treker_ed Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 I was given the 1/72 Bandai Tie fighter for Christmas, and along with a purchased 1/72 X-wing have a bit of a query? The builds seem fairly straightforward, however, the painting directions are not! Bandai only supply paint names, eg light grey, red, white, or mixes for colours, no manufacturer or paint code is used at all.... Any suggestions for Tamiya colours ( as that is all I have available) from the bottles? I would prefer not to play around with mixing, as I can never repeat the results and get the same colour in a row! (Same for both X-Wing and Tie Fighter) Thanks. (Edit...Must be the Tamiya acrylic range only and not from their enamel new LP range) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FG2Si Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Mech9 has a translation of the paint colours using Mr Color. There are some equivalents listed as well for other brands. Link to the X-wing https://www.mech9.com/2015/02/172-x-wing-starfighter-construction.html?m=1 Tie Fighter: https://www.mech9.com/2015/03/172-tie-fighter-construction-manual.html?m=1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treker_ed Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 Thank you for that info, but it does give mixes which I do want to avoid as I mentioned in my post, but It's definitely a starting point. If anyone else has any suggestions, I would be most grateful. (I have tried searching in the WIP section but nothing really came up sadly😒) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozothenutter Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Unless you have a Rebel or empire Manual...... Why not mix the colours in a tiny amount, and use the closest match, or just mix large batches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rwa66 Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 (edited) Hi treker_ed, You could try looking at Archive X paints which are acrylic paints and have been developed to be as close as is possible to the original colours (Floquil enamels) used on the filming models. You can buy the colours that you need without having to mix them yourself and comprehensive bespoke bundles for different ships are available; you bcan have a look at those and choose the ones that you want rather than buying complete bundles (expensive). They are about as close as you will get without mixing but come at a price above Gunze/Tamiya etc paints. If you have to use Tamiya paints, Insignia White is a good base for the X-wing and just add the other colours on top. Tie fighters were different greys for the different films. You may just have to try as suggested in the post above this to try to match a close colour like Tamiya Ts-32 haze gray which some are using. Regards, Richard. Edited January 29 by Rwa66 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treker_ed Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 I've purposefully left replying for several hours, so that I had time to think about my response. 1. I do not, nor have I ever liked mixing paints for my own reasons - but mainly due to that fact (as I have already stated) mixing paints is fraught with problems of getting the same colour replicated over and over again (not unless I had the sort of laboratory grade equipment that our resident paint experts seem to have available to them in the paint forum!) Yes, mixing in large batches, but for two small projects, I do not want to have paint mixed up that I would not use again. Hence the request to match my existing paints. 2. I do not work so have a limited income, so I have to use what is available to me - hence again requesting if anyone could suggest colour matching from my existing supplies. Buying matched paint from another supplier, that I will not use again, is just wasteful from a financial point of view. I have just looked at the Archive X acrylic paints, and the vast majority is sold out, so it's a moot point anyway. I'll leave the thread open for a few more days, to see if anyone else has any suggestions, if not, I'll get the mods to close the thread. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rwa66 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 (edited) Hi, Most of the paint experts that I know have always used their eyes and trial and error and some even the munsell colour system that some artists use. I inderstand your relectance to mix so you could just try to match the colours that you do have with what you need with off the shelf colours that you have/ can get.. Like I said a base colour of Tamiya insignia (LP-35) white is a very good match for the overall colour of your X-wing and something like Light Ghost Gray LP-37 for your tie would be as close without having to mix or spend loads, 10ml bottles at about £2.20 each. You could also look at the RPF forum for suggestions regarding suitable analogues for your paint requirements. For my X-wings I painted them Matt black (XF-1)or a black primer and mist coated Tamiya Matt (XF-2) white over them, which was the way ILM approached painting X-wings back in the 70's( but with railroad enamels). Hope that helps Regards. Edited January 30 by Rwa66 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treker_ed Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 One thing I should have added, and I apologise for not doing so, I cannot use any lacquer based paints, I only use acrylic paints. Lacquer paints, and their thinners are too 'hot' for my use. I am asthmatic and so is my wife, whilst I appreciate that Tamiya are a different type of acrylic paint, nonetheless, they are still classified as such. I do not use any harsh chemicals of any type in the house as this exacerbates my asthma. When we have any decorating done (neither of us are very good at the practical sort of things...), the tradespersons are advised not to use any oil or enamel based paints, and only emulsion or acrylic is allowed. I will amend my original post to specify Tamiya acrylics only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treker_ed Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 1 hour ago, Rwa66 said: RPF forum I have to admit I have no idea what forum you are referring to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rwa66 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 The RPF Costume and Prop maker Community, google that and it should take you where you need to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobL Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) I'll add my accurate £0.02 to this... ILM used Floquil enamels. TIEs were painted Haze Grey. Due to post processing it looked different in A New Hope, grey rather than blue/grey, why and how I don't know. X-Wings, Y-Wings, A-Wings, Falcon etc. were painted Reefer White + Concrete, more to the Reefer White side, over black undercoat. Any red details (like on X-Wings) were Caboose Red. Floquil are no longer made however. I'll second Archive X, I've used them so far on my Lambda shuttle. You can buy direct from them, as Rwa66 said they do sets specifically for most vehicles/fighters/ships. They're even named after the original Floquil names. Link to Archive X site - https://archivexpaint.com/collections/all-acrylics Alternative seller in the UK, Element Games - https://elementgames.co.uk/paints-hobby-and-scenery/paints-hobby-and-scenery-by-manufacturer/archive-x If you're airbrushing you'll probably want their proprietary thinners. I've tried Vallejo thinners and it didn't go well, water just about works OK. Alternatives are Tamiya or equivalent mixes. Using Tamiya, for TIEs, Haze Grey is Tamiya XF2 + XF82 50/50 mix or TS-32 Haze Grey spray. Base colour for X-wings etc. is Tamiya Deck Tan + White 50/50. Edited January 31 by RobL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treker_ed Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 Thanks for the responses, but it would seem that we are going in circles. I do not want to use any mixes, not do I want to buy additional paint that will only be used once, and not be used again for any other projects. I will ask the mods to close the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobL Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 11 minutes ago, treker_ed said: Thanks for the responses, but it would seem that we are going in circles. I do not want to use any mixes, not do I want to buy additional paint that will only be used once, and not be used again for any other projects. I will ask the mods to close the thread. Unfortunately you're not going to what you want buying additional occasional use paint or mixing. Nature of the hobby I'm afraid. As they're Bandai you could leave them unpainted. If you already have paints that are close to what's been described go with them, your models, no-one will worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 I'm closing this at OP's request, but would just like to add that I've used Xtracrylix XA1137 Light Gull Grey on my Millennium Falcon several years back: It's an old pic, but it checks out 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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