hello

what paints do you lot use? i tend to use tamiya acrylics but im not sure if some of them are a good match for the colours they are meant to be.
my model shop sells Tamiya, humbrol and revell paints so can you tell me wich paints and colour numbers you use for your afv's and figures etc;
olive drab
khaki drab
us uniforms
british uniforms
field grey (tamiya seems too green)
and anymore you can think of

cheers

joe

al always use revell color and i need :rust, panzergrau (Tank-gray), black, Khaki, White (for interior, Sand, and the 3 colors of the german camouflage-scheme, and of course flesh-colour

great brit,
many things come into uniforms ect age of it use in the field colours of it on manufacture loads of things add to the colour of it I could post 2 idenical wind proff smocks side by side and they are of totally different colours but heres a link to colour cross ref's
if I can find it I scan an article from fine scale modler which has the correct colours to use
http://www.airmodel.sk/indie_eng.html :-)

I use a combination of Testors Modelmaster, Humbrol and Polly S when available. Color drives the choice of paint not the manufacturer. However, I am not fond of Tamiya Acrylic.

I've only tried a couple of Tamiya acrylics and I'm underwhelmed. Besides the terrible smell I don't think they cover as well as I hoped. I use a wide variety of paints, Model Masters, Floquil, Hobby acrylics.

One thing I've learned from reading plenty of articles on this site, and others, is that paint color is really not all that critical. Shep Payne mentions how paint colors depend on not only on the way weather affects it, but also on the way the paint was mixed in the filed in the first place.

I always try to go by the old standby, if it looks right to me, go with it.

I use Polly Scale and ModelMaster paints. I also have various cross-references to bring me to a point that I can go to the close Polly Scale paint. The most important tool That I use are the Floquil and Humbro color chips. These really help me get to the specific color I want. I can then reference back to what my hobby shop has available. I have not used the Tamiya paints at all.
capnjock

Hi. About 95% of the paint I use is Polly S or Polly Scale, whichever it's called now-a-days. Since I don't use an airbrush, I find this paint to be the best and most forgiving when used with a brush. And the colors look pretty darn good.

Agree with halfyank that Tamiya smells something awful and doesn't cover worth crap with a brush. Real nice range of colors and they may work wonders for air brushes, but as far as my experience goes, I don't like them.

Again, as halfyank mentioned, and others as well, the basic color isn't really all that important, at least to me anyway. It's what the modeler can do with the weathering and other detail painting that, in the end, is what counts. Now maybe if you're into contests and such, this may make a difference, but just for the average modeler out there, I can't see worrying about it. Besides there were, and still are, surely, so many different shades of the basic color a certain country goes with in painting, and re-painting, it's vehicles, that there has to be many, many different shades of the same color, depending on the paint maker and those who put in on the vehicle, whether in the factory or in the field.

Take care, sgirty

I prefer to use Humbrol enamals as they cover well and have a dead flat finish. Also, I use Floquil Railroad Colors enamals for certain applications such as primer, rust, engine black, gun metal, grimy black and steel.

I do not have an airbrush and brush paint my models. The Tamiya acrylics dry a bit too fast for brush painting, but can be used if one is careful. I thin the Tamiya with window washing fluid and then just slop it on. Do not try to level the acrylic out the way you would with enamal as this will cause extrem paint streaks. The thinned acrylic will level as it drys. I wait for the first coat of acrylic to dry, usually 24 hours to be on the safe side, then go back and flood the places I missed on the first coat.

DO NOT let the acrylic paint dry on the brush, as you will not be able to save the brush.

As an added tip, do not paint from the bottle or tin, use another container to thin and paint from.

I intend to try the Tamiya Acrylic in spray cans and have the old Tamiya Tiger 1 built 32 years ago cleaned up for the experiment..

I feel that it's best to keep a variety of brands in the paint rack. It may sound odd but sometimes a different brand compared to another gives a better finished result for particular subject . What I mean is I use to use Model Master Enamels for painting uniforms, but a couple years back, Sam Garcia recommended that I try Humbrol Enamels or Vallejo Acrylics instead, and there actually was a difference in the appearance of the uniform .................. REALLY !
I find Model Master are far better suited for painting aircraft & armor, as are Humbrol & Floquil Railroad Colors. I use different brands for different things. In my rack are Humbrol - Model Master Enamel - Floquil RR Enamel & Acrylic - Vallejo Acrylic - Polly Scale Acrylic - Winsor & Newton Artist Oils ......... and Apple Barrel and Delta Craft Paints ( acrylic ) which I use for diorama ground work & buildings, exclusively. ( Last year, Anders Heintz recommended I try the craft paints, and it was great advice ..... THANKS AGAIN ANDERS ! ).

- ralph

Hi greatbritt:
Go with the Humbrol. I use them and I´m happy with the results. For those needs that you listed they work well.
Olive Drab 155
Kakhi Drab 159
Fiels Green 105
For more refernces try the Urban Fredriksson´s Color Reference Charts.
You´ll find them in IPMS Stockholm

whats wrong with my grammar? i type the way i talk, obviously not everyone who speaks english speaks the queens english!

Maybe it would help if you knew that to Brits "you lot" means something like "you all." You wouldn't critisize somebody for saying "What paints do you all use?", would you?

thanks halfyank,
i bet not everything Americans say is grammatically correct.
same for Aussies, Canadians etc anyone who speaks english really
i think its good that we all speak differently

I used Humbrol enamels, but I am going to try Vallejo acrylics.

I understood exactly what greatbritt was saying. What´s the problem with the expresion" you lot "?

Hi greatbritt, did you try the Urban Fredriksson´s Color Reference Charts. Here is the link:

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_humbrol.htm