2 RAF Interior Grey-green.

 

 

 

I have not used all of them yet, but I have seen builds on various forums/magazines where they have been used.

 

 

 

Chris

[Troy Smith]

11 hours ago, phat trev said:

to get a base for ww2 RAF and USAF interiors in 1/72 when starting builds

I don't know how much you care, but some points.

RAF Grey Green was a cockpit colour ONLY for about 2/3 of the war, the rest of the internals were aluminium dope (paint) 

this suggestion

36 minutes ago, Casey said:

Army Painter "Army Green" spray can primer measured L45.1, a-7.0, b13.0 on my spectrophotometer and it was reasonably priced...

maybe a good option  though,  it seems likely 'close enough'  especially if modified with a wash.

 

US interior colours are a lot more complex that 'interior green' , but Humbrol 80 is a bit dark and too green for that.  

And these articles maybe of use if you have not seen them

https://www.ipmsstockholm.se/home/interior-colours-of-us-aircraft-1941-45-part-i/

but US Interior green, ANA 611, is a grass green, not a grey green., so there is not  a common colour you can really use for both RAF and US types even if you just want to stick to interior green.

 

 

Halfords do a greeny yellow plastic filler primer

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-and-body-repair/primer/halfords-plastic-filler-primer-yellow-spray-300ml-456848.html

 

which might be good for US types, and could be shifted with a green wash. 

 

HTH

 

 

[Casey]

I am not sure if it is exactly what you need but here is how I am doing it:

 

I mixed the Grey Green using following Golden Fluid Acrylics paints.

• Titan Green Pale: 6 parts
• Bone Black: 3 parts
• Jenkins Green: 2 parts
• Chromium Oxide Green: 2 parts

I use scales and weight to measure paint ratios. If you opt to use an ready available alternative volume measuring device (read: eyeballing and counting droplets) results may be bit different.

 

Here is a scan of a drawdown of the resulting mix, next to a color samples page from a famous RAF reference book.

 

 

Since painting a model usually needs more than just interior green, below are all the mixes for the colors represented in this book.

 

The structure is as follow:

 

RAF006 - Grey Green - Flat, Total parts 13, DE00 from target: 0.806107
    Titan Green Pale: 6
    Bone Black: 3
    Jenkins Green: 2
    Chromium Oxide Green: 2

 

RAF006: my personal ID number I use to keep my library of spectrophotometer readouts from drifting into total chaos.

Grey Green: Official color name from the book

Flat: Source paint gloss level measurement from gloss meter. I use this to add gloss/matte mediums to the paint to give it a proper finish. Or just varnish the model later. Golden Fluid Acrylics are more or less satin.

Total parts: How many paint parts the recipe uses. Helps me to calculate single paint part mass for desired amount of paint.

DE00 from target: A theoretical (calculated) difference between the paint mix and the real measured paint sample. Difference <1 should be not visible to human eye, <2 is acceptable.

 

Followed by a list of Golden Fluid Acrylic paint names with corresponding ratios.

 

Spoiler

RAF001 - Light Earth - Flat, Total parts 15, DE00 from target: 0.795737
    Raw Sienna: 8
    Chromium Oxide Green: 2
    Pyrrole Orange: 1
    Titanium White: 4

RAF002 - Dark Earth - Flat, Total parts 13, DE00 from target: 0.737264
    Ultramarine Violet: 7
    Yellow Ochre: 6

RAF003 - Light Green - Flat, Total parts 11, DE00 from target: 0.731446
    Burnt Umber Light: 6
    Titanium White: 2
    Jenkins Green: 2
    Teal: 1

RAF004 - Dark Green - Flat, Total parts 13, DE00 from target: 0.478243
    Yellow Ochre: 4
    Bone Black: 8
    Teal: 1

RAF005 - Extra Dark Sea Green - Flat, Total parts 8, DE00 from target: 1.633293
    Primary Cyan: 1
    Raw Sienna: 5
    Cobalt Blue: 2

RAF006 - Grey Green - Flat, Total parts 13, DE00 from target: 0.806107
    Titan Green Pale: 6
    Bone Black: 3
    Jenkins Green: 2
    Chromium Oxide Green: 2

RAF007 - Medium Sea Grey - Flat, Total parts 12, DE00 from target: 0.714260
    Ultramarine Violet: 2
    Titan Buff: 8
    Bone Black: 1
    Payne's Gray: 1

RAF008 - Dark Sea Grey - Flat, Total parts 14, DE00 from target: 1.097325
    Ultramarine Violet: 1
    Bone Black: 9
    Titanium White: 4

RAF009 - Extra Dark Sea Grey - Flat, Total parts 13, DE00 from target: 0.723027
    Titanium White: 3
    Bone Black: 9
    Ultramarine Blue: 1

RAF010 - Ocean Grey - Flat, Total parts 8, DE00 from target: 0.416770
    Titan Green Pale: 3
    Bone Black: 4
    Payne's Gray: 1

RAF011 - Light Slate Grey - Flat, Total parts 10, DE00 from target: 0.565413
    Raw Umber: 5
    Teal: 2
    Titan Buff: 3

RAF012 - Dark Slate Grey - Flat, Total parts 11, DE00 from target: 0.706057
    Raw Umber: 3
    Titanium White: 3
    Bone Black: 4
    Jenkins Green: 1

RAF013 - Sky Grey - Flat, Total parts 7, DE00 from target: 0.475378
    Titanium White: 4
    Titan Green Pale: 1
    Bone Black: 2

RAF014 - Sky - Flat, Total parts 11, DE00 from target: 1.173818
    Titan Green Pale: 10
    Ultramarine Violet: 1

RAF015 - Deep Sky - Flat, Total parts 14, DE00 from target: 1.087491
    Primary Cyan: 3
    Cerulean Blue, Chromium: 10
    Cadmium Red Medium Hue: 1

RAF016 - Sky Blue - Flat, Total parts 6, DE00 from target: 4.637384
    Titanium White: 5
    Bone Black: 1

RAF017 - Azure Blue - Flat, Total parts 14, DE00 from target: 1.355163
    Titanium White: 9
    Ultramarine Violet: 3
    Prussian Blue Hue: 1
    Payne's Gray: 1

RAF018 - Light Mediteranean Blue - Flat, Total parts 13, DE00 from target: 0.996061
    Titan Green Pale: 4
    Ultramarine Violet: 7
    Prussian Blue Hue: 2

RAF019 - Dark Mediterranean Blue - Flat, Total parts 10, DE00 from target: 1.313762
    Titan Buff: 2
    Ultramarine Violet: 5
    Prussian Blue Hue: 3

RAF020 - P.R.U. Blue - Flat, Total parts 12, DE00 from target: 0.574423
    Raw Sienna: 4
    Anthraquinone Blue: 3
    Titan Buff: 5

RAF021 - Middle Stone - Flat, Total parts 11, DE00 from target: 0.612357
    Yellow Oxide: 6
    Bone Black: 2
    Titan Buff: 3

RAF022 - Night - Flat, Total parts 1, DE00 from target: 0.640706
    Bone Black: 1

RAF023 - Yellow - Flat, Total parts 12, DE00 from target: 1.608428
    Raw Sienna: 5
    Titanium White: 2
    Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue: 4
    Diarylide Yellow: 1

RAF024 - Red - Flat, Total parts 13, DE00 from target: 0.467573
    Red Oxide: 4
    Raw Sienna: 8
    Permanent Violet Dark: 1

RAF025 - Blue - Flat, Total parts 7, DE00 from target: 0.371556
    Prussian Blue Hue: 2
    Bone Black: 2
    Titan Buff: 1
    Ultramarine Blue: 2

RAF026 - Aluminium - Gloss, Total parts 10, DE00 from target: 0.954047
    Iridescent Pearl (Fine): 9
    Bone Black: 1

RAF027 - Matt Red - Flat, Total parts 4, DE00 from target: 0.628875
    Primary Magenta: 3
    Raw Sienna: 1

RAF028 - Matt Blue - Flat, Total parts 3, DE00 from target: 0.715933
    Titan Buff: 1
    Anthraquinone Blue: 2

RAF029 - Semi Matt Black - Velvet, Total parts 1, DE00 from target: 0.218784
    Carbon Black: 1

 

[Giorgio N]

On 4/12/2022 at 2:14 PM, phat trev said:

I have started to use Humbrol 'Grass Green' from a spray can to get a base for ww2 RAF and USAF interiors in 1/72 when starting builds. My idea is to use the green as a base colour and then alter the colour with with shading to represent the final apperence. Also this should keep the finish quite bright which is something I like. 

 

Does anyone else use a similar method? I started because I could not locate a simple spray can of RAF green at a low cost and without an airbrush, wanted fast but neat coverage.  My next thing to do is to work out how to achieve the relevant colours from this green base. 

https://pin.it/1RnthET

 

I have used a similar method in the past, although not with spray cans and not to achieve Interior Green. And i've used the method exactly for the same reason, to get to a colour that was not available in my paint stash. In my case I airbrushed a lighter colour and then applied a thinned coat of a different colour that acted as a filter (or whatever modellers call it) altering the tone of the underlying paint. It did work pretty well but I have to say that using an airbrush to do it made everything easier. Guess that the same could be achieved using a brush to apply a thin layer of paint

Have to say that whenever I paint British WW2 cockpits I start from something lighter than interior green, then making the colour darker in some areas with a wash and drybrushing all edges with a lighter paint (I often use Sky for this),

In your case yoy may start with Grass Green, that is a darker colour, and then apply lighter colours by drybrushing to highlight certain areas. This way you'd have the basic Grass Green in the areas of the cockpit that are not hit by direct light. It is a technique often used by figure painters, that start from a dark or even black primer and then build up the lighter areas on top of it

Alternatively you may start from a lighter colour, for example Humbrol 38 Lime Green, and then add darker washes. The wash may also need to add a certain component, for example is the starting colour is not "grey" enough you may have to add some grey to it.

As to how to make the washes, being mainly a acrylics user I make them using Vallejo's glaze medium, that is a product that can be added to any similar paint to turn this into a wash (or glaze or whatever the name used). With enamels I'd just mix the required paint with clear varnish and the right amount of thinner